Katie Anderson
Katie learned the ropes mixing bands in Southampton's pubs and clubs, a port city used to a steady churn of touring acts. Years behind the desk gave her a practical, no-nonsense understanding of how live sound actually works. She writes about PA, live sound and stage gear.
The Best Practice Pads for the Money
The right practice pad depends on what you actually need it for. Here is an honest look at which pad delivers the best value across general practice, quiet use, travel, and beginners.
Everything You Need to Know About Pearl Rhythm Traveler Drum Kit
Travel drum kits offer portable solutions for gigging musicians and apartment-dwelling drummers. This guide explains what makes them practical, compares configurations, and helps you select a travel d...
The Best Marshall Headphones for the Money
The right Marshall headphones depend on your use case. Here are the top picks across the range for every listening context.
The Best Beyerdynamic Headphones for the Money
Beyerdynamic's range is focused but spans a wide price range. Here are the models that represent the best value at each tier, with clear explanations of what you gain as you spend more.
The Best Shure Headphones for the Money
The best Shure headphone depends on what you are paying for. Here is the strongest option in each category and what makes it worth the money.
The Best Rode Wireless Pros for the Money
No single 'best' setup exists, so here's where this kit genuinely earns its cost, and where a simpler, cheaper option is honestly the better call.
Shure Headphones: A Complete Buyer's Guide
Start with the application, not the model number. Here is how to match the right Shure headphone to what you actually need it to do.
Ribbon Microphone: A Complete Buyer's Guide
The single most important ribbon microphone buying decision is passive or active — and that hinges entirely on the preamp you own. Everything else follows from there.
Xlr Cable: A Complete Buyer's Guide
Getting the right cable matters more than most people expect. This guide covers shielding, connector quality, brand recommendations and what to pay at each tier.
Tannoy System for Beginners: A Complete Guide
New to PA and Tannoy? This guide explains what you actually need to get started, which products are suited to beginners and what to learn as you go.
The Ultimate Guide to British Drum Co Drum Kit
British Drum Co drum kits combine meticulous handcrafted engineering with distinctive warm, resonant sound character, making them prized by professional drummers for studio and touring work.
Bass Drum for Beginners: A Complete Guide
You don't need tuning theory or bearing-edge knowledge yet. A calm, practical bass drum guide pitched at exactly where a beginner actually is.
Common Pearl Tom Toms Mistakes to Avoid
Most tom problems trace back to setup, not the drum. Here are the mistakes that come up again and again with Pearl tom toms, and how to fix them.
The Best Bodhrans for the Money
A realistic guide to bodhran value: where to stretch your budget for better playability, what price tier suits your needs, and how to avoid wasting money on hype.
Cowbell Explained: Features, Types and Tips
How a cowbell is built, why clapperless changed everything, and how it travelled from grazing fields to famous rock records.
How to Set Up and Use Podcast Microphone
Setting up a podcast microphone correctly—positioning, pop filter, headphone monitoring—makes the difference between a muddy recording and a clear, close vocal. Follow this practical guide from stand...
Usb Mixer for Beginners: A Complete Guide
Setting gain correctly, understanding phantom power, and connecting cleanly to recording software — the essential first steps for anyone picking up a mixing desk for the first time.
Boom Microphones: A Complete Buyer's Guide
Buy in the wrong order and you'll compromise somewhere important. Here's the sequence that actually gets you the right microphone.
Sennheiser Headphones: A Complete Buyer's Guide
Sennheiser makes excellent headphones for almost every purpose — but only if you pick the right one. Here's how to buy wisely.
Focusrite Scarlett: A Complete Buyer's Guide
A Focusrite Scarlett is one of those rare pieces of gear where the beginner-friendly option is also genuinely competent.
Yamaha Hs8: A Complete Buyer's Guide
Everything to check before buying a Yamaha HS8 — room fit, spec sheet, pairing, and the extras most buyers forget to budget for.
What Katie Anderson covers
Bass Preamp
Bass preamps shape tone, gain and output for live use, recording and pedalboard-based rigs.
2 topics
Drums & Percussion
The full family of drums and percussion — acoustic and electronic kits, hand drums, pitched mallet instruments, and ever...
118 topics
Marshall Earbuds
Portable in-ear listening for commuting, travel and everyday music playback.
Marshall Headphones
Stylish everyday headphones for travel, home listening and music enjoyment.
1 topic
Yamaha Dm3
Compact digital mixing for live sound, venues and rehearsal spaces. A yamaha dm3 offers modern control in a small format...
Yamaha Hs5
Compact and accurate, the Yamaha HS5 is ideal for small studios, mixing, editing and critical nearfield monitoring.
Yamaha Hs7
The Yamaha HS7 offers accurate monitoring, stronger low end and dependable performance for project and home studios.
Yamaha Hs8
Designed for larger spaces, the Yamaha HS8 delivers powerful, accurate monitoring with strong low-end detail.
