Bose Audio Engineers Use These Songs For System Tests

Every audio engineer needs at least one reference recording as a baseline for what sounds good, and although that’s a personal preference, some recordings have become standards in different industries. If you haven’t picked your reference recordings yet, the ones used by some of the pros is a good place to start. Selecting A Reference […]

Continue reading

Acoustician Norman Varney On My Latest Podcast Episode

In this week’s podcast episode, I sit down with the amazing Norman Varney of AV RoomService. Norman is an acoustic consultant who has designed over 500 critical listening rooms around the world, starting back to when he owned an audio retail store.  After that, he became director of the Custom Installation and Home Theater divisions at […]

Continue reading

New Music Gear Monday: Verso Sine Electric Guitar

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time you know that I don’t post about musical instruments very much, mostly because anything new is just a modern rehash of something rather old and traditional. The new Sine electric guitar from Verso changes all that, as it’s the most innovative take on electric guitar […]

Continue reading

It’s Suspiciously Quiet In NAMM World

In most years prior to the pandemic, the press releases for the January NAMM show in Anaheim would begin to heat up at the beginning of December. By the second week in January they would reach a crescendo as music gear and audio manufacturers would attempt to blast the word out about a multitude of […]

Continue reading

Chan Kinchla Of Blues Traveler On My Latest Podcast

In this week’s podcast episode, I sit down with Chan Kinchla, the guitar player for Blues Traveler and his new band W4RHORS3. Born in Ontario, Canada, Chan moved to Princeton, NJ where he met his Blues Traveler bandmates. After graduating high school, the band moved to New York City where they gigged around town until they […]

Continue reading

New Music Gear Monday: FabFilter Pro-Q4 Equalizer Plugin

FabFilter has a stellar name in audio processing, with so many of its products central to the workflows of mixers all over the world. Probably foremost in its offerings has been its Pro-Q equalizer, which has steadily improved feature-wise with every version. Its new Pro-Q4 may be its best design yet, boasting so many new […]

Continue reading

Samsung And Google Team Up For [Yawn] New Eclipsa Audio Immersive Audio Format

If you follow my podcast, you know that I mentioned that Samsung and Google were talking about teaming up for a new immersive audio format way back in Episode 500 about a year ago. Now both companies are rolling out the new format but with a new name – Eclipsa Audio. The big news of […]

Continue reading

Vocal Coach To The Stars Eric Vetro On My Latest Podcast

In this week’s podcast episode,  I sit down with singing coach to the stars, Eric Vetro. Eric has a client list that’s a “who’s who” of music celebrities, including Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Rita Ora, John Legend, and Shawn Mendes, as well as the lead singers from bands like Haim, Weezer, Incubus and Muse.  He’s […]

Continue reading

New Music Gear Monday: Sonible prime:vocal Vocal Enhancement Plugin

Today when so many artists are recording their vocals at home, the inevitable room and background noises rear their ugly heads. While there are a lot of very good AI-enabled de-noise plugins available, most of those are geared to dialog, with singing not being a priority. Sonible’s new prime:vocal plugin, on the other hand, is […]

Continue reading

My Music Business Predictions For 2025 On My Latest Podcast

In this week’s podcast episode, I’m solo once again. Last week, I broke down every single important (and interesting) piece of music news for 2024. And today, like last year, I’ll be making my own predictions for music in 2025. Listen in to learn all about them, from why I think young audiences will push back […]

Continue reading

New Music Gear Monday: KIT Plugins BB N54 Compressor-Limiter

When it comes to revered audio gear, just about everything that came out of the original Neve factory in the 1960s and 70s fell into that category. While most of the most popular Neve gear has been emulated in plugins, there’s one console module that’s be sorely overlooked – the Neve 2254 compressor/limiter. Finally a […]

Continue reading

Episode 552 – A Look Back At The Major Stories In Music And Audio In 2024

In this week’s podcast episode,  I sit down with… myself. Yes, today, I go solo for this special episode of the podcast. In it, I’ll be reflecting on the major stories that shaped the music industry in 2024.  In this special year-in-review episode, I’ll be going over TikTok’s potential ban in the US—an event which […]

Continue reading

New Music Gear Monday: JST Howard Benson Vocals Channel Strip Plugin

There are a lot of channel strip plugins on the market and most model an analog console. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it does mean that you still have to add effects, maybe a de-esser, and various other processors to get what you need. A purpose-built processor sometimes makes more sense as it’s faster […]

Continue reading

Let’s Welcome The New Advances In Vinyl Record Pressing Technology

The technology of record pressing has been virtually stagnant for over 40 years, with lathes and record pressing machines relying on cannibalized parts from old worn-out equipment to keep them going.  Thanks to the resurgence in vinyl sales, which injected more money into this side of the business, brand new and improved equipment is being […]

Continue reading

Founder And CEO Of The DotMusic Top-Level Domain Name Constantine Roussos On My Latest Podcast

In this week’s podcast episode,  I sit down with Constantine Roussos, the founder and CEO of the DotMusic top-level domain name. Constantine is a Greek-Cypriot musician, songwriter, producer, engineer, and entrepreneur whose dream of having a “.music” domain name put him up against some of the most powerful tech companies in the world.  As you’ll […]

Continue reading