News archive
December 2020
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159 articles
- December 31
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- Keith Richards' secret Rolling Stones acoustic guitar tuning finally revealed?
- How Genesis’s Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins stumbled upon the '80s gated-reverb drum sound
- The 10 best metal drummers in the world right now, as voted for by you
- Fiedel: "I started playing music with cassettes in the former East Germany"
- December 30
- December 29
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- "It feels like a very special record. It sometimes makes me angry that everybody doesn’t know it ” – Amy Macdonald chooses the 10 albums that changed her life
- 5 songs producers need to hear by… Kraftwerk
- The 10 best new plugins/music software tools of 2020
- Tom Morello: "I've been accused countless times of using a ton of effects - but I've used the same four pedals for the last 30 years"
- December 28
- December 27
- December 26
- December 24
- December 23
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- Mountain guitarist Leslie West dies at 75
- Save 15% on any 1-year subscription to Pro Tools, Sibelius and more
- "For every reason, it’s the greatest album of all time" – Gavin James on Sgt Peppers and 9 other albums that changed his life
- The Korg opsix combines the best bits of FM and subtractive synthesis into one easy-to-use instrument
- Arturia’s Chorus Jun-6 is a free VST plugin that puts the classic Roland Juno chorus in your DAW
- December 22
- December 21
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- Joe Bonamassa: “It’s a fight. My ’51 Nocaster brings out things in you as a player that, if it was too easy to play, I think it shaves a little of the intensity off”
- Native Instruments heads to China as it gives away Yangqin, a hammered dulcimer Kontakt Instrument, for free
- Video: Paul Reed Smith interviews John Mayer (and vice versa)
- There's still time to win guitars in Harley Benton's advent calendar giveaway
- Roland Fantom is an all-in-one workstation capable of expressive performances as well as rapid creative production
- See a sneak peek of new film The Beatles: Get Back
- Download IK Multimedia’s Memory-V synth for free: get ‘6 Minimoogs in one’ for nothing
- The Zoom LiveTrak L-8 is a board for creators and could be the most versatile and easy to use digital compact mixer yet
- The 7 best new MIDI controllers and sequencers of 2020
- December 18
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- Exclusive: The making of McCartney III - "Once he’s in the vibe, he doesn’t want to stop"
- Crazy Tube Circuits plays it old-school with the vintage-voiced Memphis vibrato and ltd edition Constellation fuzz
- TC Electronic adds two classic TonePrint pedals to the Plethora X5's effects line up with new Firmware 1.2 update
- 5 tracks producers need to hear by… Mutt Lange
- Save big on Pro Tools and more with Avid’s unmissable music tech Christmas deals
- Expressive E’s Noisy synth plugin could add an acoustic touch to your electronic sounds
- Maxon teams up with amp wizard Mike Fortin for a limited edition OD-9 Overdrive
- The best new studio gear of 2020: monitors, mics and mixers
- Video Q&A: How do dance music labels work? - "I didn't have a clue what I was doing..."
- The 10 best electronic music producers in the world right now, as voted for by you
- December 17
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- The Revivalists' Ed Williams: why I love my… lap and pedal steel guitars
- Joe Bonamassa to hit the studio in March to a record a “subway album“ in NYC
- Could Baby Audio’s Spaced Out plugin be a Space Echo for the DAW generation?
- Lock down and protect your effects pedal settings with PeacePoti
- "You need to find out what your strong suits are and stick with them" – 6 tips for guitarists from Intervals' Aaron Marshall
- Paul McCartney and Rick Rubin collaborate on six-part docuseries charting Macca's journey as a musician
- Stay home in style with Roland’s new lounge-friendly clothing range
- The 10 best new Eurorack modules of 2020, as voted for by you
- McGregor Pedals adds another sweet drive option for your pedalboard with the Crunch Plus Overdrive
- Interview: The future for live music and 7 tips on performing online with Tesseract bassist Amos Williams
- Here’s how you can get Cableguys’ delicious new DriveShaper distortion plugin for free
- December 16
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- Swedish pickup specialists Lundgren release the Hendrix-inspired Grey Monterey single-coil
- Artists and managers write letter in protest against PRS For Music's proposed livestream event tariff
- Issue 365 of Future Music is on sale now
- The 10 best new hardware synths of 2020
- 5 songs guitarists need to hear by… Blur
- The best new drum kits in the world right now, as voted for by you
- Stone Deaf launches the limited edition QBoost analogue preamp and tone-shaper
- 5 ways to get great tone in AmpliTube 5
- Klevgrand’s Pipa plugin is an expressive singing synth that offers more than words
- The 8 best online drum personalities in the world right now, as voted for by you
- The best session/independent drummers of 2020, as voted for by you
- The 10 best new audio interfaces of 2020
- December 15
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- Answer the call of the wild with Tone Electronix's Animalizzer multi-drive and fuzz pedal
- Cort spices up the SFX Series with a new all-Myrtlewood electro-acoustic
- Togu Audio Line challenges Arturia and Roland with the TAL-J-8 Jupiter-8 synth plugin
- Haunted Labs and Dirty Haggard Audio's Hell Horse is one beastly Fuzz/Delay
- The best new signature guitars in the world right now, as voted for by you
- SampleScience’s Koncept 606 reboots Roland’s TR-606 drum machine as a free VST plugin
- Waves' Christmas deals continue with 160 plugins down to $29.99 - plus buy 2 plugins, get 2 free!
- The best songs of 2020 performed in a medley
- December 14
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- The 13 best online guitar personalities of 2020, as voted by you
- The best pop, RNB and funk guitarists of 2020, as voted for by you
- Fancy winning €4K worth of synths? Here’s your chance to win big with this huge Thomann giveaway
- The best music tech personality of 2020, as voted for by you
- SoundForce’s updated SFC-60 MIDI controller makes your TAL-U-NO-LX plugin feel even more like a real Roland Juno-60 synth
- ESP lifts the lid on another huge batch of LTD and Ltd Deluxe guitars for 2021
- Image Line releases FL Studio 20.8, making its DAW “faster and more precise”
- The 9 best new drum machines and samplers of 2020
- December 11
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- Watch Dave Grohl and producer Greg Kurstin cover Beastie Boys, Sabotage
- 10 reasons to buy an electronic drum set
- Todd Rundgren releases Christmas single and announces virtual tour
- Passenger: 10 albums that changed my life – “If I had to pick the best songwriter of all-time, it would be Paul Simon“
- Chris Cornell's final completed studio album is released by his family
- December 10
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- Feed your amp a three-course feast of EQ/boost with Ground Control Audio's Noodles Tone Shaper
- Zoom H8 Handy Recorder: the only recorder to adapt to your way of creating
- Yamaha unveils two new Pacifica 612 guitars with impressive specs
- Steinberg’s Nuendo 11 DAW promises “a new gold standard for professional audio production”
- John Mayer’s G-SHOCK watch is inspired by the ‘80s Casio SK-5 sampling keyboard he played as a child
- Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen unveil Smith/Kotzen project with new single Taking My Chances
- Tell us about your music making for a chance to win a £150/$200
- The best new acoustic guitars in the world right now, as voted for by you
- December 9
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- The best new guitarists of 2020, as voted by you
- Get ready for Gear Expo 2021!
- Algoriddim adds gesture control to djay Pro AI: hands-free ‘air djing’ comes to iPad
- The 10 best new electric guitars in the world right now, as voted for by you
- The 10 best acoustic guitarists in the world right now, as voted by you
- Ujam’s Striiings is a Hans Zimmer-powered orchestral plugin that anyone can use
- December 8
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- The 10 best new guitar effects pedals in the world right now, as voted for by you
- Take your drums in the right direction - find out how Reason’s Beat Map device can help you
- Arturia launches the V Collection 8 vintage synth collection, with new Juno, Emulator II and Vocoder emulations joining the party
- You still have time to save up to $100 on a Positive Grid Spark guitar amp bundle
- Play chords just by pressing buttons with the Chordmonger MIDI controller
- Watch Jay Leonard J write and record an entire song using only his Jammy modular digital guitar
- Apple’s next Mac silicon chips could blow the M1 out of the water, report suggests
- Waves’ RS124 plugin puts the compressor that was used on every Abbey Road Beatles recording in your DAW
- A wind instrument of change is blowing as Roland introduces the Aerophone Pro
- Surprise! Blackstar has released a travel guitar called the Carry-on
- December 7
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- The 19 best metal guitarists in the world right now, as voted by you
- Wolfgang Van Halen hits out at EVH guitar auctions – “I would never sell any of my father's guitars. They're priceless to me“
- SampleScience releases a free VST upright piano plugin that sounds like it was recorded in your living room
- Holly Herndon: "Computers surprise you in a way that an acoustic instrument doesn’t"
- RhythmLock is a new rhythm training app that could help you to find your groove
- Chris Cornell's Superunknown Jazzmaster sells at auction – but the Eric Clapton 'Slowhand' Strat fails to get a bid
- Red Witch's Pristina is a limited edition two-channel boost pedal that will add “depth and dynamics to any amplifier“
- December 4
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- 5 things we learned from the JHS Pedals live YouTube Q&A
- Reverb reveals its best-selling guitar and bass amps of 2020
- Add some stomp, stomp, stomp in your riffs with the KHDK Electronics Scott Ian SGT D boost/preamp
- The 5 best new electronic drum kits of 2020, as voted for by you
- Plini: "Satch has been hugely inspirational to me so it’s very cool when I’m told people can hear that in there"
- 15 questions for... Shaw & Grossfeldt: "It’s piano studies in a breaky-technoish surrounding”
- The original Ry Cooder Coodercaster is for sale on Reverb, asking price $150,000
- The 10 best prog drummers in the world right now, as voted for by you
- Dave Grohl has an exquisite new signature DW snare drum, and it has made him very happy indeed
- Teenage Engineering’s OP-1 and Korg’s Volca Beats top Reverb’s lists of the best-selling synths and drum machines of 2020
- The EVE Audio SC3070 monitors: 3-way, compact and affordable. Need you ask for more?
- See Kirk Hammett and Billy Gibbons honour Peter Green with the '59 Les Paul 'Greeny' on Fleetwood Mac's The Green Manalishi
- December 3
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- John Petrucci's Ernie Ball Music Man signature guitar gets a tropical makeover for the December Ball Family Reserve
- Spotify could be working on an AI ‘plagiarism detector’ that tells you if your songs are original
- Fender and Tash Sultana collaborate on a stunning new signature Strat
- A Bob Dylan-owned '62 Fender Stratocaster and Rory Gallagher's Gibson L6S are up for auction
- Shlohmo: "I kind of see myself as a graphic designer who uses Ableton"
- Electro-Harmonix unveils Eddy – and he's a chorus / vibrato pedal
- IK Multimedia’s MixBox CS rack plugin promises all the processors you need to mix on your iPad
- Shure’s SM57 is the best-selling microphone of 2020 says, Reverb
- December 2
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- Harley Benton puts some skin art in the game with the Hawaii Concert and Soprano Spruce Tattoo ukuleles
- A classic shred machine returns to service as Ibanez unveils the Genesis Collection RG565
- Bitwig Studio 3.3 released: DAW update adds Polymer, a “fun and quick” hybrid modular synth
- Róisín Murphy: “I’ve got an Ableton rig... I really just need a laptop, an interface and a mic”
- EarthQuaker Devices and TC Electronic top Reverb's best-selling pedals of 2020
- Anyma Phi is a digital monophonic synth that brings physical modelling to the fore
- Gibson officially launches the Slash Les Paul Standard 50s “Victoria“ Goldtop
- December 1
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- Yamaha launches the super-limited edition Peter Hook Signature BBPH bass
- Mr Black's Analog Chorus/Vibrato Deluxe offers high-fidelity bucket-brigade modulation in a pedal format
- Andrew Huang’s Flip promises to be a fast but feature-packed sample-based music-making app
- Sitek freshens up its Fuzzie Fuzz with a texture control and revamped output
- Kingdom: “I’m definitely anti gear lust; all of my favourite music was made with cheap hardware or FruityLoops"
- Boss and Sola Sound team up for the ltd edition Waza Craft TB-2W Tone Bender