Jef’s Guitar Tone Tips – Part One ‘The humble plectrum’

When you talk about good tone, it is often said by guitarists, that tone is in the fingers and in this new series I share my own personal tone journey, starting with the humble plectrum

Our Top 5 Semi-Modular Synthesizers

It's been a bumper year for semi-modular synthesizers. Completely capable of being awesome in their own right but with a willingness to get patched into something greater. Here's our pick of the best.

Stupid effect pedal names: Is it all getting a bit tired?

Here we are in 2018, and pedal buyers can choose between Hairy Balls, the Screaming Whore or even the infamous Super Hard On pedal. Is it all getting a little bit out of hand now?

Virtual Guitar Amp Software Round-up Part Two: Positive Grid BIAS Amp 2

The new updated BIAS Amp 2 has many strengths and one of those is its unique component level customisation and now with the option of including some very high-quality Celestion speaker IRs that make it really ...

Virtual Guitar Amp Software Round-up Part One: Line 6 Helix Native

Which virtual amp software should you buy? In this new series, I give my thoughts and opinions on all the major virtual amp packages. First up on my test bench is Line 6' Helix Native software package

Roadie 2 Tuner – The guitarist’s ultimate tool?

Do you suffer from keeping track of guitar tunings, have tuning problems caused by owning multiple guitars or maybe you just love guitar gadgets? Roadie 2 is here to make life easier.

Robin’s Top 3 synthesizers from NAMM 2018

This golden age of synthesizers shows no sign of slowing down and NAMM 2018 had plenty to enthral the enthusiasts. Here are the 3 synths that really made me go all modulated.

Best free plug-ins this week: Bias FX LE, RS-MET ToolChain, One Track Orchestra, HY-TP2

This week, we get a taste of Bias FX with its LE version available as a gift from the peeps at Propellerheads. And a multi-effect processing plug-in for those who like chains... Processing chains, that is.

Top 5 Synthesizers of 2017

Was 2017 a classic year for synthesizers? Which synths captured the imagination, the sonic excitement and hands-on controllability that make for an awesome creative sound machine? Here are my thoughts on that.

Whatever happened to these synths from 2017?

What happened to those synths we got excited about earlier in the year that never appeared? I've dug around to see what's MIA and what might still be coming plus an update on those TR-808 Adidas Trainers.

KLŌS guitar: The ultimate Christmas gift for travel-hungry guitarists?

Need a last-minute Christmas gift for the guitarist in your life that already owns way too many guitars? Get them one of these carbon fibre travel guitars and reap in some serous brownie points.

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier vs Line6 Helix: Can you hear the difference?

Take this blind test and see if you can hear the difference between a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier and a Line 6 Helix LT.

Best free plug-ins this week: Isol8, Retrox, Ambient Reverb 4

Want to check out some free plug-ins released this week? We have a brand new monitoring tool, a cool little synth rompler, and an interesting reverb to show you. Let's have a look!

Best free plug-ins this week: Snapshot, U-He Repro 5, Stagecraft Infinity

This week, we are blessed with an useful tool - Snapshot - along with two superb synthesizers. One's the Repro 5 by U-He, the other is Stagecraft Infinity, a thoroughly modern sample-based synth...

Enter the Pyrophone, a MIDI-controlled hydrogen flame organ!

Yes, you read that right. Invented in 1875, the pyrophone has become the centrepiece of a new scene of young artists who have rediscovered this crazy and dangerous instrument...

Drummers and why we all love them soooo much…

Drummers - we love 'em really. Especially the über-intelligent things they say in the studio! Jared Dines' new parody video on Facebook contains many lines you'll have heard from your drummer, we promise...

The Fender Bassman Shoot-out: Tweed vs. Brownface vs. Blackface!

When you have access to three classic Fender Bassman amplifiers from some of the best years of their manufacture, well you just have to A/B them surely?

The Best Free Plug-ins: A list of great gear that won’t cost you a thing

Free Plug-ins Galore! Our list of the best free plug-ins is ready for your perusal. It includes mixing tools, guitar plug-ins, virtual synths and a whole lot more...

Best free plug-ins last week: A modular synth and delays for days

Last week, talented and generous developers delivered three interesting new pluggos - Seismic (a modular synthesizer), Entropy (a delay), and WOK XDEL2 (suprise, another delay!) Grab them right here...

Free plug-ins this week: a delay, synthesizer, and three more useful tools!

Ready for the best free plug-ins this week? There's a delay, a compressor, a Korg-style synth, a console emulation and a tape saturation effect - phew!

Free Plug-ins This Week: Grab a modulator and an atmospheric Kontakt instrument!

Looking for those sweet free plug-ins? We got 'em here! This week saw the release of two fantastic tools - the FreeMod modulation VST/AU plug-in by Audiority and the free version of DRONAR, an atmospheric...

Free Plug-ins This Week: The Punch and two oddball sound design plug-ins!

Who's up for some free plug-ins? We know you are! Get Krotos Audio's Reformer, Audio Assault's The Punch, and Crimson Brain's Ribs for free, and you'll be set for a fair bit of experimentation and sound design!

Look Mum No Computer interview: Just keep going ’till its done!

Look Mum No Computer is a YouTube channel ran by UK-based musician and self-taught inventor, Sam Battle. We had to learn what's going on inside this hardcore synthesizer maniac's head, so we asked around!

Free Plug-ins This Week: Yamaha synth emulation and a two-band overdrive

The Krakli Arminator is a beast of a synth that will let you coax authentic 80s soundtrack tones with ease, while saschArt has cooked up a brutal, two-headed distortion unit. Check them out!