Skip to content

XLR MAG

Latest

On the calendar

· Trade shows and launch events, this week's stories from each corner of the industry, and what its press is covering.

On view

This week, from that corner the newest stories from the corner of the industry you picked

The wire their own posts, translated

How records get made in 2026 from the industry's own reports

Sources

Fetched every six hours, linked to the original

About

Three pins, and nearly every signal in this business passes through them.

The magazine is named after the cable: the microphone in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX run that fires the lights. Studio, stage and rig share the same cable. Most magazines pick one of the three. This one covers all of it, because the people we read do too — the engineer mixing a record on Tuesday is on front of house by Saturday.

Around a hundred and sixty sources, in English, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, Chinese and Italian: makers and their release notes, reviewers who put a hand on the thing, studios and touring crews, the producers and collectives surfacing this month and the scenes they came out of. Synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lighting. What the trade is talking about is counted and plotted. The editor's letter has just started; it will find its rhythm.

For each story: a headline, a short excerpt, one picture and the link out. We never reprint the article, and the picture belongs to the maker or the photographer. A German review appears in German and a Japanese one in Japanese, as the writer published it; the link goes to the original.

Nothing is sold on this site. When a link leads to a shop, it is the maker's shop, not ours.

← XLR MAG Archive

Ultimate GuitarGuitars

How Steve Vai Made His Guitar Talk Back To David Lee Roth On 'Yankee Rose': The Whammy Bar Squeals, Dive Bombs And Speech-Like Phrasing Behind The Intro [News]

10.21

Tab Spotlight : Plenty of rock stars in 1986 would have passed on a guitar that talks back to the singer.

Electric guitars & amps

Read at Ultimate Guitar ↗

Related

GuitarsDave Mustaine Reveals Angus Young's Amp Trick That Inspired His 'Holy Wars' Solo: 'It Just Screamed This Ungodly Sound' [News] Ultimate Guitar

GuitarsNo Fretting Hand Can Make That Sound: For Gojira's 'Stranded,' You Have To Learn The Whammy Pedal As Much As The Guitar [News] Ultimate Guitar

GuitarsJoe Bonamassa On His New Signature Fender Modeler: 'The King Cork Sniffer's Telling You He Enjoys It More Than His Tube Ones' [News] Ultimate Guitar

GuitarsPlaying Fretless Guitar Is 'Really Difficult' But 'That's What's Exciting' For Alek Darson: His Survival Guide For New Players [News] Ultimate Guitar

GuitarsZero Frets: The Bit Of Wire That Still Generates Controversy In The World Of Guitar [News] Ultimate Guitar

SynthsKorg Volca FM Midi Controlled by Casio DG-20 with Maxon DD1000 Dual Delay MatrixSynth

More from Ultimate Guitar on XLR MAG.