Category Archives for "Gear"
- in Gear , Microphones , Production by Bobby Owsinski
10 Microphones That Haven’t Changed In Ages
I was reading an excellent article on the Sweetwater blog about 10 music products that haven’t changed in a long time, and it got me to thinking about microphones that haven’t changed in at least 20 years. After a little research, here’s what I came up with Shure SM57 – Introduced in 1965, it’s been […]
Continue reading- in Gear , Guitar , Guitars , New Music Gear Monday by Bobby Owsinski
New Music Gear Monday: Fender EOB Sustainer Stratocaster
I usually don’t post on new guitars in this slot, but the new Fender EOB Sustainer Stratocaster is just different enough that it deserves a mention. This is the signature guitar from Radiohead’s Ed O’Brian, but it features the inclusion of a Fernandez Sustainer circuit that gives guitarists the ability to create those long ethereal […]
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Gibson Kills Cakewalk
Gibson Brands (formerly Gibson Guitars) has announced that it decided to cease development of Cakewalk products. Cakewalk Sonar has a dedicated following and was one of the DAWs that PC users loved, although the company has recently fielded some Mac products as well. Here’s the company’s official statement: Gibson Brands announced today that it is ceasing […]
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Some Excellent Cyber Monday Recording Accessories
We all love a deal and Cyber Monday is the day for it, so I decided to put together my own list of cool gear especially for musicians and engineers. Here are some accessory items that make great gifts for any musician or engineer (even yourself). Etymotic Research ER20 Earplugs – I keep trying others […]
Continue reading- in Book Excerpt , Gear , Guitars , Production by Bobby Owsinski
Good Things Can Happen With Alternate Tunings
I’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 […]
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The New Tax Bill Will Badly Hurt Musicians
The House passed a tax bill last week ostensibly to reduce the amount that the average person pays, but I think most Americans are looking at it as help for corporations and the wealthy and not so much for everyone else. According to the provisions of the bill, musicians would be especially hard hit. As […]
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New Music Gear Monday: Owow Wiggle Kit Singer Effects Control
I remember watching Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Ferrell manipulate his own echo effects on stage by manually controlling a Roland Space Echo. It was pretty cool sounding, but a bit clunky looking, and he it did it like that for his entire career. If you’re a singer that wants the ability to control your own […]
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This Forgotten Greek Instrument Hasn’t Been Heard In 2,000 Years
Just when you think you’ve heard every musical instrument there is you find that there’s one more. Don’t feel bad though, since no one has heard an aulos in more than 2,000 years. Only 5 complete original instruments are known to currently exist. The aulos is a double pipe with a reed at the top […]
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A New iMac Pro Is Coming, But Can You Afford It?
Many of us have run our DAWs on Mac computers for a long time, and most of us have been frustrated by the fact that Apple hasn’t updated their flagship desktop Mac Pro in a long time. As a result, many of us (myself included) have migrated to an iMac as a powerful, compact, and […]
Continue reading- in Gear , New Music Gear Monday , Software , Video by Bobby Owsinski
New Music Gear Monday: Mastering The Mix Expose Mix Quality Control App
As I’ve written before, there’s no need to do specific mixes for streaming services like Spotify, since most labels and aggregators like TuneCore will submit a 44.1kHz/16 bit file anyway. Plus, the streaming services do their own encoding and normalization, so there’s no benefit in doing it yourself. That said, it’s always good to know what […]
Continue readingNew Music Gear Monday: Audified Synergy R1 Reverb 500 Series Module
about everyone has a 500 series rack these days, but we usually load them with the same three categories of modules – preamps, EQs, and compressors. Audified might change your mind about what else you can load into your rack with the release of its new Synergy R1 500 series reverb module. The R1 is […]
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Reverb.com Adds $15 Million In New Funding
The Reverb.com gear site seemed to come out of nowhere and usurp eBay as the most used place online to buy and trade instruments and audio gear. Since it’s launch in 2013, the site has grown in leaps and bounds to the point where sales are expected to reach $429 million this year, according to the […]
Continue reading- in Engineering , Gear , Production , Recording by Bobby Owsinski
6 Things I Bring To Every Recording Session
Over the years I’ve learned that there are a number of very simple items that I must bring to every recording session I go to just to be sure that my time in the studio is productive and comfortable. These items aren’t expensive, and while they may not be quite as important as your favorite mics […]
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New Music Gear Monday: Eventide H9000 Effects Processor
Plugin effects processors have come a long way, offering a wide range of features for a surprising little amount of money. That said, there are times when the typical desktop or laptop computer just doesn’t have the horsepower required for sophisticated processing tasks. And then there are those cases where you need a real outboard […]
Continue reading- in Gear , Hardware , New Music Gear Monday by Bobby Owsinski
New Music Gear Monday: Updated Mackie Big Knob Monitor Controller
One of the things that every DAW-based studio needs is a monitor controller, and the Mackie Big Knob has been one of the best sellers in the category for about a decade now. The series now gets an update with new electronics and a few new features. The thing about Big Knob controllers is that […]
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