Fun Stuff

What happens when you finally have time to create and nothing comes? It's a hard thing to do when you've been able to relax and then need to find instant inspiration. What do you do? Two words: Brian Eno. Brian Eno was a weird dude. He was a self-described "non-musician” that reinvented the recording process with a highly conceptual approach. His unique strategies changed the way we make music to this day. Continue reading →

These Black Friday deals are no longer available, please click here to shop all current 2019 Black Friday promos. With the holidays upon us and the end of 2017 looming near, Vintage King has some incredible offers on our best gear. Get a peak at Mad Mike's Christmas Riot Sale in the video below for some holiday fun and then continue on afterward to learn more about many of our December deals. Continue reading →

Can I be real for a second? Stocking stuffers are LAME. Socks. Soap. Maybe some awful smelling cologne/perfume if you’re lucky. This year, surprise your loved ones by stuffing something truly awesome in their stocking! Continue reading →

Let’s face it, you’d rather be doing something creative than spending hours with your extended family, struggling to make small talk. This year, give them (and you!) a gift they’ll actually appreciate — something entertaining to watch. A Christmas Story is great, but it’s not going to hold your Aunt’s attention long enough to keep her from asking you how “your little music stuff” is going. These are some of our favorite music and recording documentaries of 2017. Continue reading →

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is a monument to excess; fueled by enormous budgets, sleepless nights and mountains of cocaine. Earlier this year, the album celebrated its 40th anniversary and we decided to take a look at what exactly went into the recording and mixing process of this classic album. Rumours was recorded over 12 months at The Record Plant in Sausalito, California in 1976. Even the studio owners thought Fleetwood Mac were going overboard. Chris Stone said, "They would come in at 7 at night, have a big feast, party till 1 or 2 in the morning. And then when they were so whacked-out they couldn't do anything, they'd start recording." Continue reading →

The Moog Music MF-104M is already a modern day classic and will without a doubt be a pedal that people will be lusting over for years to come. It features 800 ms of bucket brigade driven, analog delay that floats beautifully as you play. The repeats are simply gorgeous and sit perfectly underneath your dry signal. Experimenting with the extremely advanced modulation section is really what brings out the true charm of this pedal. With six different waveforms to choose from, you will find yourself dialing in arpeggios, laser blasts and classic tape delay tones for hours. Continue reading →

Michael Jackson’s Thriller may be the most significant piece of recorded music in human history. On the first day of recording, producer Quincy Jones walked into the studio and said “OK guys, we’re here to save the recorded music industry.” And then they did. 35 years on, Thriller is the still best-selling album of all time. At its peak, it sold more than 1 million copies per week. Since its release, it's sold an estimated 66 million copies in America, and over 105 million worldwide. In light of the title track's horror film-like lyrics and the album's upcoming anniversary, we decided to take a look at what it took to create a modern masterpiece. Continue reading →

Fans of the horror genre will certainly be familiar with the far-reaching discography of Charlie Clouser. The former Nine Inch Nails member moved onto the world of scoring film/television and has been responsible for an incredible number of projects including the Saw series, American Horror Story, Dead Silence and Wayward Pines. In keeping with the spooky Halloween season, we reached out to Charlie to talk about his studio set-up, his sonic inspirations and some different ways to get ghoulish and unsettling sounds out of your gear. Continue below to read our conversation with Charlie and to hear a few pieces of his fantastic work. Continue reading →

When Stranger Things debuted on Netflix in July 2016, the show's soundtrack single-handedly rekindled the public's love of spooky sounds created with vintage synthesizers. Scored by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein of Austin-based band Survive, the duo predominantly used synths like the Arp Odyssey, Roland SH-101, Korg Mono/Poly to create the sounds of Hawkins and the Upside Down. Instead of recreating the Stranger Things score with similar synthesizers, I had the idea to build it from scratch using some of my favorite guitar pedals. By using only a Meris Ottobit Jr., Meris Mercury7 and Electro-Harmonix Synth 9, I was able to get something extremely close to the sounds of Dixon and Stein's original theme.   Continue reading →

Over the past few months, you may have noticed some things changing around Vintage King. We have a new logo, a slick-new website, and many other updates. Our recently-launched rebrand project is the culmination of over twelve months of exhaustive research, design, and deep thinking. Continue reading →