It’s not easy being in the music business. It never was and it probably never will ever be. We’ve all experienced a mental health incident during our careers, but it wasn’t until the last few years that people have felt comfortable talking about it. Ditto Music conducted an artist survey on creative burnout and mental […]
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On this week’s podcast episode, Is AI really coming for your gig, or are most musicians worried about the wrong things entirely? In this episode of my Inner Circle Podcast, author, musician, and lecturer Craig Anderton breaks down what AI actually means for working artists, producers, and songwriters . . . . . . and […]
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Like many mixers, I like to start my mix with three delays already set up: short, medium and long. I find this combination provides exactly what I need for almost any situation very quickly, from adding a little depth, to some glue, to a longer “throw” effect. If the setup is baked into a template […]
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On this week’s podcast episode, what role do commercial recording studios really play in today’s home studio world? I sit down with Sam Rudy, founder of Pro Studio Time, to explore whether studios are still necessary for modern music production, or simply a creative luxury. From writing camps and residential studios to AI disruption and […]
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The one thing we all hate is the inevitable troubleshooting that comes with having a studio. Sooner or later something won’t be working the way you expected, and trying to find out where the problem lies really sucks the creativity from a session. One little device that can make that process go a lot more […]
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It’s hard to look at just about any publication or news feed and not see an article about AI these days. Yes, we’re all sick of the hype, but for those of us in the music industry, the real question is, “Just how much are musicians and producers actually using AI music tech?” Well, now […]
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On this week’s Inner Circle podcast episode, I sit down with Adrian Weidmann, CEO and founder of Immersive Design Labs for an in-depth conversation about immersive audio. During the interview we talkabout why Dolby Atmos and immersive audio have left so many engineers scrambling, and how the real breakthrough is not technology, but clarity. Adrian […]
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There was a time back in the early DAW days before dedicated monitor controllers when turning the level of your studio monitors up or down was all done in the app. It was a real pain back then, and we all yearned for a straightforward analog rotary knob like on hardware consoles. Today most every […]
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On this week’s podcast episode, I sit down with DJ Bander, Zach Schnall, CEO of Bander Productions, to explore how artists can build real career momentum in today’s music business. From jazz roots to electronic dance music success, Zach shares how he transitioned genres, built a brand, invested in marketing, and developed the business skills […]
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If you’re recording drums, or even using samples, one of the glaring faults that frequently shows up is the lack of that low bottom end on the kick. Sure, we can add it with some low-frequency EQ, but many times that just makes the mix sound woofy and uncontrolled. A better way is often to […]
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I always felt that real men (and women) play Telecasters. That’s because they’re not comfortable to play, like say a Strat, and you have to work to make the sound fit into the song. That said, there are a handful of instruments that changed the trajectory of music itself, and the Fender Telecaster is certainly […]
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On this week’s podcast episode, I speak with Ben Ikwaugwu, CEO of SoundCheck Live, about why the freelance economy is growing faster than the tools designed to support it. Drawing from his background as a professional vocalist and supply chain professional, Ben explains why fragmented communication, lack of systems, and disjointed execution make it harder […]
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One of the ongoing challenges in modern studios is integrating guitar pedals into a DAW-based workflow without turning your signal chain into a science experiment. Pedals expect instrument level. Interfaces provide line level. Plug one straight into the other and you’re usually rewarded with distortion, noise, or a lifeless tone that sounds nothing like what […]
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On this week’s podcast episode, I speak with legendary Nashville engineer and producer Ed Seay about AI generated demos, modern songwriting trends, mixing tools, and how the Nashville sound has evolved. From demo studios being bypassed to why human instinct still cannot be replaced, this conversation offers an inside look at where music has been […]
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Back when I was first playing in bands, sound systems were very primitive, to say the least. To give you an idea, when the Shure Vocal Master came along, it was a revelation for bands everywhere, something that’s quite laughable today. Another standard of the time was the Electro-Voice 664 microphone, which we all used […]
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