“90% of what I do is done on one software synth”: Hans Zimmer on the synth plugin that he’s been working with for years – and still hasn’t run out of ideas
Zimmer digs deep into his creative process in this interview with Rick Beato
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Music Tech & Industry
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“A guitar software instrument can sound incredible – as nuanced and human as the real thing, but only if you know exactly what you are doing with it”: The ultimate guide to plugin guitars
After spending decades trying to emulate the guitar, it might have been easier just to pick one up and learn how to play it…
“A tape delay plugin that finally sounds like the real thing”: Heritage Audio takes on the legendary Echoplex with its TAPEoPLEX plugin
Favoured by Brian May, Jimmy Page and Joe Satriani, the Echoplex is one of history's most iconic effects units
“A very capable package that will give beginners the tools they need to make good quality recordings”: M-Audio M-Track Duo HD Producer Pack review
This recording studio in a box from M-Audio looks to give beginners a complete home studio setup for below $/£200
“Everybody was screaming out, ‘what record is that?!’ It wasn’t a record – it was the 808”: Roland celebrates 45 years of the TR-808 with Rhythm Creators video series
Episode one premieres today with Egyptian Lover, and later instalments will feature Fatboy Slim, Prince Paul and Soul II Soul's Jazz...
“Evolves the SH-101 template while still capturing the sound of the original”: Donner Essential L1 review
The Chinese brand's second synth enters into the increasingly busy budget 101 fray – can it stand out from its rivals?
“For real-time plugins, it’s very hard to do something effective with AI. It’s very good at big brush things”: Leapwing Audio on their stable of forensic mix plugins
Leapwing's intuitive, incisive plugins let users perform forensic mix surgery with ease and emulate the tones of iconic producers.
“I downloaded it two years ago and it changed my life – it’s one of my favourite synths”: Rudimental reveal their favourite plugins for drum ‘n’ bass production
Rudimental's Piers Aggett and Kesi Dryden appear on the Tape Notes podcast to discuss the software that's shaped their soulful, radi...
“I look forward to hearing everyone’s interpretation – don’t hold back”: Remix Madonna’s Ray of Light and win $12,000 of music gear
Beatport's Global Remix Challenge invites producers to put a spin on the title track of Madonna's Grammy-winning 1998 album
“I looked on Reverb for a Yamaha CS-80 – we drove out to get it and its sound became a key part of the movie’s soundtrack”: The classic synth heard on the Barbie OST was picked up in “an hour and a half” on Reverb, says Mark Ronson
As the gear marketplace relaunches in the UK with reduced seller fees, Ronson reflects on how Reverb played a part in the making of...
“I told them when I left, ‘Do not use my music’. And of course they used it”: 42 years on, Dave Mustaine still has a few things to say about his exit from Metallica
"You listen to the riffs, you know they’re my riffs"
“I want to make something that allows people to express themselves purely and not feel like they’re having to make compromises”: Musik Hack on their quest to refine plugin UI design
We sit down with Musik Hack co-founder Sam Fischmann to hear more about the philosophy behind its superb mastering plugin
“I’ve never sung with no tuning before – this is really scary”: PinkPantheress almost pulled out of Tiny Desk concert after being told she couldn’t use Auto-Tune
The NPR show marked the artist's first ever performance without vocal pitch-correction
“I’ve been a Live user for around 20 years, and it’s probably the effect I turn to most regularly”: Ableton Live 12.2 gives this “incredibly versatile” device a much-needed refresh – and rectifies Push 3’s most notable missing feature
Live 12.2 will be released on June 11, bringing updates to Meld, Roar, new Max devices and more
“If you’ve been unsure of making the jump to Bitwig Studio, then Connect might just be the sweetener to seal the deal”: Bitwig Connect 4/12 review
Bitwig’s first bespoke bit of hardware goes beyond your average audio interface
“If your singing sounds like a dying cat, this finally kills the cat”: This hilariously bad mic modelling plugin is free for International Joke Day
Caelum Audio's Toyphonic Micraliser is the plugin nobody asked for
“Infinite, unique, new, original audio based on the characteristics of any sample”: Output’s new Re-imagine feature in Co-Producer can rework samples to avoid copyright takedowns
Worried that your latest production is too laden with library sounds? Let AI conjure up something that's exclusively all yours
“It’s a weird kind of tech-bro nightmare future… the economic structure is morally wrong”: Thom Yorke says AI steals from artists and devalues humanity
"Is AI capable of genuine original creative thought? I have yet to see that," says the Radiohead frontman
“It’s been such a privilege to work with Daphne’s sounds”: Daphne Oram’s centenary celebrated in compilation featuring previously unheard archival material
The album features original compositions based on samples of Oram's work by Cosey Fanni Tutti, Marta Salogni, TAAHLIAH, Arushi Jain...
“Just clip on to a leaf and play”: Instruo’s Pocket Scion is a handheld biofeedback synthesizer that makes music from nature
Designed in partnership with Modern Biology, the device translates biofeedback data from living organisms into evolving generative s...
“No complex bus routing and no endless plugin stacks”: iZotopeʼs colourful new FXEQ multi-effects plugin lets you “paint” with saturation, reverb, and delay
Each of FXEQ's effects runs through its own six-band parametric EQ, giving you targeted control over its application across the freq...
“No complicated signal routing, no phase issues, no stress”: Time Off Audio’s Dime [ms] makes mid/side easy
This time-saving plugin host makes it a breeze to employ mid/side processing with any of your existing AU/VST3 effects
“No strings attached”: The Crow Hill Company releases Lo-Fi Strings, a free tape-treated string library with a warm and nostalgic sound
Another instalment in Crow Hill's ongoing Vaults series, Lo-Fi Strings brings the beloved sonic imperfections of tape recording into...
“Not being a musician you feel a little bit of an imposter, but I’ve got a passion for it and I think a lot of great musicians respect me for that”: Dub pioneer Adrian Sherwood on embracing AI and playing the studio like an instrument
How AI tech worked alongside vintage studio gear to create The Collapse of Everything