Category Archives for "Production"
I’m going to let you in on the secrets that helped me make millions of dollars in the cut-throat world of the Hollywood music business in my upcoming Fill Your Calendar Workshop tomorrow, Tuesday March 19th, at 4PM Eastern. My Fill Your Calendar Workshop will cover: It’s totally free and you don’t have to supply […]
Continue readingI know what you were thinking when you read the title. “I have plenty of EQ plugins already. Why do I need another one?” I think all of us feel the same way, but if a plugin does something faster (especially) or better than what you have already, then it’s worth checking out. And that’s […]
Continue readingBy now just about everyone has heard about The Sphere in Las Vegas, the next level event venue that takes both the audio and visuals to a completely new level. The reviews so far have been fantastic, and it seems like a great reason to make a pilgrimage to Las Vegas just for the experience. […]
Continue readingIt doesn’t seem all that long ago when engineers began to get access to relatively inexpensive mastering limiters that emulated the gear that only mastering engineers had previously. That led to a wave of way-too-loud mixes that we’re only now beginning to recover from. That said, there’s a whole new category of mastering plugins that […]
Continue readingWith so much music being created with loops and samples, it almost seems like having a group of real musicians play together is becoming a lost art. Because going the electronic route is so easy, many producers or potential bands give up when things don’t sound right, and they don’t know why. The fact of […]
Continue readingWe all love compressors and can’t get enough, even if we already have a similar model. For instance, how many dbx 160-style compressors do you need? Well, one more wouldn’t hurt, especially if it has modern features, and more importantly, is free. That’s what you’ll get with Softube’s VCA Compressor, which is amazingly available at […]
Continue readingEqualization is one of the most difficult parts of recording to get the hang of since there’s literally almost an infinite number of possibilities. Most of us learn by experience and usually massive amounts of trial and error before our ears become trained to recognize EQ problems when we hear them, but there are some very […]
Continue readingA big part of EQing, and maybe the first thing you’ll be concerned with when embarking on the process, is finding any resonances in the recorded audio and then decreasing them. This used to be a manual endeavor which amounted to boosting a band of a parametric EQ and then sweeping the frequencies until the […]
Continue readingOne of the cool things about artificial reverb plugins is that they give you a sense of size and space, and that’s certainly sufficient for most modern mixing tasks. There’s nothing like being in a real space though, and some of the most compelling are large caves. I’ve been to quite a few good ones, […]
Continue readingWhile many engineers and producers don’t worry about capturing the perfect kick sound in the studio anymore thanks to the many great sample libraries and drum triggers available, it’s a different world in live sound, where so much depends on the mic used on the kick and the bass. While many of us at one […]
Continue readingThe essence of mixing is the balance between instruments or mix elements. No matter how good you are at other aspects of the mixing process, if you don’t get the balance right, you don’t have a mix. Here are some questions to ask yourself as well as 6 exercises that will help you visualize your mix before […]
Continue readingThere are many types of compressors and because of the way they’re built, some work better on certain mix elements than others. That carries through to look-alike plugins that simulate analog optical, FET, VCA, and Vari-mu originals. But digital technology is very advanced today, so why can’t there be one plugin that simulates them all? […]
Continue readingWhen iconic record producer George Martin passed away in 2016 it brought effusive thoughts, memories and well-deserved accolades from all quarters of the music business. Most dwelled on Sir George’s creative accomplishments, and truly there were many. Just his work with The Beatles alone changed the way we make music forever, not to mention his work with other top selling artists […]
Continue readingIf you look at mix templates from any good mixer you’ll always find a few modulators, delays and reverbs, but the real magic happens when all three are combined. This takes some routing to do, and the setup isn’t always straightforward, which is why it’s all committed to a template so you don’t have to […]
Continue readingVintage guitars are still very much in demand, and if you don’t believe it, just check out the recent Mark Knopfler guitar collection auction at Christies. Not only did 100% of the items sell, but they sold for way more than the baseline asking price. The total revenue from the auction was over $11 million […]
Continue reading