Category Archives for "Book Excerpt"
There’s so much attention given to vinyl these days that I though it might be a good idea to cover exactly what goes into actually pressing a record. It’s actually a primitive process by today’s standards, and it’s pretty amazing that they sound as good as they do. Here’s an excerpt from the 4rth edition […]
Continue readingLegendary producer Ken Scott began his career at the Abbey Road Studios working with The Beatles on The White Album and Magical Mystery Tour; on six David Bowie albums, including the seminal Ziggy Stardust album; and with Pink Floyd, Elton John, Duran Duran, Jeff Beck, Supertramp, Procol Harum, Devo, Kansas, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and many more. […]
Continue reading“Everything set up? Cool, let’s record. Oh, wait, it doesn’t sound like I think it should.” At this point you can continue to record and deal with the consequences later, or stop and troubleshoot, but you might be chasing your tail and it could take longer than you want to get to where you want […]
Continue readingI’ve been producing a project where the guitar player has been using a lot of alternate tunings in order to get the overdubbed layers to sound different, so I thought it was time revisit the subject again in a post. Sometimes changing the tuning of a guitar from standard to some alternate tuning can create […]
Continue readingMany musicians, producers and engineers fight with the click track for various reasons, but most of the time it’s because the player just can’t hear it in a way that’s conducive to playing in the pocket. Here are 6 tips from the 2nd edition of my Music Producer’s Handbook (previously posted on my Big Picture blog) about […]
Continue readingI’ve been getting a lot of emails lately asking how one goes about becoming a studio musician, so I thought that this excerpt from my Studio Musician’s Handbook (written with ace bass player and good buddy Paul ILL) might be appropriate. It’s about the 16 ways playing in the studio is different than playing live. […]
Continue readingAndrew Scheps has worked on mega-hit albums for a who’s-who of superstar artists such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, U2, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, the Rolling Stones, Linkin Park, Jewel, Neil Diamond, and Adele. We had an excellent chat that was included in the latest edition of my Mixing Engineer’s Handbook, and here’s part of […]
Continue readingMix engineers are called on to do so much more than ever before. Tweaking the track timing used to be done way before the mixing stage, but mixers now find it’s part of the job they’re expected to do. Here are some tips for tweaking track timing in you DAW from the Advanced chapter in […]
Continue readingThere’s so much more to getting a great electric guitar sound than just placing a mic in front of an amplifier speaker. Here are 10 tips from The Recording Engineer’s Handbook 4th edition that you might have never considered, but can go a lot way in helping you capture that ultimate guitar recording. 1. An […]
Continue readingJust because you have a lot of mics and tracks at your disposal, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll get a great drum sound. Sometimes, the simplest methods can provide a realism that you just can’t get from close-miking every drum. Here are 6 techniques culled from my Recording Engineer’s Handbook that show how you […]
Continue readingOasis Mastering’s chief engineer Gene Grimaldi has a list of blockbuster clients that include Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Ellie Goulding, Carly Rae Jepsen, Lana Del Ray, Nicki Minaj, and many more. In this excerpt from The Mastering Engineer’s Handbook 4th Edition, Gene describes some of his techniques for mastering “in-the-box.” Bobby Owsinski: “How has mastering changed […]
Continue readingIf you’ve enjoyed the big hits from Lady Gaga’s The Fame and The Fame Monster albums, such as “Poker Face,” “Paparazzi,” and “Just Dance,” then Robert Orton is your man. After spending eight years at the side of producer extraordinaire Trevor Horn, Robert has gone on to craft hits for Robbie Williams, Enrique Iglesias, Ellie […]
Continue readingThere you are in the middle of a perfect take when you hear the audio cracking up. It’s distorting but you don’t know where. Before you pull your hair out, check out these 6 steps that will help you track it down in a quick and methodical manner. 1. Is the microphone preamp overloading? Is […]
Continue readingAcoustic guitar by nature varies so much from instrument to instrument that one miking style definitely won’t work on everything. Luckily, there are a lot of different techniques available, and while all the others might let you down, one of the following 3 techniques from my Recording Engineer’s Handbook is sure to work. Considerations • […]
Continue readingGetting a great vocal take comes from having a comfortable vocalist, and most of the time it’s the little things and attention to detail that counts the most. Here’s a checklist from my Music Producer’s Handbook to follow before vocal recording that will help make sure your singer is as comfortable as possible to enable a […]
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