RECORDING WEEK 2024: They’re a stubborn old lot, guitarists. Though we live in a world where a salvo of superb software can grant access to some of the greatest amplifiers in history, virtual effects ...

I don’t think it’s unfair to say that the original Star Wars has the most iconic sound design of any movie in history, from the lightsaber noise to Chewie’s growls, to even the sound that ships make ...

Musicians, it seems, have always wanted to alter the sounds of their instruments. Over the course of centuries, strings have been added to guitars for a fuller sound. The composition of those strings ...

Best of 2022: Effects pedals are many guitarist’s most treasured playthings. But, the right software selections can not only imitate, but exceed such pedal-based effects When you purchase through ...

Back in the 1980s I played guitar. Yes, I’m that old. I learned from books and by playing along with CDs, and I jacked my Charvel guitar (awesome) into a Session guitar amp (terrible), and I never ...

A little over 10 years ago, a Phoenix-based startup treated acoustic pickers to a bunch of effects directly through the sound hole courtesy of the smartphone-sized ToneWoodAmp. Now the much-improved ...

Guitarists today are spoiled for choice, and that goes doubly true for players who use computer-based amp modeling software. I’m one such player, and I don’t miss the size, weight, deafening volume, ...

In country music, effects aren’t thought of as the focal point of the tone. If 90% of it comes from the playing, then 4% is from the guitar, 4% is from the amp, and the last 2% comes from the pedals.