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.
Common Paiste Cymbals Mistakes to Avoid
Most cymbal cracks and tonal problems are avoidable — here are the most common mistakes drummers make with Paiste cymbals and how to fix them.
Common Sabian Mistakes to Avoid
Most Sabian problems are habits, not flaws in the cymbal. Here's what trips people up most often, and the fix for each.
Stage Piano for Beginners: A Complete Guide
Getting started with a stage piano for live performance involves understanding the signal path, monitoring options and sound organisation. Here is the complete beginner walkthrough.
Common Stage Monitor Mistakes to Avoid
Stage monitor problems are almost always avoidable. From asking for too much volume to positioning cabs badly, here are the most common errors and what to do instead.
Steel Tongue Drum: A Complete Guide
A sealed steel shell with slots cut into it, and somehow a genuinely musical instrument. Here's how it actually works.
The History of Drum and Bass
From warehouse raves to a Mercury Prize win, here's how drum and bass actually took shape, era by era.
Hand Drum for Beginners: A Complete Guide
Picking up a hand drum for the first time is genuinely forgiving. Here's a calm, practical start.
Krk: A Complete Buyer's Guide
A practical checklist for buying KRK monitors: room size first, the right product range, matched pairs, and what DSP will and won't fix.
Everything You Need to Know About Monitoring Audio
Every mixing decision depends on trusting what you're hearing. Here's what that actually involves, in plain terms.
The Best Drum Rugs for the Money
The best drum rug options at every price point and use case: budget practice, mid-range home use, professional touring, electronic kits and portable gigging.
Genelec: A Complete Buyer's Guide
Everything worth checking before buying a Genelec monitor, from the analogue-versus-SAM decision to the accessories most buyers forget to budget for.
The Ultimate Guide to Drum Lessons
Drum lessons work best when they cover technique, coordination and reading rather than chasing pure speed. A practical learning path moves from posture and grip through timekeeping, grooves, fills and...
Rack Toms: A Complete Buyer's Guide
Buying rack toms starts with shell material and size — two decisions that shape every other choice that follows, from mounting hardware to head selection.
Allen and Heath: A Complete Buyer's Guide
Buy the desk that fits the gig you actually do — here's how to choose the right Allen & Heath mixer without paying for scale you'll never use.
The Best Yamaha Dm3s for the Money
The Yamaha DM3 series has two models at two price points. Here's which one is best value depending on how you actually plan to use it.
Common Brushes Drum Mistakes to Avoid
Most brush technique errors come from applying the wrong approach or skipping the fundamentals. Here are the mistakes worth understanding before you practise.
Studio Desk: A Complete Buyer's Guide
A practical checklist for buying a studio desk — the measurements, the features worth paying for, and the questions to ask before you commit.
Everything You Need to Know About Steel Band Drums
From a battered oil drum to a chromatic orchestral instrument — here's how steel band drums are built, tuned and played, and where the whole tradition began.
Bongo Drumming for Beginners: A Complete Guide
A calm, step-by-step start for anyone new to bongo drumming: posture, your first three tones, building the martillo, and a routine that actually sticks.
The Ultimate Guide to Multitrack Recorders
A multitrack recorder captures each instrument on a separate track so you can mix them independently — this guide explains how they work, the main types and how to choose the right format.
Common Allen and Heath Mistakes to Avoid
Most desk problems aren't the desk's fault. Here are the buying and setup mistakes I see most with Allen & Heath gear, and how to avoid every one.
Everything You Need to Know About Instrument Agogo
Two metal bells and a beater, doing a surprisingly precise job. Here's what the agogo actually is, where it came from, and how it's played.
Stage Lighting Explained: Features, Types and Tips
Stage lighting is the unseen pillar of live music. Learn what stage lighting actually does, the main types of fixtures, and how to set up a rig that works.
Active Monitor: A Complete Buyer's Guide
A handful of genuinely important decisions and a lot of noise you can ignore — here's how to actually choose an active monitor.
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.
