Gear Reviews
MY FAVORITE SYNTH with Umphrey’s McGee
I play keyboards for progressive improv rock band Umphrey’s McGee. My arsenal includes a Roland V Piano, MiniMoog Voyager, Hammond B3, Sequential Prophet 6, Fender Rhodes and Mellotron M4000d. I’m based in Los Angeles and hail from Chicago. MAKE & MODEL: 2005...
MY FAVORITE SYNTH with Ghost Love
Montreal three-piece Ghost Love is led by David Rancourt. The band delivers a soundscape of enigmatic moods and upbeat drum machine grooves influenced heavily by 80s synth-pop . The push and pull between pop and experimental is an overarching theme on Ghost Love’s...
Demystifying Analog Synthesis & Signal Flow
In an era where creative or commercial success is possible without the need for physical hardware beyond a computer running the right application, one could be forgiven for believing there is no longer a need for seemingly antiquated analog technology in music...
How To
TikTok for Music Makers: Part 2 of 2
In a previous article we went through some strategies and tips on how to blow up your music on TikTok. Well, if you have music to promote, I am assuming you are a music maker, so here are some tips on how to help your career when you are in between releases or aren’t...
How Blockchain and NFTs are the Right Tools to Secure Creative Licenses
Artists finally have the technology to protect their ideas (without hiring a lawyer) Protecting your art, music, or words has never been a priority for artists until it's too late and an idea is stolen. As creators we are naturally much more enamored of and focused on...
Thai Orchestra Relieves Pressures of COVID-19 Lockdown with Musical Horror Film
Thailand has thus far been lucky in avoiding the level of COVID fatalities that other countries have seen. But this has been achieved by imposing curfews, lockdowns and travel bans.The economic impact has been catastrophic, particularly in a country which depends on...
Buying Guide
REVIEW: Donner Starry Pad MIDI Drum Pad Controller
We hate to keep comparing things, but since our go-to pad controller in the studio is the PreSonus Atom, it would be dishonest to say we didn’t draw comparisons when testing out the Donner Starry Pad. For reference, this comes in about $50 cheaper than the PreSonus...
REVIEW: Donner DMK-25 PRO MIDI Controller
The Donner DMK-25 PRO MIDI Controller comes in an attractive blacked-out finish, and a two-octave keyboard that’ll get any budding producer started, whether it’s adding bass lines, melodies, drum samples or chord changes to their tracks. It’s all USB powered, so you...
REVIEW: Donner B1 Bass Synthesizer
Donner sent us one of their new B1 Bass Synthesizers to check out and do some video work with (check out a killer track that Kyle Andrews made for us on below), and we were super impressed with this small format, yet ultra-cool, bass synth. View this post on...
Industry News
Xvive launches new 3-channel personal mixer/IEM headphone amp
Xvive helped musicians and singers around the world hear themselves and others with T9 In-Ear Monitors and the U4 In-Ear Monitor Wireless System. Now they’re announcing a new wired monitoring product —the PX Portable 3-Channel Personal Mixer. It’s a beltpack unit that...
VIDEO SERIES: Go Anywhere, Capture Everything with the TASCAM DR-10L Pro
In our new video series, we show content creators how to get stellar sound for their video productions using the new TASCAM DR–10L Pro portable field recorder. In episode 1 we unbox everything, go over some of the basic functionality and get ready to head out into the...
Audio-Technica launches AT-UMX3 livestreaming USB audio mixer
Audio-Technica, leading innovator in transducer technology for over 60 years, announces the launch of the AT-UMX3 livestreaming USB audio mixer—Audio-Technica’s first USB audio mixer for streaming and other applications. The AT-UMX3 is a compact,...