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SHOCKING: Roland - You Need To See This

Want crispy, retro digital drum machine sounds? Here’s our top picks of the plugin options that emulate the pioneering classics

Despite low-quality sample rates, vintage digital drum machines remain a production constant. We hook-up three of the best, and recommend their plugin counterparts

MusicRadar

The best plugins for re-creating the grit and punch of classic analog drum machines

If you love the sound of an analog drum machine, but don’t want to splash-out on vintage hardware, here’s our pick of the best vintage machines, in hardware and software form

MusicRadar

“Despite this minimalist footprint, it’s one of the sturdiest racks I’ve tested in this price bracket”: Donner Groove Ultra electronic drum set review

Donner continues its assault on budget gear with an e-kit packing fantastic hardware and standout looks, but the module needs some work

MusicRadar

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“Music doesn’t start in arenas or on streaming platforms. It starts in bedrooms and on street corners”: Ed Sheeran launches signature Orange amp range - could it topple the Roland Cube as the busking combos to beat?

With an abundance of Sheeran-approved specs, the Outlowd ES amps look to nurture the next generation of musicians

Guitar World

Behringer "leak" reveals 14 unreleased products, including E-mu SP-1200, Yamaha CS-80, EMS VCS 3 and Korg Mini-Pops 7 clones

Product listings for upcoming synths, samplers, drum machines, controllers and sequencers briefly appeared on Behringer's website before being taken down

MusicRadar

I went to Superbooth and these are the 10 bits of gear I wanted to take home with me

From one-button synths and next-gen kalimbas to supersized delays and budget grooveboxes, Superbooth 2026 did not disappoint. Here are the 10 new releases I want in my studio

MusicRadar

“I didn't think I needed a drum machine, so I gave mine to one of the road crew”: Phil Collins reveals that he gave his brand-new Roland CR-78 to a roadie, then got it back and created "the record that people think of when they think of me”

“It was very basic. It was really a cocktail drum machine, you know, for people that play piano in bars”

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“This version reflects what creators told us they want from AI hardware in real musical contexts”: Project Lydia, Roland’s neural sampling stompbox, moves a step closer to becoming a product you can actually buy

Next-gen pedal enables you to transform an audio signal into something that sounds completely different

MusicRadar

The ultimate synth shoot-out 2026: Hardware classics vs. their software successors - but can you really tell which is which?

Is there really any need to fork out for a hardware synth these days? We place a trio of hardware classics up against some immaculate software doppelgängers

MusicRadar

“They’re the best synth band in the '80s not to have a hit”: 6 under-appreciated synth-pop acts from the 1980s that deserve your attention

Forget your OMDs, your Depeche Modes, Human Leagues, Pet Shop Boys and A-has, because these not-so-popular bleep combos are well worth tracking down instead

MusicRadar

“It's the price of a weekend away in Magaluf, all drinks and breakfasts included”: 5 vintage 1980s synths that cost less than a holiday

You won't need a loan for some of these classic synths, but terms and conditions still apply

MusicRadar

“Our music was so simple: we’d all laugh when Adrian Wright moved just one finger on the synthesizer and it sounded great”: Replicate the sonic magic of the Human League’s defining synth-pop anthem

The first UK No. 1 to use a drum machine plays host to one of the most recognisable synth parts ever. We re-create its opening 5th riff in all its 80s glory

MusicRadar

“People would hate us, bully us, throw stuff at us and threaten to beat us up, but they wouldn’t leave. We thought, ‘Okay, we’ve got something’”: Devo’s Bob Mothersbaugh on accidental hits, audience provocations and the de-evolution of guitar

Devo's uncontrollable urge to make new noise sired a new-wave sound with a puckish punk energy. The ’70s wasn't ready for them. Are we not ready now?

Guitar World

“Everyone is using these tools, artists at all levels – but they don't want to talk about it”: How AI is changing electronic music

From Suno sampling to robot B2Bs, artificial intelligence is reshaping the way electronic music is created and performed, blurring the lines between innovation and exploitation

MusicRadar

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Guitar World

“Nostalgia for a time when digital was still new”: How Mk.gee is bringing back a ’90s-era modeler favored by Joni Mitchell, David Lynch, and Sting

The Roland VG-8, released in 1995, was designed as “a toolbox filled with essentially every existing guitar sound” – and, over the past couple of years, has been given a new lease on life by modern-day tone hunters

MusicRadar

“I was always uneasy about the fact that it was a bright, perky pop song about a nuclear holocaust, but it was insanely catchy”: How OMD recorded one of the best anti-war songs ever made

And it’s pretty much the only song about a nuclear bomb you can get away with playing at a wedding

MusicRadar

“What are you planning to actually use it for?”: Back in 1984, Midge Ure appeared on BBC TV to reveal our MIDI guitar synth future with his box-fresh Roland GR-700

“I think I’d have to spend many a long hour sitting in the studio working with the thing before I take it out on stage,” he admits

MusicRadar

“These tools should not replace the artist, but support a workflow where human intent, taste and creativity remain at the core”: Roland unveils generative AI tool, Melody Flip

Forthcoming Cloud AI tool develops “Roland’s vision of technology as a partner that coexists with the creative process”

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Guitar World

“Instead of creating a polyphonic tuner itself, it simply knocked off Empower's patented device instead”: Behringer sues Boss over “knock off” polyphonic tuner

Behringer’s parent company claims its patented polyphonic tuner, the TC Electronic PolyTune, has been wrongly copied by Boss for four of its flagship amp modeler pedals

MusicRadar

“I have a little bit of a love-hate relationship with my Prophet ’08”: Art School Girlfriend on the synths, software and studio secrets behind new project Lean In

Download the stems for Art School Girlfriend's track The Peaks and create your own remix

MusicRadar

Harry Styles outed himself as an unlikely modular synth fan in his new Netflix special, but was all that knob-twiddling for real?

Styles' setup also included a Roland SP-404 MKII sampler, Roland RE-201 Space Echo tape delay unit and a Sequential Prophet-6 analogue synth

MusicRadar

10 of the best Roland TB-303 tracks of all time: Aphex Twin, Fatboy Slim, Voodoo Ray and more

Celebrate TB-303 Day with these squelchy bassline classics

MusicRadar

ACME Synth Works unveils “world’s first” hardware clone of the Roland Jupiter-8 – but don’t get too excited just yet

The JP-8 recreation isn't a real product right now – but ACME's Oberheim Xpander clone is still in the works

MusicRadar

“It revealed what went on behind the doors of Kling Klang, and for once the truth is almost up there with the fiction”: What we’ve learned about the inner workings of Kraftwerk’s mythical studio via a recent auction

Here are five takeaways that seal the band's legendary Man Machine status - and shed a light on how Kling Klang really worked…

MusicRadar

Cherry Audio’s SH-MAX takes on a trio of classic Roland monosynths called upon by everyone from Kraftwerk to Tame Impala

Bringing together the best bits of the SH-5, SH-7 and SH-3A with an array of modern enhancements, the plugin is a love letter to Roland's SH series

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