When you see as many pedalboards as I do, you’ve seen this tuner countless times. I was starting to wonder why I was the only person that didn’t have one! Plus, there must be something magical about it for every guitar/bass player I know to drop $100 on this pedal.

There isn’t anything magical – aside from the fact that it’s well built, tunes perfectly every single time, and you can count on this pedal to last. Both of my guitarists in my band use this pedal. They’ve had their for years and put them through everything. Tours, spilling beer on them, etc. Everything short of setting them on fire. And they still work perfectly. You can also use this pedal to power up to 8 others (cool feature if you need it).

Pluck a note, and it picks up the signal instantly and tells you flat/sharp. That speed is totally necessary when you have to tune on the fly (like between, or during songs!). Step on the pedal, your signal to the amp mutes, tune, step on it again. That’s it. It doesn’t get anymore simple. Plus, you don’t get the noise issues that my Planet Waves tuner gives me. I would recommend this tuner over a Planet Waves any day. Go get one!

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If you need a drum machine, you probably have looked at the Alesis SR-16 before. I bought this piece 4 years ago, and later lost it to a friend (don’t loan this drum machine to anybody! haha). Although there are better options available, this one is right on the money – for the money. Only $159. Cheap.

The sounds? There isn’t a ton of variety, but it’s enough selection to get just about any demo job finished. The straight up rock sounds are pretty good, the hip hop stuff isn’t great (get an MPC), and everything else is pretty much up to par. Try a few different combinations. And don’t be afraid to program your own kit. Fool around with the reverb setting on each drum, and the volume/eq settings too. You can probably come up with something better suited for your project, if you’re willing to invest a little time fiddling.

Programming the SR-16 isn’t that easy. If you need something dead-simple to program, get Garage Band on your mac. You really need to read the manual before you’ll be able to program beats or songs into this unit. But there are a lot of options, giving you tons of flexibility if you have time to figure it out.

My overall thoughts: nice sounds, pretty easy to use, nice for songwriters that just need something to play along with. Although these days Garage Band can probably do it better and it’s free if you bought a mac (and you did buy a mac, right?).

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This is a great 88-key controller. When I was manning the helm in my first pro studio, this was the controller I picked for clients to use. Every single player that passed through those doors was impressed with the look, feel, and performance of this M-Audio piece.

The installation process on my mac was a breeze (OSX). No hangups, no frustration.

Finally, the price can’t be beat. When you look around at all the midi controllers one the market, you realize there are tons of options. Smaller, larger, cheaper, more expensive. This price is right smack in the middle – and the features and feel are top-notch. You won’t be disappointed. Give it a try today, and you’ll see why I love it so much.

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You can count on M-Audio to do two things: deliver the highest quality gear on the market, and offer it at the best prices. In fact, that’s the reason I use M-Audio gear in my own studio. This is a hard business to make it in, and when cash is short, M-Audio can get the sound you need at the price you need.

When I needed a set of keys for my studio, I tested out the ProKeys 88 and fell in love. It has the realistic feel that every players needs, and extra features like none other. Each of the 14 world-class instruments is a winner. So take your pick – you’ll love whatever you hear.

Plus, no studio can live without USB connectivity on gear like this. And M-Audio delivers again. In fact, if you use a Mac, hooking up this keyboard is as easy as plugging it in. Seriously. Plug and play.

Check it out, buy it, and never look back.

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