Kevin Killen is a great engineer with a host of big time credits (U2, Elvis Costello and Peter Gabriel, for instance) and he’s been much in demand as a mixer for a long time. When I wrote the first edition of The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook, Kevin was one of the mixers I most wanted to […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Avid Solutions Specialist Jeff Komar. Jeff grew up around music and recording so he naturally gravitated towards the tech world. He joined Digidesign in 2000 before it was bought by Avid, and he’s specialized in helping creators solve problems ever since. Since there have been so many […]
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We all have those tracks that require cleanup to make useable. Excessive noise, too much room, too many S’s, lots of breaths – the list goes on. Most post pros will use one or more of the iZotope RX tools for cleanup, but that can be expensive and there’s a learning curve that many music […]
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Here’s a great piece of archival footage that shows the only film ever taken of the legendary Louis Armstrong in the studio. This was during the 1959 recording of the album Satchmo Plays King Oliver and it shows Armstrong and his All Stars recording the master take of “I Ain’t Got Nobody,” as well as silent footage […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Grammy-nominated mastering engineer Michael Romanowski, who’s the owner and chief mastering engineer at Coast Mastering in Berkley, CA. Michael has over 30 years of experience mastering in stereo, but he’s been a pioneer in mastering for immersive audio, complete with a new purpose-built 9.1.6 room. Michael’s immersive […]
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Most good engineers know how to make leakage work in their favor, but sometimes it’s just too much to deal with. This can come from an inexperienced drummer that’s not used to controlling his or her dynamics in the studio, or a drum kit with unbalanced levels on the drums or cymbals. There are now […]
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Happy New Year everyone! Let’s have a safe, happy and prosperous 2022 together. As always, I’m very grateful and thankful for your continued support!
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As 2021 comes to a close and we look forward to what 2022 might bring, now is a good time to reflect on some of the good and not so good points about music creativity. I’m old enough to have seen music and gear go through many changes so I think I have a good […]
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It’s that time of year again to take a look back at the influential music business stories from 2021, see how the predictions from last year fared, and have a look forward to the trends and predictions for 2022. Among the things I’ll discuss in Podcast 401 include: Music centers shifting to new places on […]
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If there’s one thing we can’t get enough of its drum processors. No matter how much you like your drum signal path is already, I bet you’re on the lookout for something that works even better or faster. If that’s you and you’ve always admired the sound of Solid State Logic consoles, then SSL might […]
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May you have a very merry Christmas and a wonderful Holiday. Make sure you stay safe so you can enjoy the new year. I want to thank you all for your continued support. I am grateful, thankful and humbled.
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I bet if you were to ask anyone what is the best grand piano made the answer would be a Steinway. Whether that’s true or not is debatable, but there’s no denying that the company makes a fine piano that any professional pianist would be proud to play or own. But do you know how […]
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We’ve hit a milestone today with Episode 400 so I’m going to change things up a little. There’s new theme music (I’m not sure if I like it – if you have something better please send it), and the upcoming episodes this year will be more theme-based. First up will be a deep-dive into immersive […]
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Sometimes we need a little bit of help when it comes to choosing Christmas gifts for the people around us in the music and recording business. If you have no idea what to buy, here’s a list of recommendations that covers a wide variety of items and reasonable price ranges. All of these following products […]
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The mastering tools available today are so powerful that it’s easy to do more harm than good when self-mastering. Yes, you’re better off using an experienced mastering engineer, but for many artists, bands and songwriters, that’s just not in the budget. Here are a few self-mastering tips from the 4th edition of my Mastering Engineer’s […]
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