By Paul White When Paul White reviewed the TD-12K for Sound on Sound magazine, he instantly knew he had to have a kit of his own for good. Here he explains why. As a long time TD-8 Roland V-Drum owner, I recently decided to up grad e to the newer…
By Norm Leet As his first guitar synth approaches its 30th birthday, Norm Leet takes a nostalgic look back at the evolution of a piece of gadgetry that has brought a whole new world of sounds to the guitarist’s fingertips. And, as he discovers – from the earliest models that…
By Paul McGuinness Black America’s Civil Rights campaign inspired some of the most empathetic and empowering music of the 20th century. PowerOn charts the soundtrack to a fight for freedom that changed the world. CIVIL RIGHTS When, in late 1963, Sam Cooke heard Blowin’ In The Wind, he was so…
By Paul McGuiness Playing live on stage, it has been claimed, requires a form of heroism bordering on insanity. But if you’re brave enough to take the plunge, how can you get your audience loving your songs as much as you do? Well, as everyone from The Who to Iron…
The outrageously talented Pharrell Williams is taking the world by storm yet again, this time as a solo artist. We spoke to some of the musicians helping him recreate his celebrated studio sounds live on stage on his latest tour. Is there anything Pharrell Williams can’t do? As the most…
By Paul McGuiness The history of rock music is full of glorious moments when past and future collide and three frenzied chords sound new and fresh once again. From Elvis to The Rakes, the tone may change but the song remains the same. At the beginning of the documentary, Elvis…
All the gear in the world is of no avail if you haven’t got that all important component – a good song. Let PowerOn guide you through the basics of harnessing your inspiration to build a killer composition from scratch. OK, so you’ve gone out and spent your hard-earned cash…
Capturing the nuances of the human voice is invariably the trickiest part of any recording session. But have no fear: our expert guide to recording vocals is here to help you. It doesn’t matter what type of recording system you use, hardware or software, the human voice is the most…
“Everyone else is doing it, so why can’t we?” OK, so that was the title of an album by The Cranberries, but it’s also a sentiment held by many a muso trying to traverse the distance between the bedroom and the stadium. The good news is that unsigned musicians now…
By Jordan McLachlan Life has been good to Thomas Lang in recent times. Years of dedication to his instrument and to his career have seen the Austrian-born drummer reach the top of his chosen tree to become one of the UK’s most popular players, clinicians and educators. This success is…
By Jordan McLachlan Angular art-punksters Bloc Party have released one of the best albums of the year in Silent Alarm. Guitarist Russell Lissack talks song writing, recording and influences. The UK has a long history of producing guitar players worthy of the title ‘hero’. And they’ve not emerged exclusively from…
“Their production will be second to none” In our series of features looking at inspirational moments in pop history, we examine how The Beatles showed that limited technology is no barrier to creativity and imagination Nothing exists in a vacuum. Just as the world didn’t go colour 20 minutes into The…