UJAM opens Gorilla Engine to third-party plugin developers with a full licensing and delivery platform
Building a plugin is one thing, but getting it licensed, delivered, updated and monetised without building an entire backend from scratch is quite another — and historically, that second part has eaten as much time and resource as the development itself. UJAM is addressing that directly with the public opening of Gorilla Engine, its professional plugin development platform, alongside the launch of Product Hub in release 26.03.
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Gorilla Engine is not a new platform, already sitting behind UJAM’s own commercial catalogue. It has been used by development teams at Avid, Reason, Loopcloud and Crow Hill, among others. What’s new is that it’s now available through structured public licensing for independent developers, studios and enterprise teams worldwide — and Product Hub is the piece that makes that opening meaningful.
Product Hub gives developers a fully integrated licensing and delivery system built directly into the Gorilla Engine environment. From a single interface, teams can manage products, builds and releases, ship installers to customers at no additional traffic cost, and offer branded downloaders with resume support for large files. Webshop connections allow licence data to flow in automatically when a purchase fires, and a JavaScript client library covers username and password activation inside the product itself. Monthly or annual subscriptions are supported with time-limited licences, and there are no per-transaction fees or traffic costs, so the economics improve as the catalogue grows.

Beyond licensing and delivery, the platform handles the full plugin creation lifecycle. Developers get access to more than 60 professional-grade effect algorithms, filters and oscillators inside a modular environment, with dedicated tooling for sound design, prototyping and compilation. Finished plugins export as signed and notarised installers for VST, AU, AAX and standalone formats, run natively on macOS and Windows, and include built-in NKS and MPE support out of the box.
For teams currently working in Kontakt, UJAM has built a deliberate migration path. Gorilla Script is intentionally similar to Kontakt Script, meaning existing scripts carry over with minimal reworking.
“Product Hub is the piece that closes the loop,” said Wolfram Knelangen, COO at UJAM. “With it, a developer on Gorilla Engine gets the same licensing and delivery infrastructure we use ourselves, without having to build any of it.”
Gorilla Engine is available now at gorilla-engine.com under a tiered licensing model, including a free tier for development and prototyping.
Rhodes Custom Shop goes pastel pink with the limited-edition MK8 Marshmallow
Meet the MK8 Marshmallow — a limited-edition Rhodes piano finished in soft pastel pink, inspired by the pillowy forms and nostalgic warmth of classic marshmallows. It’s a bold visual statement, and it’s only available to order until April 23.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
The Custom Shop series has always been about pairing the MK8’s flagship sound and craftsmanship with distinct visual concepts, and the Marshmallow fully leans into the brief. The pastel pink hood and matching hood strip flow into a colour-matched tolex base and cheekblocks, creating a cohesive silhouette from end to end. A rose pink front panel carries matching preamp and FX inlays, custom rose pink dial caps and silver-on-rose-pink logo plates, while a colour-matched sustain pedal and footplate finish the look.

Underneath the its marshmallow pink, it’s still the MK8 — Rhodes’ flagship instrument, hand-built in Leeds by Rhodes Master Builders. The 73-note Kluge Klaviaturen keyboard, custom stereo analogue FX suite covering compressor, phaser, chorus and delay with true bypass, expression pedal control for modulation and delay parameters, and the MK8’s analogue preamp with parametric EQ, drive, envelope, wah and vari-pan are all present and accounted for. The Marshmallow is a Custom Shop piano first and a visual object second.
Each instrument is built to order, individually numbered and will not be reissued once the order window closes on April 23. For collectors and players who want something that stands apart from the standard MK8 — without sacrificing any of what makes it special — the window is short and the nature of the Custom Shop means this configuration won’t come around again.
Whether it ends up centre stage under lights or in the studio, the Marshmallow is hard to ignore.
Orders are open now through the Rhodes Custom Shop.
DW Soundworks drops Metal Legacy 2, a drum sample pack built to hit hard
Getting drums to sit right in a dense metal mix is notoriously tricky. Too much and the kit drowns everything out, too little and it disappears entirely. DW Soundworks’ Metal Legacy 2 is built around solving that, with the new expansion pack designed to cut through heavy, layered mixes without losing the low-end weight that makes the genre work.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
Metal Legacy 2 is the heaviest collection the DW Soundworks platform has put together to date. Eighteen custom presets lean hard into attack and punch, with bass drums that actually kick rather than just fill space in the low end. The samples are high-fidelity throughout, and the overall character sits somewhere between brutal and precise, exactly what thrash and djent production demands.

The DW Soundworks ecosystem is built for producers, drummers, multi-instrumentalists and engineers who want flexibility without spending half a session dialling in sounds. Metal Legacy 2 fits that brief, with a focus on getting the right sound quickly, with presets that are ready to drop into a track and do the work. Anyone who’s spent too long trying to make a stock drum library sound aggressive enough for heavy music will know that speed is important.
“With Metal Legacy 2, we aren’t just adding more sounds, we’re adding more impact,” said Mike Sutton, DWe Brand Manager. “This pack is for the people who need their drums to hit like a heavyweight.”
DW has been building drums since 1972 and joined the Roland family of brands in 2022, combining acoustic and electronic expertise under one roof. DW Soundworks is the natural extension of that, bringing the character of DW’s hardware into a virtual instrument platform. Metal Legacy 2 is available now as an expansion pack for DW Soundworks.
More information at dwdrums.com.
AIR Music Tech brings three iconic polysynths into one modern virtual instrument collection
Rare analog polysynths have always had a mystique about them — the sound is undeniable, but the hardware is expensive, fragile and increasingly hard to find. AIR Music Tech’s new Fabric Vintage Synths, Vol. 1 takes direct aim at that problem, bundling three classic-inspired polysynths into a single virtual instrument collection built on their Fabric sound engine.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
The three instruments are Fabric Vintage Pro, Fabric Vintage Jup and Fabric Vintage Memorymoog — each inspired by some of the most revered analog polysynths ever made, built from multi-sampled hardware sources rather than purely modelled synthesis. Expanded polyphony, layered oscillators and MPE support bring the sounds into a contemporary context without stripping out what made the originals special.
Under the hood, each instrument runs dual multi-sample oscillators plus a percussive layer, independent filters, envelopes and LFOs per layer, a sub oscillator and noise generator, and global modulation with BPM-syncable LFOs. A five-module effects suite covers distortion, delay and reverb, and a dynamic arpeggiator with swing, ratchet and randomisation adds further movement. The preset library spans basses, pads, leads, sequences and cinematic textures.
One of the more practical decisions AIR has made here is a unified interface across all three instruments, meaning you’re not relearning the layout every time you switch between them. For producers who move fast in a session, there will be no interruption in workflow.
“These are some of the most revered synthesizers ever made, and for many producers they’ve always been out of reach,” said Neal Gustafson, Software Marketing Manager at AIR Music Tech. “Fabric Vintage Synths, Vol. 1 brings that same character and warmth into a modern instrument that fits seamlessly into today’s workflows.”
Fabric Vintage Synths, Vol. 1 is available now for MPC Standalone, MPC Desktop and all major DAWs. More information at airmusictech.com.
Gibson unveils the Sadler Vaden SG Standard, a signature guitar nearly two decades in the making
Every great guitar has a story, and the Sadler Vaden SG Standard is no exception. The SG that Vaden played nightly with Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit for nearly two decades was a gift handed to him by producer Paul Ebersold after Vaden’s band suffered a devastating gear theft in Philadelphia. Discovered in Memphis and given to him to keep things going, that 2005 Gibson SG Standard became the foundation of his sound. Now, Gibson has turned it into a signature model.
The Sadler Vaden SG Standard is Vaden’s first-ever signature guitar, and he’s been clear about what he wanted it to be. “I really wanted to have something out there that’s a great instrument,” he said. “I wanted it to be an inspiring guitar” — a workhorse that works as well for a Nashville producer as it does for a fan of the band.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
Spec-wise, the guitar is a careful recreation of Vaden’s original. A solid mahogany body with the SG’s iconic double-cutaway silhouette wears a Natural Burst gloss nitrocellulose finish shaded to match the aged look of his personal instrument. The mahogany neck is carved to his preferred Rounded profile, paired with a rosewood fretboard carrying 22 medium jumbo frets and acrylic trapezoid inlays. A personalised two-ply truss rod cover features Vaden’s initials in place of the standard engraving.
The electronics include a five-ply “batwing” pickguard, housing Sadler Vaden Signature humbuckers with exposed zebra coils and Alnico 2 magnets. The neck pickup leans warm and vintage with moderate output, while the bridge delivers higher output PAF-style punch with enough midrange focus to cut through a live mix without losing body. Chrome hardware throughout, an aluminium Nashville Tune-O-Matic bridge and Vintage Deluxe tuners round things out, prioritising reliability as much as tone.
Each guitar ships in a brown hardshell case with a Sadler Vaden trading card, stickers and a custom strap.
The Sadler Vaden SG Standard is available now at authorised Gibson dealers and at gibson.com.
Less Than Jake are bringing the Circus Down Under this October and November
If there’s a band that never outstays its welcome in Australia, it’s Less Than Jake. The Floridian five-piece have been making the trip across the Pacific for decades now, and every time they do, the rooms fill up, lyrics chanted from every corner. This October and November they’re back for the Circus Down Under tour — six dates across Australia and New Zealand.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
Less Than Jake need little introduction to anyone who came of age during ska-punk’s late ’90s and early 2000s peak, but their live show has always been about more than catalogue. Brass, hooks, big choruses and enough unpredictability to keep things from ever feeling like a retread — it’s a combination that’s held up across more than three decades of touring. Australia remains, in the band’s own words, “one of our favourite places in the world,” and that affection has clearly been returned every time they’ve played here.
Joining them on all dates are The Aquabats!, who bring their own high-energy, offbeat stage presence, and Detroit’s The Suicide Machines, whose punk-leaning take on ska adds a sharper, faster edge to the bill. It’s a well-balanced lineup that covers a lot of ground without feeling scattered.
The run kicks off in Fremantle on October 30 at Metropolis, moves through Adelaide’s Hindley Street Music Hall on October 31, then heads to Melbourne’s Forum Theatre on November 2, Sydney’s Enmore Theatre on November 5, Brisbane’s Eatons Hill Hotel on November 6 and wraps up at The Studio in Auckland on November 7.
Presale opens Tuesday April 14 at 9am local time, with general on-sale from Wednesday April 15 at 9am local time. Register for presale access and find full ticketing details at teamwrktouring.com/tours/less-than-jake-circus-down-under.
Tour dates
- Friday October 30: Metropolis, Fremantle
- Saturday October 31: Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide
- Monday November 2: Forum Theatre, Melbourne
- Thursday November 5: Enmore Theatre, Sydney
- Friday November 6: Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane
- Saturday November 7: The Studio, Auckland
Genelec powers a world-class recording studio at Europe’s most cutting-edge music school, MUBA
There’s something fitting about one of Europe’s most forward-thinking music schools choosing monitors with a reputation for precision above everything else. MUBA, the Tallinn College of Music and Ballet, opened its Sound Recording Studio in 2022, and Genelec is at the centre of both rooms.
MUBA itself is a significant institution, uniting three of Estonia’s most prestigious music and ballet schools across a 26,000 square metre campus in the heart of Tallinn. The Sound Recording Studio, equipped and installed by local Genelec partner msonic Baltic, is designed to give students real-world studio experience from day one.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
The two control rooms serve distinctly different purposes. Control Room 1 is built around a Rupert Neve Designs 5088 console, giving first-year sound engineering students a fully analogue mixing environment for the first half of the year. A pair of Genelec 8341A coaxial nearfield monitors supports the room’s main monitors. “It gives us the nearfield accuracy that you definitely need when working long hours with the console,” says Sound Studio Manager Andres Olema.
Control Room 2 takes a different approach, set up in a 5.1 surround configuration with five Genelec 8351B coaxial models and a 7370A subwoofer — a practical introduction to working in the box and surround mixing simultaneously. Elsewhere across the campus, Genelec 8000 series monitors are deployed in production and classroom spaces, with a pair of 4430A Smart IP PoE loudspeakers handling talkback for live recording sessions.
The choice of Genelec’s The Ones family for both control rooms wasn’t arbitrary. MUBA’s roots stretch back to the Georg Ots Music School, which ran Genelec two-way monitors in its studios for years. “The Ones family offered us a familiar and trusted sound with even more precision,” Olema explains. “With The Ones, you can always rely on getting the optimal sound from your setup.” GLM loudspeaker manager software was used to calibrate both rooms, particularly important for the 5.1 system in Control Room 2.
For msonic Baltic’s Jürgen Urbanik, the project represents something bigger than a hardware installation. “It’s especially rewarding to see how actively the facility is being used across disciplines, from sound engineering to rhythm musicians and ensemble recordings.”
More information is available at genelec.com. For local enquiries on Genelec, head here.
Martin Audio transforms a 19th-century Dutch church into a high-definition performance venue
Not every venue comes with a straightforward acoustic brief. The Noorderkerkzaal in Sneek, Netherlands sits inside a Reformed Church originally built in 1881 — a space that served its congregation until 2001, briefly became an apartment building and eventually reopened as a performing arts venue in 2010. Stone walls, high ceilings and the natural reverb of a 19th-century church don’t exactly make life easy for a sound system, which is what made the choice of installation all the more important.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
Now a centrepiece of the Sneek Cultural Quarter, the 200-capacity space hosts concerts, theatre productions and community events — a diverse programming mix that demands consistent coverage, strong speech intelligibility and the kind of musicality that does justice to live performance. To meet that brief, the venue installed a Martin Audio FlexPoint system following advice from Martijn de Jong at Ampco Flashlight Sales, Martin Audio’s Dutch distributor.
The system centres on three FlexPoint FP12 12″ loudspeakers in a Left/Centre/Right configuration, with three FP8 8″ models handling frontfill duties. Low-frequency energy is managed by a pair of SXC115 15″ cardioid subwoofers — the cardioid design being key here, controlling bass buildup on stage and keeping the low end clean rather than letting it accumulate in a space that could easily turn muddy. Powering it all are iKON IK41 and IK42 amplifiers with Dante connectivity, providing networked audio routing alongside efficient multi-channel power.
The FlexPoint series is built for exactly this kind of fixed installation challenge — controlled dispersion, predictable coverage and the flexibility to adapt across different event configurations. For a venue juggling theatre one night and a live band the next, that adaptability matters.
“With this upgrade, the Noorderkerkzaal now benefits from a future-ready audio system capable of delivering consistent results across a broad range of events,” de Jong said. “It ensures every performance and presentation is supported by clear, controlled, and impactful sound.”
More information is available here. For local enquiries, head here.
Ernie Ball’s Fast Pitch clip-on tuner means no more excuses for playing out of tune
Tuning might not be the most glamorous part of playing music, but there’s nothing worse than being out of tune on stage — or anywhere, really. Ernie Ball’s new Fast Pitch clip-on tuner is built to make that a non-issue, combining quick, accurate chromatic tuning with a design that’s refreshingly straightforward to use.
The Fast Pitch features a bright LCD screen that’s easy to read in any lighting condition, which matters more than people give it credit for — dim stages and bright outdoor settings can make a lot of tuners practically useless, especially when you also can’t rely on what you’re hearing in a noisy space. That’s not a problem with the Fast Pitch – the display is clear, the response is fast and chromatic tuning mode means it covers every note across any instrument, not just standard guitar or bass tuning.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
That chromatic capability is a standout. For players who move between alternate tunings, from drop D and open G to DADGAD or anything more adventurous, having a tuner that can accurately track any note without being locked to a preset mode is pretty useful. It’s equally handy for the quick retune between songs live, where you need to glance down, confirm you’re in the right place and get back to it without breaking the moment.
Clipping onto your headstock is handled by a 360-degree rotating clip, so you can position the display wherever it’s most comfortable to read without wrestling with the angle. It locks on securely, which is the kind of thing you only appreciate when you’ve had a cheaper clip-on fall off mid-set.
Operation is about as simple as it gets, with one button to power it on, and automatic shut-off when it’s not in use (so you’re not burning through batteries unnecessarily).
It’s worth noting that this is Ernie Ball releasing a tuner, a brand better known for strings than accessories. That said, the Fast Pitch fits logically into their lineup — if you’re already buying Ernie Ball strings, having a reliable tuner from the same brand in your bag makes sense.
The Ernie Ball Fast Pitch clip-on tuner is available now. More details can be found at ernieball.com.au. For local enquiries, head here.
How Gavin Tempany mixed monitors for Kylie Minogue’s biggest tour in over a decade
Kylie Minogue’s Tension Tour was no small undertaking. Her largest tour since 2011, with nearly 70 shows across Australia, Asia, North America, Europe and South America had Gavin Tempany behind the monitor desk, mixing on his personal Solid State Logic Live L550 Plus console.
Tempany is primarily an FOH engineer these days, which makes his commitment to this run all the more telling. “I’ve worked with Kylie for a long time — I absolutely love this tour,” he said. “I mostly mix FOH these days, but I turned down other work to come back to monitors for this one.”
Catch up on all the latest news here.
The show featured four band members, three backing vocalists, Minogue herself and a carefully managed playback rig. Rather than treating Kylie’s six microphones as individual channels, Tempany built a dedicated vocal stem within the SSL console to centralise all processing and aux sends. “If anyone needs an adjustment to Kylie’s vocal in their ears, I can make it from the stem easily and instantly.” The system ran capable of handling 128 playback, keys and RF lines, with around 40 analog mic inputs in use across the tour.
One of the more technically demanding aspects of the show was Minogue’s T-shaped thrust stage, which put her up to 20 metres in front of the main PA — and a secondary C-stage at the far end of the arena introduced delays of up to 170 ms. Tempany used SSL’s Sourcerer source enhancer to manage the resulting spill and intelligibility challenges. “It subtly ducks her vocal on her vocal stem during non-vocal sections — only about 5 dB — but it makes a huge difference to clarity and comfort for everyone.”
The L550 Plus also handled over 260 internal signal paths, including 26 shout lines to musicians, vocalists and crew, with FOH receiving three dedicated lines. Integration with the tour’s Riedel comms system ran via Dante. A full redundant setup via SSL’s Blacklight II MADI Concentrator kept both main and backup consoles running live simultaneously — something Tempany is quietly proud never to have needed.
Perhaps the most relatable detail for engineers, Tempany said: “I’ve never actually seen a Kylie show. I’m told it’s great!”
For local enquiries on Solid State Logic, head here.
Sam Smith’s monitor engineer ditches analog for Sennheiser Spectera
When Sam Smith took to the stage for residencies at the Warsaw in Brooklyn and the newly relaunched Castro Theatre in San Francisco, audiences had no idea they were witnessing a quiet revolution in wireless monitoring technology. Behind the desk, long-time monitor engineer Saul Skoutarides made a bold call: swapping out the legacy analog gear for Sennheiser’s Spectera, the world’s first wideband bidirectional digital wireless system.
The motivation wasn’t just about chasing specs. Skoutarides had grown frustrated with the fundamental limitations of traditional FM-based in-ear systems. “FM stereo was invented in the ’60s, and up until now, we’ve been using a version of it that isn’t that far away from the original,” he said. “It’s ‘faux stereo’ compared to what Spectera is doing. There’s no compander and comparatively no noise floor. Out of everything I’ve ever used, Spectera is the closest thing to plugging a pair of headphones straight into a nice headphone amp.”
Catch up on all the latest news here.
The low-end performance was a particular revelation. Legacy systems have long struggled with sub-bass frequencies — the kind of synth bass and sub-patches that can send a compander sideways. With Spectera, that problem disappears. “The low end is real,” Skoutarides explained. “When I A/B tested it against the 2000 series, the legacy gear suddenly sounded like the low end was out of phase.”
Beyond audio quality, the reduction in background noise had a tangible effect on the room’s energy during long rehearsal days. Musical Director David Odlum noticed immediately. “These make zero noise,” Skoutarides recounted. “We realised we weren’t hitting that wall of fatigue. That constant RF noise floor eats away at your brain subconsciously. Removing that completely changed the energy in the room.”

Performing in dense urban environments like Brooklyn adds another layer of complexity, and Spectera’s wideband approach handled it without complaint. Rather than requiring a clean frequency for every individual channel, the system operates effectively even with interference present — a genuine asset in a city where the RF environment at showtime is anyone’s guess.
The bidirectional control has also simplified the logistics of remote dressing rooms and last-minute frequency changes, with bodypacks re-syncing automatically as the band walks into range of the base station.
For Skoutarides, the verdict is clear. “I’ve spent my career climbing toward better quality sound, and this is the next level. We’ve found the silence, and we’ve found the space. I’m never going back.”
Learn more about Sennheiser Spectera here.
Serato DJ Pro 4.0.6 adds support for three Pioneer DJ mixers
For DJs already running one of these mixers, the update means plug-in access to Serato’s full feature set without any workarounds. That includes the performance tools and creative capabilities the software has built its reputation on — now accessible through hardware you may already own.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
It’s a smart move from Serato, and one that makes sense when you look at the broader picture. The company has been steadily expanding its hardware compatibility over recent updates, having previously added support for the Pioneer DJ DDJ-RB and the Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol Z2. The pattern here is clear: Serato is widening the net to bring more DJs into its ecosystem, regardless of what gear they’re working with.
The DJM-250MK2 and DJM-450 sit firmly in the entry-to-mid-level bracket, which makes this update particularly meaningful for DJs who are earlier in their journey. Access to professional-grade software shouldn’t require top-shelf hardware, and this update reinforces that position. The DJM-750MK2, meanwhile, has long been a reliable four-channel option for more advanced setups, so its inclusion rounds out the compatibility list nicely.
Serato has also continued developing its real-time stem-splitting technology in recent years, which lets DJs isolate and manipulate individual elements of a track — vocals, drums, bass and more — on the fly. Combined with the expanded mixer support, the platform is offering a fairly compelling package for DJs across skill levels and setup types.
If you’ve been sitting on one of the newly supported mixers and holding off on committing to a software platform, this update removes one of the last reasons to wait.
Serato DJ Pro 4.0.6 is available now for download at Serato.
Nembrini Audio upgrades its Acoustic Voice Pro plugin
Recording the exact nature and character of an acoustic is tricky business.
Widely praised for its ability to transform direct pickup signals from acoustic guitars fitted with under-saddle Piezo or Magnetic pickups, the newly upgraded plugin takes professional acoustic guitar enhancement to the next level. Piezo and Magnetic pickups often produce thin, harsh and unnatural tones when recorded, and Nembrini Audio’s Acoustic Voice Pro aims to solve that.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
The central point of the plugin is to restore the natural resonance of a guitar’s sound, giving it the body and spatial depth of a professionally recorded, studio-quality acoustic performance. The latest iteration expands on this, with the guitar emulations library going from six to ten. This includes: the vintage small-body tone of the Martin 1936 0-17*, the resonant hollow-neck character of the Weissenborn*, the Martin 0028Ec’s* balanced fingerstyle voice, the Martin HD-28V’s* depth and projection and the punchy vintage of the Gibson L-00*. Also included is the jumbo style presence of the Landola J80E*, the strong strumming response of the Guild D140CE*, the natural modern tone of the Ayers DSR* the polished Hi-Fi clarity of the Taylor 814ce Deluxe* and the Taylor Grand Theatre K21e’s* articulate, refined warmth.
What guitarists and producers will get is a cost-effective, versatile array of professional studio tones that covers just about every genre and taste.
When it comes to the mic side of things, Acoustic Voice Pro has upgraded its microphone emulations from three to five, bringing in richer, more realistic tones. These include the clear and detailed Audix ADX51*, the tight-focused Beyerdynamic M210*, the punchy Shure SM57*, the controlled, natural Electro-Voice RE20* and the Open, polished AKG C414*.
The upgrade also adds a built-in IR Loader with third-party IR support, dedicated dynamics and tone-shaping tools, and an enhanced studio effects system.
Acoustic Voice Pro is available now. Head here to learn more.
Review: Martin DE Retro Plus Mahogany
C.F Martin & Co – or Martin Guitars, as most know them – was founded in 1833. The company has been around for almost 200 years, and that’s about how long it took me to get my hands on one of their guitars for the first time.
They say first impressions are the most important, and Martin left a lasting one on me with their new DE Retro Plus Mahogany, part of their Road Series. Acoustic guitars are great to look at and hold, but they’re made to be played above all else. The first thing you notice about this guitar is the playability. There’s no break-in period, no setup session or tweaking. Straight out of the gig bag, it plays like you’re speaking to an old friend. One you haven’t seen in years, who picks up the conversation exactly where you left it last time.
Catch up on all the latest features and reviews here.

The action is low with no buzz, strings are super plucky and responsive and there’s no need for heavy-handedness. Your fingers do a little and the guitar does the rest. The fretwork is exceptional, which isn’t always the case for a new guitar. Fret ends are smooth to touch and the crowning and levelling straight out of the bag is noticeable. There’s a real sense of craftsmanship about the DE Retro Plus – and that’s what you should feel when you unwrap a quality acoustic instrument.
The dreadnought body gives your playing warmth, cathedral-like resonance and excellent volume and sustain. There’s a heap of dynamic variance on offer here, particularly for an acoustic guitar, and the body dimensions mean you’re not struggling to reach around like on some dreadnought shapes.
This DE Retro Plus is built with a torrefied spruce top, ebony fretboard and bridge and a mahogany body. A matte finish on the back of the neck adds to playability, and the contrast of the spruce with the polished mahogany back looks great. Moving to the headstock, you’ll find the classic Martin squared-off shape that’s instantly recognisable. There are also vintage-style Grover tuners that provide excellent stability and add to the guitar’s retro look and feel.

Both the visual and tonal characteristics of this guitar come from Martin’s aging processes. The spruce top is thermally aged to help achieve a broken-in sound that you can typically only get from a truly vintage guitar. The fretboard has also been visually aged, so there’s some variance in light and darker patches of wood – plus the pearl inlays are darker as a result, which really adds to the vintage style of the instrument. The combination of all the retro elements executed properly on a new guitar makes you feel as if you’ve travelled back in time when you strum it.
What snaps you out of your nostalgia trip is how light this thing is, which isn’t the case with a lot of vintage guitars. The warmth and resonance you get from something that’s super gig-friendly and easy on your back is noticeable. It’s impressive that it’s so lightweight, considering that the DE Retro Plus has a built-in pickup for when you want to plug in at a show or shape your tone at home. The volume and tone controls are subtly tucked away inside the sound hole and they barely leave a footprint. Small sliders control both and there’s great range at each end of the scale. The pickup is battery-powered and inserts along with your lead at the base of the body. I didn’t get to gig with this thing, but running it through my amp at home showcased how rich you can get it to sound. I’d love to hear one live and mixed properly.
If you are taking the DE Retro Plus to a show, the included gig bag is one of the better examples I’ve seen. The outside has a tear-resistant material and waterproof zips, backpack-style straps and a couple of storage pockets. Inside is a thick layer of foam padding, a pillow for the neck and a lush, velvety blue lining. I’d sleep in here if I could.

Martin’s website says this guitar is “not your grandparents’ guitar but might one day be your grandkid’s,” and it’s hard to argue with this sentiment. It has a vintage charm about it that invokes a certain image or feeling – at least to me. And I think that’s an important factor in determining whether a guitar is right for you or not.
The first strum when you pick up a DE Retro Plus transports you to the front porch of a farmhouse, plucking away on your grandfather’s guitar on a balmy summer night, watching the sunset while the crickets chirp. There are plenty of well-made guitars that play great, though they can often lack character. This guitar from Martin delivers on modern playability without a compromise on soul – it strikes a wonderful balance of both and leaves a lasting impression on the player.
Whether you’re looking to upgrade your acoustic sound or get into a modern workhorse that’s as comfortable plugged in at a gig as it is on your grandad’s porch, the DE Retro Plus is a winner. A player’s guitar that will strike a chord with both gigging musicians and enthusiast collectors.
Visit Martin to learn more, and head here for local enquiries.
After 20 years, The Horrors continue to keep things interesting ahead of their April tour
Safe to say, The Horrors have defined the recent era of music, simply by provoking the boundaries of possibility in their musical craft. They played Dark Mofo in the depths of 2025’s winter as a one-off show that marked their first tour in Australia since 2012.
Catch up on all the latest features and interviews here.
The band is returning in April, playing five headline shows in cities Meanjin/Brisbane, Warrane/Sydney, Naarm/Melbourne, Kaurna/Adelaide and Boorloo/Perth. The tour will kick off in Meanjin on 10 April and conclude in Boorloo on Wednesday 15 April. Their Naarm show will fill the Northcote Theatre on Sunday 12 April.
They’re set to showcase tracks from their most recent album Night Life, which came to be from a new approach to the sonic craft and a new cohort of band members, centred around founders Faris Badwan and bassist Rhys Webb.
I spoke with Badwan about how Night Life is a representation of all that the band has been, fused with an expansive and explorative newness in their sound – a key ingredient to The Horrors’ longevity.
“I suppose this album is just as much a product of the time,” says Badwan. “With Night Life, we weren’t just writing an album; we were also rethinking how the band would work. As Reece and I were writing the songs, we were picking up members along the way and figuring out how they would fit in The Horrors.
“But you know, The Horrors these days is really a new thing, because we’ve been the same members for nearly 20 years, and then we had this different challenge of having a whole load of questions that we maybe hadn’t had to answer before.”
The new structure of the band had the opportunity to test out its dynamic in a live performance format this year, an experience that excited Badwan.
“We had such a good time playing in Australia for Dark Mofo. Being there as a group was fun. A big factor in why Joe and Tom left the band was because of the touring lifestyle. Not everyone wants to do that forever, which is understandable.”
Coming out to Australia affirmed The Horrors desire to play more shows and make up for their long absence.
“We hadn’t toured in Australia since 2012, which is really a crazy amount of time,” states Badwan. “We’ve made it a priority to be able to come back. I mean, the show itself at Dark Mofo was one of our favourites of the year. We were in this venue called The Odeon, which is an old theatre.”
Playing the Odeon shaped the band’s approach to venue selection when booking their 2026 tour.
“With the venues in Australia, we always want to try and find places that look interesting. Sometimes it’s possible, sometimes it isn’t, but we made it work with this upcoming tour. All the venues look pretty good, and some of them I’ve even been to before.”
This all comes with the band entering a new stage of life, a point where there’s an opportunity to acknowledge all that has contributed to their becoming thus far, as well as stepping into the newness of what lies ahead.
“I think it’s cool to be aware of the stuff that you’ve gathered over the years. To be aware of that and reflect upon it. But I think I’m most excited about what might happen in the near future. It would be so easy if it felt natural to do songs like the ones from our older albums, but it doesn’t feel natural to revisit a sound and just do that.
“It feels way more natural to figure out how we all can work together in our new dynamic and what that would naturally sound like. In some ways, it’s kind of an easier task doing a new album because half the band is new, we just get in a room and see what raw materials we can get to mould something.”
It’s this intrigue and faith in the uncertainty that has propelled the band into the remarkable and complex project that became Night Life. If you’re a fan of The Horrors, or you’re not yet familiar with their art, this upcoming tour will be the perfect way to connect with their music in a whole new way.
The Horrors tour dates:
April 10: Princess Theatre, Brisbane
April 11: Manning Bar, Sydney
April 12: Northcote Theatre, Melbourne
April 14: Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide
April 15: Rosemount Hotel, Perth
You can buy tickets to their Australian shows here.
Gibson launches year-long campaign celebrating the craft behind its electric guitars
Gibson has launched Handcrafted in Nashville, TN, a year-long campaign celebrating the craftsmanship behind its electric guitars, and those who make them. It’s a chance for the company to pull back the curtain on what happens inside its Nashville craftories, where every Gibson electric guitar has been made since 1975.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
The campaign runs across four chapters: Wood, Steel, Heart and Soul.
Chapter one is Wood, focusing on the tonewoods behind iconic body shapes like the Les Paul, SG and ES-335. Steel follows, covering hardware, electronics and original tooling that dates back to the Kalamazoo factory – including the ES laminate press still used to make Gibson’s ES guitars today. Heart puts the spotlight on the craftspeople themselves, and Soul closes things out in early 2027 by following finished guitars into the hands of players around the world.
History is woven throughout the campaign. Gibson still uses equipment from its original Kalamazoo factory, and 3D laser scanning now allows the company to capture the exact characteristics of prized vintage instruments and carry them forward into new builds. Hand-sprayed sunburst finishes and figured maple tops mean every guitar that comes off the line is a little different from the last.
The first video is live now, with new products and stories rolling out chapter by chapter. Gibson is also inviting players to share their own electric guitar stories to be featured as part of the campaign.
Head to Gibson to learn more.
Charvel brings back Jake E Lee’s iconic Blue Burst with a new signature San Dimas
Jake E Lee’s Blue Burst Charvel became iconic during his time with Ozzy Osbourne in the 1980s. Now Charvel has brought it back as a signature model – the Pro-Mod San Dimas Style 1 HSS HT RW.
The Blue Burst finish is the obvious talking point, but the specs are well worth a closer look. Built around an alder body with a bolt-on maple neck, the guitar features a 12″-16″ compound radius rosewood fingerboard with 22 medium jumbo frets and white dot inlays. The compound radius makes a real difference in playability, sitting flatter up the neck for bending and lead work and more pronounced lower down for comfortable chord playing.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
The new signature’s pickup configuration is HSS, which suits the breadth of Jake’s playing well. A Seymour Duncan JB humbucker sits in the bridge position, handling everything from warm cleans to aggressive high-gain tones, while two DiMarzio SDS-1 single-coils in the middle and neck positions add extra gain with a deeper, darker character. A five-way blade switch and single volume knob keep the controls clean and simple, exactly what you’d want on a guitar built for technical playing.
Locking Charvel tuning machines keep things in tune under heavy use, and the Charvel hardtail bridge maximise sustain, resonance and tuning stability, makes it a sensible choice for a player whose technique demands precision.
Fans of Jake’s work and players who grew up watching his Ozzy-era performances can rest assured that this recreation captures the look of the original without feeling like a museum piece. The pickup and hardware choices suggest this is a guitar built to be played hard.
For more information, visit Charvel. For local enquiries, head here.
Allen & Heath give the Avantis a major upgrade with V2.0 firmware
Allen & Heath has released Avantis firmware V2.0, bringing a substantial update to dPack-enabled systems. With input channels expanding from 64 to 96, configurable mix busses from 42 to 56, and simultaneous Dyn8 processing instances from 16 to 24, it’s a significant step forward for demanding touring and festival environments when it comes to headroom and flexibility.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
Also landing with V2.0 is CompStortion, a DEEP emulation of a definitive hardware compressor that’s been on the wishlist for a while. With a wide range of attack and release times, distortion modes and both Smash and Brit modes on offer, it’s a versatile processor that works across vocals, guitars, drums and mix bus compression.
dPack users also get support for the new RackUltra FX module, which combines FPGA and ARM processing to bring dLive’s effects architecture to Avantis. Eight RackUltra FX engines cover reverbs, vocal processors, distortion, saturation and harmonisers – a suite that holds its own against high-end plugins and dedicated hardware. The module is available as a factory-fitted option on new units or as a service centre upgrade for existing owners.
Beyond dPack, RF integration now includes the Shure SLX-D wireless microphone system, adding to the existing lineup of supported Shure and Sennheiser systems. Smart Rotaries bring quick contextual access to preamps, effects, Dyn8s and PEQs via SoftKey, Channel Libraries now support additional parameters and mix contributions, Dyn8 units are gangable, and channels and busses can be unmuted from mute groups or DCAs.
Avantis V2.0 – what’s new at a glance
- Input channels expanded from 64 to 96 (dPack)
- Configurable mix busses expanded from 42 to 56 (dPack)
- Simultaneous Dyn8 processing instances expanded from 16 to 24 (dPack)
- CompStortion DEEP compressor emulation added to dPack
- RackUltra FX module support with 8 FX engines (dPack)
- Shure SLX-D wireless microphone system support added
- Smart Rotaries for quick contextual control of preamps, effects, Dyn8s and PEQs
- Channel Libraries updated with additional parameters and mix contributions
- Dyn8 units now gangable
- Channels and busses can now be unmuted from mute groups or DCAs
“This update lifts Avantis to new heights. I’m extremely pleased we can offer more channels, buses, and Dyn8s to dPack, while bringing dLive-class effects processing to the platform – an astounding engineering accomplishment. Plus, V2 positions Solo as the most powerful self-contained compact mixer on the market,” says Christopher Melendy, Pro Live Product Manager at Allen & Heath, speaking to what V2.0 means for the platform.
Avantis firmware V2.0 is available for download now from Allen & Heath. Australian enquiries regarding the RackUltra FX upgrade can be directed to Technical Audio Group.