Category Archives for "Production"
For the longest time musicians, artists, engineers and producers were used to slaving over songs for long periods of time in the studio. Creation took time, and it went from the more or less 3 hour sessions of the 50s and 60s to the months and even years of the 1990s and 2000s. Thankfully, the […]
Continue readingOne of the most overlooked or taken for granted elements in mixing is panorama, or the act of placing a sound element in the soundfield. To understand panorama we must first understand that the stereo sound system (which is two separate audio channels, each with its own speaker) represents sound spatially. Panning lets us select […]
Continue readingOne of the hardest things to record can be a vocalist who is not comfortable with the studio conditions. Even a seasoned pro sometimes can’t do his or her best unless the conditions are just right. Consider some of these suggestions culled from the 4th edition of my Recording Engineer’s Handbook before and during a […]
Continue readingBest known for his work the hard rock bands Dio, Dokken, Foreigner, Bad Company and Great White, engineer Wyn Davis style in that genre is as unmistakable as it is masterful. From his Total Access Recording studio in Redondo Beach, California, Wyn’s work typifies old-school engineering coupled with the best of modern techniques. Here’s an excerpt […]
Continue readingI’m really pleased to announce that Sonarworks has selected my 101 Mixing Tricks course in its 2018 A-Z Mixing Tutorial Guru Guide. Thanks to Lee Chapman and everyone at the company for the recognition! If you don’t know about the 101 Mixing Tricks course, it’s techniques that I’ve garnered from some of the greatest mixers on […]
Continue readingHaving your preferred DAW in your studio is never a problem time-wise because we usually have enough time to use it. Song to song setup takes a few minutes, but usually isn’t a problem even in the most time-compressed situations. Setup for recording a live gig is a lot more intense though, since time is […]
Continue reading“Chasing The Demo” is something that every producer goes through. In other words, an artist or songwriter hands you a demo of a song that’s so good already, but you think you can do it better. Sometimes it happens, but usually something about it is just not as good, mostly because of a limitation on […]
Continue readingFor many up-and-coming artists, just getting to record in a real high-end commercial studio is a dream come true, but once you’re successful, that might not be enough. Many artists thrive on isolation away from record labels, management and the public, so an out of the way residential studio is the perfect place for creating. […]
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, but there are some very simple general guidelines that can be an enormous help for those new to […]
Continue readingIf you were a SONAR user you’ve had a rough last year or so. First of all, Gibson announced that it was shutting Calkwalk down and no longer supporting the software, then the company’s IP was sold to Singapore-based music tech company BandLab. That was a good thing, but the DAW was still in limbo as […]
Continue readingThere’s so much to more to getting a great electric guitar sound that goes beyond just slapping a miking in front of an amplifier speaker. These 10 tips from the 4th edition of my Recording Engineer’s Handbook will help take that guitar sound to the next level in the majority of situations that you’ll run […]
Continue readingSaturday Night Live has been around for a long time and music has always been a big part of the show. Yes, the musical guests are important, but it has a smoking hot band that’s at the show’s heartbeat. Not only that, music makes up a big part of many of the sketches, which is […]
Continue readingIf you’re an audio pro there’s a good chance that you’re working on a Mac. If that’s the case, you’ve heard the startup sound countless times as well as the Sosumi and click sounds. Jim Reekes is the guy who designed these sounds and he has a great story about all of them. The original […]
Continue readingYou probably read the headline for this post and thought, “Not another compressor plugin,” and I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that at first I thought the same thing about Boz Digital Labs’ Manic Compressor. But this plugin has a number of tricks up its sleeve that most compressors don’t have, which makes […]
Continue readingYou might have read about the mysterious injuries that American and Canadian diplomats stationed in Havana, Cuba were suffering a while back. The symptoms were consistent with a concussion (memory problems, an inability to concentrate, mood problems, headaches and fatigue) and although the results of several studies by the FBI and independent engineers have been […]
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