Category Archives for "Production"
- in Production by Bobby Owsinski
New Music Gear Monday: SSL Module8 Multi-Modulation Plugin
Modulation effects can be so useful when it comes to adding interest and motion to a mix. While sometimes just one can make a huge difference to the sound, sometimes stacking them can take the interest level up several notches. One of the problems with modulation plugin stacking, like with all plugins, is that it […]
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This Video Will Really Make You Appreciate Your DAW
If you look back to recording studios from the 1960s through the early 1980s, the centerpiece of the control room was generally a console with a brand like Neve, Trident, API, MCI or a variety of offshoots. Mixing was fairly easy in the days of 8 and even 16 track, but once it went to […]
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New Music Gear Monday: Nektar Panorama C12 Logic Pro Controller
Either you love or hate using a DAW controller, but if you’re in the category that uses one, then you usually want it to control as many of the parameters as possible. That’s even more important if you normally use channel strip plugins, as more control means more of a real console feel. If you’re […]
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Get A Great Drum Sound With These 14 Sound Replacement Tips
Although you may be great at recording drums and have a great sounding studio with an excellent signal chain, the two chief variables in the recording are the drummer and his drums. No amount of technique or gear can overcome a bad sounding kit or a drummer that hits inconsistently, hence the importance of sound […]
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New Music Gear Monday: United Plugins FireEQ Plugin
I 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 […]
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A Look At The Sphere Las Vegas Holoplot Sound System
By 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. […]
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New Music Gear Monday: Submission Audio Flatline 2 Mastering Maximizer Plugin
It 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 […]
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The 8 Characteristics Of A Tight Band
With 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 […]
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New Music Gear Monday: Softube VCA Compressor (It’s Free)
We 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 […]
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5 Simple EQ Tips That Just About Always Work
Equalization 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 […]
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New Music Gear Monday: HoRNet Sleek Resonance Removal Plugin
A 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 […]
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The World’s Largest Instrument Is Underground
One 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, […]
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New Music Gear Monday: Earthworks DM6 Kick Drum Mic
While 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 reading- in Book Excerpt , Engineering , Production by Bobby Owsinski
Before You Begin, Visualize Your Mix With These 6 Exercises
The 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 […]
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New Music Gear Monday: Three-Body Technology Cenozoix Compressor Plugin
There 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? […]
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