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XLR is a magazine, a radar and a diary about music gear and the making of music — for the people who make records and put on shows, wherever they do it.

The name is the three-pin connector that every signal in the business passes through: the microphone on stage and in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX cable that runs the lights. Studio, stage and lighting rig share it, and so does this magazine. Every few hours XLR collects what the makers shipped, what the reviewers heard, what the studios and the touring crews are doing, which producers and collectives are surfacing and what they are saying — synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lights, the rooms and the people — from a few hundred sources in English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese and more, then plots what is moving. The editor writes a letter every few days. Nothing is sold here; when a link leads to a shop, that is the maker's shop, not ours.

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Modern DrummerDrums

Guitar Center crowns champion of Drum-Off 2026 following national competition

September 10

Hamilton, AL drummer Jonathan Fortson earns the Drum-Off title, brand endorsements, professional gear and a $25,000 cash prize as the legendary competition concludes its first run in a decade Guitar Center announced Jona

Electric guitars & amps Drums & percussion

Read at Modern Drummer ↗

DrumsSimmons unveils the Titan 90, the most advanced electronic drum kit in Simmons’ history Modern Drummer

DrumsThe Drum Kit That Gave Stephen Perkins a New Voice Modern Drummer

MMMF’s annual benefit concert to host Tribute to Keith Moon with special guest drummers Gregg Bissonette and Stephen Perkins on November 1st at Central Machine Works in Austin

DrumsMMMF’s annual benefit concert to host Tribute to Keith Moon with special guest drummers Gregg Bissonette and Stephen Perkins on November 1st at Central Machine Works in Austin Modern Drummer

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Latest

Guitar Center crowns champion of Drum-Off 2026 following national competition

Related

DrumsSimmons unveils the Titan 90, the most advanced electronic drum kit in Simmons’ history Modern Drummer

DrumsThe Drum Kit That Gave Stephen Perkins a New Voice Modern Drummer

DrumsMMMF’s annual benefit concert to host Tribute to Keith Moon with special guest drummers Gregg Bissonette and Stephen Perkins on November 1st at Central Machine Works in Austin Modern Drummer

DrumsSTEPHEN PERKINS OPENS HIS PERSONAL DRUM ARCHIVE FOR A SPECIAL ARTISTFIRST AUCTION Modern Drummer

DrumsALESIS® DRUMS AND ZILDJIAN® FORGE HISTORIC PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN LEGACY AND INNOVATION Modern Drummer

DrumsThe Warning Announce New Album Everything’s Falling — A New Chapter for Modern Drummer Cover Artist Paulina Villarreal Modern Drummer