This Miking Formula Is Worth Remembering

Contrary to what many recording novices might think, just having great recording gear doesn’t automatically guarantee a great recorded sound. It’s easy to believe that just having a high-quality mic or preamp is automatically going to provide a stellar recording, but there’s much more to it than that. This excerpt from the 4th edition of […]

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Could The Fire At Apollo Masters Mean The End Of Vinyl As We Know It?

Vinyl record sales have been impressive lately, featuring double digit gains over the last 10 years. Although the figures for 2019 have not yet been released, it’s expected that the number of vinyl albums sold would crack 20 million. The vinyl success story is likely over now though thanks to the recent fire that burned […]

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Submitting To Playlists, Reasons Behind USB-C, And Legendary Producer John Boylan On This Week’s Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is the legendary producer John Boylan, who started in the business as a member of the burgeoning folk scene in the Village in New York City that set the tone for the explosion in the music business to unimagined heights.  He then went on to become a songwriter in the famed […]

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New Music Gear Monday: IK Multimedia Sunset Sound Reverb Plugin

Sunset Sound in Hollywood is one of the oldest and most iconic recording studios anywhere. There have been so many hits recorded there that at its 25th anniversary party they played for 4 hours straight without repeating one. Van Halen, the Stones, the Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, the Doors and hundreds of other music giants […]

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Behringer’s New Music Tribe Marketplace Designed To Compete With Reverb And Ebay

Don’t look now but MI giant Behringer has something new up its corporate sleeve. It’s a brand new gear marketplace called Music Tribe and its designed to go up against the likes of Reverb.com and Ebay. Music Tribe is free and, according to the company, “is an online marketplace where buyers and sellers interact about […]

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The 7 Bad Frequency Gremlins You Should Watch For

There are certain frequencies that can definitely ruin the sound of a mix. Get too much of one of them and the result is some unpleasantness that is difficult to describe, but engineers try anyway. We’ve come up with a lingo that should identify a certain frequency band, but since the names aren’t truly universal, […]

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Ghost Songs, Illegal Tribute Bands, And Music Strategy Consultant Jay Gilbert On My Latest Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is Jay Gilbert, who’s love of taking concert photographs eventually translated into being on the cutting edge of digital sales and marketing as an executive with Universal, Sony and Warner Music Groups. Jay has created and executed unique online marketing plans for a wide variety of artists, including Elton John, KISS, […]

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New Music Gear Monday: Acoustica Acqua Pensado EQ Plugin

Dave Pensado has been a superstar mixer from the time he entered the Los Angeles music scene more than 20 years ago. During that time he’s worked with some of the most revered artists (Michael Jackson, Christina Aguilera, and Beyoncé among them) but the fact is that every mix Dave does is a masterpiece regardless […]

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Don’t Look Now But Fender Has A New Owner

The words “Fender has a new owner” will put fear into the hearts of musicians as memories of the CBS acquisition and the debacle that followed loom large. The quality control went out the window and new instrument duds nearly doomed the company then, so don’t look now – Fender has a new owner once […]

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How Drum Construction Contributes To A Great Recorded Drum Sound

Probably the single most troublesome instrument to record may be the drum kit. Engineers obsess over the drum sound – and well they should, since the drums are the heartbeat of virtually all modern music. It’s a fact that drums that sound small in the track will make the rest of the track sound small […]

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Extra Tracks Strategy, USC Diversity Study, And Groove U Founder Dwight Heckelman On My Latest Inner Circle Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is Dwight Heckelman who, after a stint at Berklee College of Music,felt that music higher education needed to be held to a higher standard and would be a lot better if it were apprenticeship-based and relationship-driven.  He called on his experience as a graduate of Belmont University, at major and independent […]

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New Music Gear Monday: Austrian Audio OC818 Condenser Microphone

Austrian Audio is a new relatively new company out of Vienna, but in reality it’s one that you’ve known for a long time. A few years ago when parent company Harmon decided that it no longer needed the services of the people at AKG, it let the entire company go while keeping the name. Don’t […]

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The New Bluetooth LE Promises Better Wireless Audio

One of the problems with Bluetooth and audio devices is the limitations that it presents to audio, but those look to be in the past with the latest version of the standard – Bluetooth LE. This one’s different from other flavors of Bluetooth in that it was created specifically for audio. LE stands for “low […]

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Here’s How To Make Your Mix More Interesting

Although being skilled in applying the five elements of a mix (balance, frequency range, dimension, panorama, and dynamics) may be sufficient for many types of audio mixes, most hits require a mix that’s taken to another level. Although it’s always easier to achieve with great tracks, a solid arrangement, and spectacular playing, a great mix […]

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Winter NAMM 2020 Overview On My Latest Inner Circle Podcast

This week on the podcast I take a quick look at the recent Winter NAMM 2020 exhibition that just finished in Anaheim. NAMM was certainly different this year as it felt renewed and actually had its first buzz-worthy product in a long time. During this week’s episode I’ll take a look at: the mood of the show […]

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