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looper guitar pedal main image of pedalboard in use on stage
Looper guitar pedals are more popular than ever, and offer big creative potential for electric and acoustic guitarists alike. With such a wide range of loop pedals for guitar available in 2023, we want to take a look at 10 of the best looper pedals currently on the market.
blackstar amps amped 2 in a studio with mixing board in the background
Any pedalboard amp, at its core, is a power amplifier packed into a stompbox that can be easily placed on your effects pedalboard. Just like the power amplifier in your combo amp or guitar amplifier head, a pedalboard amp simply boosts the instrument-level signal from your guitar or pedals up to a speaker-level signal that can drive a speaker cabinet.
Let’s make one thing perfectly clear — the GAMMA Hades Metal Distortion pedal is not here to charm you with sweet, smooth harmonic saturation. The GAMMA Hades pedal is here to deliver some of the filthiest, nastiest, and depraved electric guitar tones you can conjure.
With so many overdrive pedals available today, it’s clear that guitarists can never have enough overdrive options. With a simple control set and an affordable price tag, the GAMMA Atlas Boosted Overdrive pedal delivers a wide range of overdrive tones reminiscent of classic TS-style drive pedals — but does it have the tonal tenacity to earn that coveted first-place spot on your pedalboard?
Choosing a Workhorse Microphone main image of a girl singing
It would be nice to have a huge mic locker to choose from, allowing you to audition many and select the perfect mic for any recording project. But that’s not practical for most of us. And if you’re just starting to build your mic collection and looking for maximum value, you’re probably wondering if just one microphone can handle all of your recording duties, including speech and vocals, amplifiers, and acoustic instruments.
image of several synthesizers in a group
With so many keyboard synthesizers and modules available today, what’s the best synthesizer for a beginner in 2023? The answer will vary depending on how you plan to use it.
If you’re an acoustic guitar player searching for effects pedals to expand your creative palette, you soon realize there aren’t many options for effects pedals for acoustic guitar. If you’ve ever plugged your acoustic guitar into a pedal designed for electric guitar in the spirit of sonic exploration, you know that it destroys your core acoustic guitar tone. Electric guitar effects pedals aren’t designed for the expanded dynamic range and frequency spectrum that your acoustic guitar delivers. Thankfully, Fishman AFX Mini acoustic guitar effects pedals are designed to offer creative and inspiring effects that maintain the integrity of your acoustic guitar tone, in a compact and affordable series of mini pedals.
image of a home studio and the main image for the article CAN YOU MAKE GREAT SOUNDING PRODUCTIONS WITH A CHEAP AUDIO INTERFACE?
With such a wide range of audio interfaces available, it’s normal to be suspicious when you’re looking at the cheap end of the spectrum. What are you missing out on? Will a cheap audio interface sound bad compared to something more expensive? Which is the best cheap audio interface to get?
image of man playing electronic drums
While headphones are great for private practice sessions, nothing beats the feeling of playing your electronic drum kit through a drum amp. Hearing a drum amp deliver the weight of your bass drum, the thump of your toms, and the crack of your snare drum creates an immersive experience that will propel your drumming to a new level, no matter what style of electronic drum kit you play.
image of guitarist being interviewed with microphones connected to computer via XLR to USB.
If you want to record audio on your computer or portable device with an external microphone, you have a lot of options. And the solution can be as simple as a single XLR to USB cable — but that may actually limit the quality of your recordings instead of enhance it, depending on what your production goals are. After all, if you want to connect a microphone to your computer to record vocals and produce music, you have some very different needs than an independent journalist that needs to record voice memos and narration in loud environments. But the thing we have in common is the need to connect a microphone’s XLR output to the USB port on our computer, smartphone, or tablet, so let’s take a look at solutions that allow you to do exactly that.