I’m an old Hammond organ player from way back, starting with L-100’s and M-3s, then working myself up to a B-3. Along the way I owned a variety of Leslie rotating speakers, including models 45, 145, 147, and 122. The point is that I have lots of hands-on experience with rotating speakers, which means I’m […]
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One of the biggest problems with large sessions that have lots of mix elements is that there are usually at least a few tracks that can’t be heard distinctly in the mix. Much of this has to do with the fact that one track may be masking another one, caused by frequency clashes between the […]
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On this week’s podcast episode, Elliot Easton, guitarist for The Cars and Creedence Clearwater Revisited, takes us through his journey with the band and beyond. Elliot looks back at The Cars’ origins, from getting a label deal the old fashioned way, to connecting with famed producer Roy Thomas Baker, to recording the band’s initial albums, […]
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If you’ve ever wished you could replace your pitch corrector, harmony generator, doubler, and vocal modulation tools with a single plugin, Klevgrand may have just answered that wish. The Swedish developer known for creative, well-crafted audio tools has released Altitude, a real-time vocal performance station built for singers, producers, and live performers alike. It’s a […]
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There is so much controversy and pushback on AI-generated music that there’s no point revisiting that argument again. But would things be any different if generative artificial intelligence was combined with quantum computing? Could a state-of-the-art quantum computer actually improve the music creation process? I’ll let you be the judge when you watch and listen to […]
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Is the music industry heading into another major reset? On this week’s solo podcast episode, I break down the biggest shifts happening across the music business and music production. In This Episode: And much more. You can hear it at bobbyoinnercircle.com, or via Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Mixcloud, Spotify, Deezer, TuneIn Radio, or RadioPublic. Also, […]
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One of the ongoing challenges in any mix is keeping problematic frequencies under control without making the processing obvious. Static EQ gets you partway there, but if a frequency only causes trouble when the signal gets loud, you end up either over-correcting when it is not needed or under-correcting when it is. That is where […]
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What matters more in the music business, mastering every plugin, or becoming the kind of person people want to hire again? On this week’s podcast episode, I talk with songwriter, producer, engineer, and educator Gary Gray about music licensing, post production, rhythmic integrity, AI, immersive audio, and the character traits that keep people working in […]
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One of the most frustrating and time consuming things that happens during a mix is figuring out why certain mix elements seem buried when they’re at the right level. The problem is often masking, where frequencies from one element cover up the detail and body of another. Sure, you can carve away with static EQ […]
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I just read about the passing of Jack Douglas, a legendary producer and a friend to many in the audio business. So much of the music that we grew up came from under Jack’s watchful eye, including John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Double Fantasy,” Aerosmith’s “Rocks” and “Toys in the Attic,” Cheap Trick’s debut album and “Live […]
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What can Les Paul’s original recording studio reveal about the way modern music production really began? On this week’s podcast episode, I talk with with Tom Camuso, Director of Engineering at The Les Paul Recording Studio, and Michael Braunstein, 3rd Generation Les Paul Manager. We discuss restoring Les Paul’s groundbreaking recording gear, rebuilding his historic […]
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In 1985, Sir George Martin, always a stickler for sound quality, commissioned the brilliant audio designer Rupert Neve to build a no-compromise microphone preamp for his new AIR Studios. The result was the ISA 110 module, featuring a Lundahl LL1538 input transformer that Neve hand-selected for its warm, open, and detailed character. That same transformer […]
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What makes the Empirical Labs Distressor such a lasting studio classic? On this week’s podcast episode, I sit down with Dave Derr, founder of Empirical Labs and creator of the Distressor. Among the things we talk about analog compression, product design, the birth of Nuke mode, FATSO, Mike-E, plugins, and the studio lessons that shaped […]
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Getting the stereo width right on a mix or master is one of those things that sounds simple until you’re actually doing it. Go too narrow and the track sounds flat and lifeless. Go too wide and you end up with phase problems, a hollowed-out center, and a mix that falls apart on mono playback. […]
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I often get questions about the knee parameter of a dynamics processor like a compressor and what it does, so hopefully this post will provide the answers. You don’t see this control on all compressors (especially the vintage favorites), but it can be quite useful in getting a dynamics processor to do what you want. […]
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