Category Archives for "Engineering"
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Choosing the Right Microphone For The Job
While it’s safe to say that most engineers rely on experience when choosing which microphone to use in a given situation, these are some things to consciously consider when selecting a microphone. Here’s a list of items to think about from the latest edition of my Recording Engineer’s Handbook. There’s no one mic that works well on everything. […]
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New Music Gear Monday: Audio-Technica ATM350a Instrument Microphone
We all have our favorite mics for recording specific instruments in the studio, but when it comes to miking them live, everything is out the window. Mostly that’s because mounting many mics can be a pain. While you can afford to spend time getting the placement just right in the studio, when it’s live everything is […]
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More Headphone Freakout Solutions
I’m always amazed how musicians react to their headphones and cue mixes while recording. Some are extremely picky, needing everything to be as perfect as possible before performing, while others can make do with just about anything that closely resembles a mix and a working headphone or two. Rob Tavaglione recently wrote a nice piece at ProSoundNetwork […]
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A Foolproof Method For Miking A Guitar Amp
Sometimes getting an electric guitar sound is dead easy and other times getting it to fit into the track seems nearly impossible. Here’s an excerpt from my Audio Recording Boot Camp book that provides an almost foolproof method for miking a guitar amp. “Electric guitar recording has evolved through the years, from miking the guitar amp from a […]
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3 Tips To Make Your Online Music Sound Better
Everyone wants their music to sound great on Spotify or Pandora, but making a master requires a little more forethought than just getting a loud master. In that spirit, here’s an excerpt from the latest Mastering Engineer’s Handbook 3rd edition that provides 3 tips for a better sounding online music. 1. Turn it down a bit. […]
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Staying Away From Bad Solder Joints
One of the first things I learned to do when I was a young musician was to solder so I could build and fix my own cables and gear. The number of hours I spent in my parents basement burning my fingers while learning the art is forever seared in my brain. I rarely do […]
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Engineer Rudy Van Gelder Passes
Jazz engineer Rudy Van Gelder passed away last week at age 91, and although many won’t recognize the name, he was a giant in the industry. He was responsible for recording some of the greatest jazz albums ever by artists like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Donald Byrd, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter and hundreds more. While […]
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Record Making With Duke Ellington
Here’s a priceless film from 1937 that shows Duke Ellington in the studio recording, and the process of making a vinyl record release afterwards. There’s a lot to notice in the video that will make you appreciate the recording process from back then. First of all, notice that the band is recorded on a single microphone. […]
Continue readingEngineer Ed Cherney On Episode #120 Of My Latest Inner Circle Podcast
Ed Cherney has become one of the legends of the audio end of the music business, having won 3 Grammys, an Emmy award, 5 TEC awards and been inducted into the TEC hall of fame. His client list is a who’s who of great artists that include Bonnie Riatt, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Bob […]
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4 Surround Sound Miking Techniques Perfect For Virtual Reality
With virtual reality becoming more and more popular, surround sound is making a comeback. While most of the concentration on the audio side of things is on mixing, the fact of the matter is that there’s a lot of interesting information that can be captured during recording. Here’s an excerpt from my Recording Engineer’s Handbook […]
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Measuring Sound Isolation
One of the things that many musicians and engineers don’t realize is that there’s a way to actually measure sound isolation, and this excerpt from my Studio Builder’s Handbook (co-written with Dennis Moody) shows a real world comparison between different materials and isolation levels. “Before we get into how sound isolation is accomplished, we need […]
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7 Traits Of A Great Assistant Engineer
You may never work in a studio that has an assistant engineer, and if you own your own gear, you may never be one yourself, but it’s good to find out what an assistant in a major facility like the Record Plant, Capitol, Oceanway or Avatar really needs to know. These 7 tips are excerpted from […]
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New Music Gear Monday: Undertone Audio Vari-Cap Cable
I’m always surprised when I change something as simple as a cable and the sound lights up. That’s because there’s much more to cables that you’d ever think (check out my interview with Larry Smith from Wireworld Cable Technology for a great explanation between the differences in cables). The one thing that most guitar players […]
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7 Self-Mastering Tips For When You Can’t Hire A Mastering Engineer
Let’s face it, recording budgets are tight these days and we can’t always send our final mixes to a true mastering engineer. With so many of the same tools that mastering engineers use now available to every mixer, it’s now possible to do a pretty good self-mastering job. If that’s your situation, it’s best to […]
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A Look At The Sound City Drum Sound
There are some studios that have that magic sound for tracking drums, and the famed Sound City in Van Nuys, California was one. Every great sounding tracking room that I’ve ever been in has been a product of luck rather than design, and Sound City (which ha since closed) was no exception. The combination of a smooth […]
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