gear giveaway

Improve Your Recordings: Drums Tips and Secrets

There are a gazillion articles out there about how to record drums, but I’ve always thought that the best possible advice in this regard is not how to record but… what to record. Yes, mic positioning is challenging when recording a drum kit, but even the most sophisticated and flawless…Click on the title for more

Improve Your Recordings: Drums Tips and Secrets

Pedal News: Xotic SP Compressor

The new Xotic SP Compressor offers the same OTA (operational trans-conductance amplifier) technology used in what many guitar players consider the best compressor ever, the Ross Compressor. This new SP Compressor reportedly has superb tone quality featuring a wide variety of compressor tones from vintage, to subtle, to modern and…Click on the title for more

Pedal News: Xotic SP Compressor

A History of Audio Plug Ins: Invasion of the “Sound Snatchers”

Do you remember the movie “The Crow”? The one where Brandon Lee, after dying (for real) while the film was being shot, was replaced by a computer generated, perfectly realistic image of himself? Something similar happened in the recording field, where old stars of that scene like valves, tape machines,…Click on the title for more

A History of Audio Plug Ins: Invasion of the “Sound Snatchers”

Slide Guitar Tone Secrets: Pick the Right Material

When playing slide guitar, different materials used on your strings will create slightly different tones. If you are after a smooth slide with long, clean sustain, you should try a cut-off bottleneck, which was Ry Cooder’s choice. If you are aiming at something less atmospheric and with more “bite,” go…Click on the title for more

Slide Guitar Tone Secrets: Pick the Right Material

Pedal news: Snark Tuner

Snark Tuners has recently released their first pedal, the SN10 ($59). Building on the success of their popular clip-on instrument tuners, the SN10 is designed for quick and easy tuning on stage or in the studio. Just plug in and strike any note: yellow and red bars will show if…Click on the title for more

Pedal news: Snark Tuner

Pedal News: Digitech iStomp Updated

HARMAN’s DigiTech announced it is now shipping its iStomp Programmable Pedal pre-loaded with 10 of its most popular e-pedals and now featuring also an updated Stomp Shop app where guitarists are able to try any pedal for free for up to five minutes. The updated Stomp Shop app features faster…Click on the title for more

Pedal News: Digitech iStomp Updated

Pigtronix Infinity Looper

The Pigtronix Infinity Looper has some of the best specs I've seen in a looper yet. I feel like this NYC based company really assessed the looping community's needs when building this box. The first thing that caught my eye was the advanced sync options. Infinity’s innovative “SYNC MULTI” mode provides…Click on the title for more

Pigtronix Infinity Looper

Pedal News: Strymon Mobius

One of the sickest companies making stomp boxes right now is Strymon. They make really great digital pedals that focus on getting the tone exactly right, often times incorporating high end SHARC processor DSPs. Their next pedal, Mobius, is all about modulation. Everything from lush choruses to pulsating tremolo as…Click on the title for more

Pedal News: Strymon Mobius

Pedal Review: Modtone Funk Filter Enveloper

Funky automatic filters are one of my favorite alliterations in the guitar effects world. As bizarre as this may sound, these kind of effects seem to bring a level of consciousness to the guitar notes played through them - it's like if that riff was talking to me! The effect…Click on the title for more

Pedal Review: Modtone Funk Filter Enveloper

Pedal News: Barefoot Sea Blue EQ

The Sea Blue EQ is a clear warm tubelike treble/bass booster - the EQ controls do go +/- and it is built in such a way that if pushed hard, it will distort in a pleasant way much like an expensive tube EQ would. It is also said to have…Click on the title for more

Pedal News: Barefoot Sea Blue EQ

Backwords and the Recording Process

Backwords' Gear: CAD Equitek E-100 " I was never a mic expert, but these 90's CADS are fairly cheap, sound clean and a little vintage, and have done the trick on so many Backwords recordings. " Our friends at The Deli NYC are big fans Backwords' chilled and poli-instrumental approach to…Click on the title for more

Backwords and the Recording Process

Pedal News: EH Deluxe Bass Big Muff Pi

Electro-Harmonix have recently announced the Deluxe Bass Big Muff Pi to be launched in early January. It adds additions such as a -10dB Pad button to ensure the effectiveness of the pedal with both active or passive pickups. Also new, is a Blend knob to control the percentage of the…Click on the title for more

Pedal News: EH Deluxe Bass Big Muff Pi