Articles tagged: best-of-23

Banned Synth

“The union passed a motion to ban the use of synths, drum machines and any electronic devices”: the day the 'Loony' Musician's Union tried to kill the synthesizer (which also happened to be Bob Moog’s birthday)

By Andy Jones published

Best of 2023: And it wasn't the first time the UK union had it in for technology

English singer-songwriter, guitarist and former Beatle, George Harrison (1943 - 2001), Cannes, France, 30th January 1976

The 5 George Harrison post-Beatles songs you need to hear: “I write lyrics and I make up songs, but I'm not a great lyricist or songwriter or producer. It's when you put all these things together — that makes me"

By Neil Crossley published

Best of 2023: Freed from the creative confines of The Beatles, George Harrison set out to realise his true creative potential. Here are five of his finest works…

Greg Phillinganes plays Thriller synth parts

Watch Greg Phillinganes recreate Michael Jackson’s Thriller using the original synths

By Ben Rogerson published

Best of 2023: Yep, he still remembers how to play the chords and bassline

George Martin and John Lennon

"We take the original image and split it through a double vibrocated sploshing flange with double negative feedback": The Beatles, Les Paul, or Larry Levine? Who really discovered flanging?

By Andy Jones published

Best of 2023: Lennon and George Martin are often given the credit, but flanging might well have been around for years before they 'discovered' it

james holden

James Holden: "I got really bored of making music. But the moment I discovered modular and Live and Max/MSP, it all opened up again"

By Matt Mullen published

Two decades into his career, James Holden is still searching for new ways to make electronic music sound human. We visit him in his West London studio

Rick Wakeman in 1972

“To play music, you have to understand it. I didn’t understand Topographic Oceans. That’s why I hardly played on it": Rick Wakeman and Yes - firings, hirings, curry, catastrophe and chaos

By Daniel Griffiths published

Best of 2023: When Vangelis nearly joined Yes and other tales from topographic oceans…

Marshall Studio JTM45

“It sounds ambitious, but with the brand that we have, I have no concern about us becoming a multibillion-dollar company”: Marshall chief exec Jeremy de Maillard bullish about amp brand’s growth

By Jonathan Horsley published

Best of 2023: After Zound bought Marshall in March this year, fans of the storied amp company asked what’s next? According to the Marshall Group chief exec, growth is next, and lots of it

Close up of the fretboard of a 5-string bass

Which synth was used to create the Seinfeld slap bass sound? None of them, it turns out

By Ben Rogerson published

Best of 2023: The classic sitcom’s sonic signature was actually “frankenstein-engineered from multiple sampled bass guitars”

dj shadow

DJ Shadow on why he'll never go back to the MPC: "I got the newest MPC and I lasted about a day and a half. When you know what the possibilities are now and you try to go back in time, it doesn't work"

By Matt Mullen published

Best of 2023: The iconic crate-digger talks us through serendipitous needle drops, moving on from the MPC and the making of his latest project

Van Halen Jump Video keyboard solo close-up

Hear the first known recording of Eddie Van Halen playing Jump's iconic, band-breaking synth part: "If I want to play Bavarian cheese whistle, I will do it"

By Will Groves published

Best of 2023: "This is something I did last night"