10 Christmas Gifts For Musicians And Engineers 2023 Edition

Artificial intelligence can be extremely helpful to your music and music marketing, if you know how to use it. This book covers everything from music composition, to production, to audio plugins and processors, to mixing and mastering, to creating videos, graphics and marketing, all with the help of Ai. Ai won’t take away your creativity, but those that know how to harness it will be the ones who reap the biggest benefits in the future.

It’s been a standard in music production courses in colleges and universities around the world for a reason. The 5th edition is completely up-to-date with all the latest gear and techniques that anyone trying to mix in a big or small studio needs.

Also in its 5th edition, The Recording Engineer’s Handbook provides multiple techniques to record just about every musical instrument you can think of, including different recording and drum miking techniques from different eras of music.

At the end of each of my podcasts I always ask the guest, “What was the best piece of advice that you either received from someone or you learned yourself along the way.” The result is 150 pearls of wisdom that will inspire anyone on their music career journey.

I personally never go into a loud audio situation without these little gems. They are soooo much better than foam or wax earplugs in that they cut the level down without affecting the frequency response. Since I found these ER20’s, I feel absolutely naked and scared when I don’t have them on me. At around $14, you just can’t go wrong.

I don’t think there’s anything that I’ve purchased recently that I’ve used more. Stream Deck allows you to map all of your DAW commands to backlit keys that you can identify quickly with a graphic or a description. Makes editing so fast I now can’t do it any other way. It comes in 9, 15 and 32 key versions and is a snap to set up.

If you travel a lot (who doesn’t anymore) or just want the convenience of a hoodie with a lot of pockets, then you’ll want a SCOTTeVEST. It has 21 pockets of various sizes (including one large enough for an iPad), a built-in Do Not Disturb blindfold, and even an eyeglass cleaner. Studios and airports can be cold, but this product brings both comfort and functionality all in one.

If you track a lot with multiple musicians, you know that headphones get knocked around quite a bit. It’s disheartening to see your expense phones takes a beating, but Monoprice comes to the rescue. These sound pretty good, and you’ll never feel bad about having to replace them. A bargain at around $24.

If you want to either learn mixing from the ground up or increase your mixing skills, I offer the Music Mixing Primer (use the code VMPRIME for a special XMAS price) and Top 40 Mixing Secrets courses (along with a number of cool bonuses). Or you can join the waiting list for the next class of my Mixing Accelerator training.

The popular “Up Your Levels” merch is back. T-shirts, mugs and even a tote bag. Show the world that you think more is better!