Best Sample Packs This Week: Emo beats, dubstep vocals, breakbeat drums

The best sample packs this week include scenic sounds created with unusual objects, emo beats, dubstep vocals, instruments that help you paint a daydream, and jazz breakbeat drums.

How to Optimise Your Apple Mac for Making Music

When using an Apple Mac for music production we need to consider three main areas of the system, the CPU, RAM and Storage. But how much of each do you need? And how should you set them up?

Five iconic delay pedals you can’t go wrong with.

Looking for a new delay but overwhelmed by the staggering amount of options? Don't worry, we've narrowed the choices down to a list of 5 delay pedals that we think are worth considering.

The Best Sample Packs This Week: Chinese instruments and sounds of the British Invasion

Super cool new samples! An impressive foley sounds collection, a swathe of authentic Chinese instruments, funk and disco sounds for house productions, and the sound of the British Invasion!

Fender American Professional II Stratocaster Review: The new flagship

We take an in-depth look at Fender's new flagship American Professional II Stratocaster! Has Fender created a must-have guitar for the modern player?

Best Sample Packs This Week: Beatbox vocals, a Nordish organ, morphing pads

We've got some awesome sample packs for you this week: beatbox magic, a Nordish organ, eastern ethnic instrumental fusion sounds, and morphing pads.

Building my own Van Halen Frankenstein Super Strat in a day: A tribute to Eddie

As a tribute to the late great Eddie Van Halen, I decided to build my very own Frankenstein-style Super Strat using nothing but old guitar parts and basic tools.

Gearnews’ Top 5 YouTube music production channels

It may be difficult to weed out the amazing content from all the noise in the overcrowded YouTube of today. We're here to help!

Best Sample Packs This Week: Rush drums, ambient guitars, a Motown Wurlitzer

Some great new sample packs for you this week: drum samples for Sample Tank recorded by Neil Peart, ambient guitar swells, a prog house sample set, a 100 person choir, and a Motown Wurlitzer! Phew!

ZOOM H8 Review: The only portable recorder you’ll ever need?

Zoom says its H8 Handy Recorder is "the only recorder which adapts to your way of creating". Is it the only recorder you'll ever need?

The Stratocaster and the Genius of Leo Fender: A Short History

As the release of the Fender American Professional Series II seems imminent, we take a brief look at the Stratocaster, and how one Leo Fender changed the landscape of music, forever.

Jimi Hendrix guitar tones: Tips and gear to get you started

Fifty years ago today, the world lost Jimi Hendrix. Looking to replicate some of those legendary tones? Here's some tips and a list of gear that will get you started.

8 more cheap pedals every guitarist needs to try

Here are 8 more great budget effects pedals that you should try before you die. They include tube overdrives, classic chorus effects, reverbs, tremolos, and more. All for around £60 each!

5 floor tuners that cater to every budget

Looking for a floor tuner but not sure which one to get? We've narrowed the choices down to these 5 options that we think would be a worthy addition to any rig.

Your Ideal Polysnth: How (not) to choose the polyphonic synth of your dreams

You're going to finally realise your dream and buy your dream polysynth, now you're standing in a showroom surrounded by magical music machines: How do you choose your first polyphonic synthesizer?

8 cheap pedals every guitarist needs to try

Vintage pedal snobs: the truth is that there are distortion, fuzz, delay, chorus and flanger pedals that sound great going for around or under £60/$80! Here are 8 cheap pedals you need to try.

Gibson, Fender, PRS & Co.: Do guitar brands matter anymore?

Do you think established brands still hold the monopoly on the industry that they used to? Or have modern production methods and techology made brand-consciousness redundant?

Best Gibson Les Paul Alternatives: Top 5 Premium Single-Cut Electric Guitars

Looking for a high-quality single cut guitar but not happy with Gibson's offerings? Here are five Les Paul alternatives that ooze quality and vibe - be warned, they come with a premium price tag!

Fender’s ’57 Champ: Do you really need more than five watts?

While classic rock may conjure images of Les Pauls and rows of Marshall stacks, in truth, many of the legendary tones on our favourite songs were recorded using much smaller amps.

Best delay plug-ins: Our Top 10 echo tools of 2020 (so far)

Liven up your arsenal with some of these great echo tools! Here is our list of the 10 best delay plug-ins, from 2020 so far. These belong in every producer's creative toolbox - and some are free!

Condenser Microphone Capsules: Build Your Perfect Mic Locker!

The capsule is at the core of any condenser microphone's sound - if you're looking to expand your mic locker, this 101 on microphone capsules is the place to start in selecting your next mic.

Live after COVID-19: Do we really want Live Music back the way it was?

COVID-19 hit live music hard. And though we're all eager for things to go back to the way they were, maybe we should use this time to improve the live industry for the better.

Best Eurorack filters: 8 filters you should have in your rack

There are many reasons for choosing a filter; price, sound, popularity, but why not start with what we think are the best filter modules for cutting tones and slicing frequencies in your Eurorack.

Confessions of a pedal junkie: How I became addicted to stompboxes

Our contributor Jef Stone is a pedal addict. A certified AAA stompbox junkie, in fact. Here's the story of how his pedal collection grew from a single BOSS SD-1 to hundreds of effects.