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Monthly Archives: February 2017
Monthly Archives: February 2017
In my mind Richard Gibbs’ Woodshed Recording is one of the top 5 studios in the world (see the photo on the side), and it’s not because of its idyllic setting on a mountaintop overlooking Malibu’s Zuma Beach. No, it’s because it can be configured any way you want at the drop of a hat, […]
Continue readingProducer Butch Vig set up Smart Studios with bandmate Steve Marker in Madison, Wisconsin, and thanks to big hits from Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana, the studio helped define the grunge sound of the ’90s. Now a documentary has been made about the studio by former studio employee Wendy Schneider. Here’s a clip of the Wendy, Butch […]
Continue readingOne of the problems with most studio control rooms or small home studios is that fact that there are problems in the low end response. We try to control these with bass traps, but to be effective, normal passive traps take up a lot of precious room. There is an alternative however, and that’s to […]
Continue readingFor years now we’ve heard The Edgar Winter Group’s “Free Ride“on classic radio, movies and commercials, and as with all hits, there’s a lot of subtle expertise that’s gone into the track. Let’s take a listen to the isolated guitars. 1. The opening guitar riffs, played by songwriter Dan Hartman, is one of the prettiest […]
Continue readingThe biggest thing that every musician and engineer lives in fear of is losing one’s hearing. To make matters worse, it happens naturally to all of us as we grow older, although its gradually enough that we can unconsciously compensate. That said, all it takes is a loud concert, or a sudden loud feedback, or cymbals in […]
Continue readingOne of the hardest things for many mixers to determine is when a mix is finished. In fact, engineers new to mixing may think a mix is ready in an hour, but a pro will usually take considerably longer. How much longer? Well, some big hit maker mixers that I know may spend up to 16 hours […]
Continue readingMichael Carey started his career as a guitar player, but soon found his way into writing music for commercials. His credits there include Toyota, Ford, Sonic, Coke, Papa Johns, NASCAR, Exxon, and Outback Steakhouse among others, as well as on-air promo packages for CBS, NBC and TBS. Michael missed album work though, as has since […]
Continue readingSo much of today’s music was influenced one way or another by Funk music of the 60s and 70s. Of course, James Brown could be credited as the inventor of Funk, but the man behind the feel was drummer Clyde Stubblefield, who passed away last week at age 73. He was the backbeat behind such […]
Continue readingA guitar amp load box lowers the volume to, or even eliminates, the speaker cabinet so you can crank up your favorite amp without tearing the walls down with SPL. I go way back when it comes to guitar amp load boxes, even building my own before there was one on the market. I then […]
Continue readingUsually less is more, and that’s what you’ll find in today’s isolated track. Greg Rollie is a great Hammond player and his performance on Journey’s big hit “Any Way You Want It” shows why. There’s feel, tone and dynamics – all the things that lifts the level a performance. Here’s what to listen for. 1. The organ […]
Continue readingAbout 3 years ago I posted about my top 10 compressors, but things have changed a lot since then, so I thought it was time to post an updated list. Many of the entries haven’t changed, but a few have (especially on the software side). This list is a combination of hardware and software, since most […]
Continue readingWhen it comes to EQing, there are certain frequencies that seem predominant for every instrument. Many call them the magic frequencies, because they do tend to work most of the time. Here’s a chart of those frequencies from the latest edition of my Mixing Engineer’s Handbook. Remember that using the magic frequencies might make an […]
Continue readingDavid Bock is the founder of Soundelux Microphones and Bock Audio and there are few people as obsessed or knowledgeable about microphones as he is. His mics exude quality, not only in the way they sound but in the build quality. Put one up against a cheap Chinese clone and it becomes obvious very quickly. […]
Continue readingWe’ve been hearing about vinyl record manufacturing coming into the future for some time, and here’s another example. Some Canadian design engineers who usually put their R&D talents into things like MRI machines went to work on the vinyl record press. They made some huge improvements and came up with the Warm Tone vinyl record […]
Continue readingHow many times has it happened where you have a great mix going, but it just needs something a little extra to bring it all together? Of course, there are now a lot of plugins available to add some “glue” to your mix, but they usually bring just one sound to the party. The Black Box […]
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