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February 2021

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163 articles

February 26
- Wampler releases its Ratsbane distortion pedal into the wild
- The 4 iconic samplers that changed musical history (and how they did it)
- SampleRadar: 354 free '90s samples
- The Track: Rich NxT on the making of Natural feat. Shyam P
- Mixed in Key’s Satellite Plugins 2.0 enables free online music-making collaboration in different DAWs
- A Tele and Precision Bass joins the Strat in Fender's new Boxer series
- How Daft Punk made Homework: early studio gear and music production methods revealed
- Video Q&A: What makes vinyl special? - "It engages you, it becomes physical"
- Here’s how you could win a recording session at the world-famous Metropolis Studios
February 25
- Harley Benton’s HB-35Plus semi-hollow guitar is now available in 4 new finishes
- Uèle Lamore: “I still use the same refurbished iMac that I got in 2011… I don’t use any soft synths”
- Reason Studios’ Algoritm is a flexible FM synth that promises the iconic sounds of both the ‘80s and today
- "The Living are ground zero for the Seattle sound” – Duff McKagen's teenage punk band's recordings finally see a release
- Ariel Posen: 10 Albums that changed my life – “The fluidity, the attack, the aggression, the creativity, the excitement. SRV absolutely melted my mind“
- John Petrucci confirms he's using an 8-string guitar on Dream Theater's next album
February 24
- Godin reveals its Montreal Premiere HT semi-hollow guitar in Laguna Blue
- The best DAWs 2021: the best digital audio workstations for PC and Mac
- 5 tracks producers need to hear by... Daft Punk
- Are mini humbuckers the unsung heroes of the pickup world?
- 10-year-old Nandi Bushell plays guitar, bass, drums and sings on cover of Red Hot Chili Peppers' Under The Bridge - Flea approves
- Reverb announces more exclusive effects ahead of The Pedal Movie release
February 23
- Dave Mustaine's first signature guitars with Gibson and Kramer revealed
- A Radiohead cassette demo from the 80s has sold at auction for £6,000
- Softube and Empirical Labs offer new compressor and EQ plugins for your DAW, and a channel strip for Console 1
- GForce Software’s OB-E synth plugin brings back the mighty Oberheim 8-Voice
- The head of UK Music welcomes the return of live music but warns continued government support is vital for its success
- Stanley Clarke unveils his Strat-inspired Spellcaster short-scale bass
February 22
- Daft Punk have split up, and they're not telling us why
- HY-ESG is a free VST/AU trance gate plugin that hinges on a Euclidean sequencer
- Thinking about buying an M1 Mac for music production? Maybe you should wait for the M1X…
- Megadeth's Dave Mustaine leaves Dean Guitars to partner with Gibson
- Slipknot guitarist Jim Root reveals why he won't use the wah pedal Dimebag gave him
February 21
- 5 songs drummers need to hear featuring…Dave Grohl (that aren't Nirvana or Foo Fighters)
February 19
- The best electric guitar strings 2021: guitar string sets for all styles and budgets
- New Gary Moore album to feature previously unreleased material
- The 10 best classical guitars 2021: the best nylon-string guitars, plus flamenco and hybrid models
- Could Real World Studios’ intimate new Red Room be your perfect music production pleasure palace?
- The 17 best guitar amps 2021: Our pick of the best combos, heads and pedalboard amps for all budgets and abilities
- The 8 best ukuleles 2021: top acoustic ukes and the best electric ukuleles for all abilities
- Harley Benton has got the blues – the DC-Junior FAT blues
- The 10 best pianos 2021: Our pick of the best acoustic and digital pianos for home, studio and stage
- sE Electronics announces Myles Kennedy signature microphone
- “Stuff like Nick Drake definitely shows through in how we write: the movements, how we approach our instruments, how we approach creating a song" – Lamb Of God's Willie Adler talks 10 albums that changed his life
- Spitfire Audio releases affordable new Abbey Road orchestral libraries for your next blockbuster film soundtrack
- 10 best acoustic guitar strings 2021: top strings to help you get the best from your acoustic guitar
- An audio engineer explains why Dolby Atmos Music is “definitely going to supersede stereo”
February 18
- Jimmy Edgar: “I almost never used compression on my music up until my new album”
- The 9 best guitars for beginners 2021: become a star in the making with these beginner-friendly acoustic and electric guitars
- Get contemporary vocal sounds in real-time using Waves’ Vocal Bender plugin
- IK Multimedia’s iRig Pre 2 promises high-quality mic recording wherever you go
- Music Is Win's Tyler Larson thinks he's found most emotional guitar chord progression ever
- Acoustic guitarist Maneli Jamal takes part in Octet collaboration with 7 other players
February 17
- Watch Keith Carlock demo and talk through his new Gretsch signature snare drum
- RJM Music Technology launches the fully programmable Overture overdrive pedal
- What’s it like to be a woman learning music production? A new documentary, In Ctrl, finds out
- Peavey officially releases the much-anticipated Misha Mansoor signature Invective MH amp head
- Harley Benton's CG-400CE Thinline is a hybrid acoustic guitar for the nylon-curious and beginners
- The 9 best in-ear monitors 2021: IEMs for every situation, from the studio to the stage
- Dean cooks up some roasted maple necks and 'boards for its retro-shred MD 24 Floyd series
- The 12 best audio interfaces 2021: recommended audio interfaces for music-making and production
- 5 songs guitarists need to hear by… The Doors
- Test guitar effects pedals from the comfort of your home with Thomann's Stompenberg FX online app
- Mutable Instruments goes beyond the Clouds with the Beads Eurorack ‘texture synthesizer’
- Roland’s Juno-60 synth plugin brings back an ‘80s classic, complete with “odd quirks and charming limitations”
February 16
- Godin adds the all-mahogany Fairmount CH Composer QIT to its lineup of Canadian-built acoustics
- Electro-Harmonix squeezes fresh juice for your pedalboard with the MOP-D10 isolated power supply
- Could the new Kali Audio IN-5s be the most ideal monitors for home studios?
- Save up to 50% on a new ukulele from Ukutune - prices from just $24.99
- Adam Jones reveals the level of eye-watering detail that went into recreating his signature '79 Les Paul Custom
- Watch Wilco’s Nels Cline demo EarthQuaker Devices’ Astral Destiny modulated octave reverb pedal
- IK Multimedia is giving you another chance to download Memory-V, its Moog Memorymoog soft synth emulation, for free
- You’d better get your skates on if you want Supreme’s startling new Akai MPC Live II
- Watch: LA Sessions is a full sound library recorded at a legendary studio
February 15
- Tom Morello, Vernon Reid and Paul Stanley are raving about this young guitarist's cover of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir
- 5 overdrive pedals guitar players need to try
- Star Trek composer Jeff Russo: “I was a guy from a ‘90s alternative rock band and I’d never done an orchestral score before”
- LANDR Sessions offers video chat and high-quality DAW audio streaming for musicians
- Waveform Free 2021: Tracktion says that the “best free DAW” just got even better
- Old Blood Noise Endeavors releases $29 Split | Meld routing solution for pedals
February 14
- Pioneering audio equipment engineer Rupert Neve dies aged 94
February 12
- Five Finger Death Punch's Andy James has a more affordable guitar with Kiesel
- Furch Guitars announces new antibacterial neck treatment
- Cristian Vogel: “I’m not in need of advanced music theory - the computers I work with are doing a better job of figuring out what notes are coming next than I probably could”
- How lockdown led to a music studio for young adults experiencing homelessness in the UK
- Phoebe Bridgers responds to online overreaction to her guitar smashing
- The drumming world pays tribute to Chick Corea, who died this week aged 79
- Make your sounds go ‘from flaccid to fat’ with producer Jonas Aden’s chunky Biggifier VST plugin
- Alex Lifeson on his guitars: "What I'd like to do sometime in the near future is to sell my collection"
- You can now watch GForce’s Bright Sparks synth documentary for free
- Rickenbacker announces 90th anniversary bass and guitar models
February 11
- Jazz legend Chick Corea dies, aged 79
- Classic interview: John Frusciante – “I’m a person who likes to contradict himself and go against what he was doing before"
- The beginner's guide to: dub
- "I guess I’m a rock guy trying to play jazz" – Steve Lukather talks Rosanna, Eddie Van Halen and his new solo album
- Ableton Live 11 release date confirmed, and it’s not too far away
- A metalhead has built an electric guitar out of his late uncle‘s skeleton
- Eplex7 DSP says that its Klerhaim N1 VST synth is more analogue than 99.5% of all others: “do not be confused with marketing BS”
- Issue 367 of Future Music is on sale now
- The Prodigy to release tell-all documentary film: “This one’s for Keef!”
February 10
- Electro-Harmonix goes old school with the Ripped Speaker fuzz pedal
- 5 music technology products that you (probably) didn’t know can use MPE
- Flux Mini is a free envelope shaping plugin for everything from “simple sidechaining to manic modulation”
- Go behind the scenes on Sylvia Massey & Taylor Hawkins’ mammoth drum recording session with Antelope Audio
- 5 songs guitarists need to hear by… The Rolling Stones
- A Genelec SAM system may be the best thing producers can buy in lockdown
- The best studio monitors 2021: 10 budget-spanning studio speakers for musicians and producers
- Neil Young producer and audio innovator Elliot Mazer dies, aged 79
- Enter AmpMan: Hughes & Kettner doubles down on pedalboard amps with a whole new series
- 13 best electronic drum sets 2021: Our pick of electronic drum kits for every playing level and budget
- Watch YouTuber Brandon Scott turn corn starch and water into a practice pad
- Free music samples: download loops, hits and multis from SampleRadar
- Cort's got a new flagship guitar – is the G300 Pro more affordable competition for the Ibanez AZ?
- Strandberg announces new signature models guitars for Plini and Per Nilsson
February 9
- 5 electronic music genres that literally anyone can produce
- Novation’s Circuit Tracks could be the portable groovebox that also sits at the heart of your studio
- DW's new Purple Core drum shells offer its "lowest note timbre shells to-date”
- 12 cheap home recording studio upgrade ideas
- Jukeblocks lets you create FL Studio and Ableton Live track templates and convert DAW project files for free
- Mary Wilson, Supremes co-founder, dies suddenly aged 76
- Embrace the brighter side of guitar life with the new Blackstar Fly Neon amp
February 8
- We’re spinning out over this tangible MIDI sequencer that looks like a vinyl turntable
- The 8 best baritone guitars 2021: dive deep with these hollow and solid-bodied baritone guitars
- Luke Abbott: "I’m not sure I can bring myself to spend three grand on a synth… You could get a new kitchen for that!”
- "I have a big feeling that we are losing the essence of musicianship interaction" – guitarist Mateus Asato closes Instagram account, takes break from music
- Phoebe Bridgers told Danelectro she was planning to smash her guitar on Saturday Night Live
- The 8 best website builders for musicians and bands 2021: get your music heard and sell some merch
February 5
- Bergantino Audio Systems introduces NXV Series bass cabs
- "Whilst 93% of grassroots music venue properties in the UK aren't owned by the people running them, there will always be problems in times of crisis"
- Classic album - Amon Tobin on Foley Room: “I hadn’t told John I was turning up with a bowl of wasps. He wasn’t happy at all.”
- Vollume Control promises to make remote music collaboration “easier and smarter” and works with any DAW
February 4
- 11 best laptops for music production 2021: portable computers for musicians, producers and DJs
- The 9 best budget audio interfaces 2021: start recording today for less than $120/£110
- A Winged Victory for the Sullen: "If I can’t fall asleep to a piece of music I’ve written it doesn’t make the record"
- "I love exploring and channelling these different pieces of me from these different eras" – Nothing,Nowhere on Trauma Factory and the 10 albums that changed his life
- 13 gifts for guitar players: affordable present ideas for guitarists
- 10 best keyboards for beginners and kids 2021: Start playing today with our expert pick of beginner keyboards
- Everything you need to know about Ableton Live 11
- 18 gifts for drummers: the ultimate guide to present ideas for the drummer in your life
- Could the UF8 be the SSL DAW controller that you can actually afford?
- The Tone Bender Mk II fuzz pedal is back as the  Waza Craft TB-2W
- Novation teases new Circuit music-making hardware and says it’ll be “worth the hype”
February 3
- D’Addario has released an expandable pedalboard called the XPND
- Central heating in a fuzz pedal? Benson's new Germanium Fuzz sounds interesting!
- Fraser T Smith: "Programming makes me think of computer geeks at school and doesn’t feel that musical"
- Brian May Guitars announces its first signature model for another artist
- Synchro Arts’ VocAlign Ultra plugin promises a better way to align the timing and pitch of your vocals
- A US toddler is releasing her debut electronic music album, which she produced using MIDI before she was born
- 5 songs guitarists need to hear by… Dimebag Darrell
- Pluto is a dwarfish modular synth that’s inspired by ‘80s Casio keyboards
February 2
- Krust: “You can’t just carry on making the same kind of drum & bass; it’s like staying in a relationship that isn’t working”
- AudioThing models King Tubby’s studio gear in the Alborosie Dub Station plugin
- Cherry Audio’s Polymode VST synth plugin is a Moog Polymoog without the problems
- Download a free Greenpeace sample pack and use it to create ‘the soundtrack of the future’
February 1
- Brian May is getting on the Wellerman British sea shanty wave with a cover
- Dave Grohl on the "dysfunction" of Nirvana: “Was I as close to Kurt as I am to Taylor Hawkins? No”
- The Luka State's Conrad Ellis: Why I love my… 1977 Fender Telecaster
- Richard Barbieri: “I didn’t have any technical ability, and I didn’t have any music theory knowledge”
- 76% of UK musicians will stop performing in Europe post-Brexit, survey suggests
- Best guitar VSTs 2021: guitar plugins and software to supercharge your guitar recordings
- The best earplugs for musicians 2021: protect your hearing from the practice room to your next gig
- Zildjian releases 200 cymbals from Armand Zildjian’s personal vault, and you can buy one
- Here’s the new MIDI 2.0 logo and sonic signature: look and sound inspired by “musical forms”
- Steven Wilson: "I think the guitar will always have a place, but it needs to adapt"