New Music Gear Monday: Wavesfactory SK10 Subkick Simulator Plugin

It seems like every engineer uses a subkick mic when recording kick drum these days. Whether you buy one (there are now a number of them on the market to choose from) or build one yourself, they will enable you to add some girth to the kick drum that you almost can’t get any other […]

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Online Content Getting Shorter, New SSDs, and L-Acoustics Scott Sugden On My Latest Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is Scott Sugden, who started as a live systems engineer for bands like Van Halen and The Steve Miller Band to theater productions like Spamalot and The Producers before specializing in large format sound system design for festivals. He initially came to L-Acoustics as application support and education engineer, which led into a product role […]

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The 6 Track Editing Tips Every Mix Engineer Should Know

Mix engineers are called upon to do so much more than ever before. Individual track editing used to be done by the producer way before the mixing stage, but mixers now find that it’s part of the job they’re expected to do as part of the mix. Here are some tips for tweaking track timing […]

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Dolby Atmos Finally Goes Mainstream

I posted this on my Music 3.0 blog last week but it’s a significant enough development that I thought I’d post it here as well. We finally know where all that immersive audio content that Dolby has been collecting from Universal Music Group is going to end up. The company announced its partnership with Amazon […]

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New Music Gear Monday: Baby Audio I Heart NY Parallel Compression Plugin

I do love it whenever I ready about someone using the New York City compression trick. The reason why is that I coined the phrase in the first edition of my Mixing Engineer’s Handbook way back in 1999. I noticed that, at the time, most engineers that resided in New York used a lot of […]

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CDs Making A Comeback, Cheap USB Hubs, And Engineer Craig Burbidge On My Latest Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is engineer Craig Burbidge, who gained multi-platinum status having worked with hundreds of R&B stars like Barry White, Steve Perry, Natalie Cole, Take 6, Teddy Pendergrass, Vanessa Williams, Brian McKnight, Kirk Franklin and many more.  Craig was also one of the first American engineers to take his talents to Asia with a long-time working relationship with Taiwanese superstar […]

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Take That Tube Amp And Shove It

There’s been a revolution going on in guitar sound over the last decade that hasn’t been at all subtle. Amplifier simulators have gradually taken over to the point where even some of rock’s guitar gods are using them onstage. The common tube amp looks like it will soon to be a thing of past, as […]

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5 Simple Tricks To Take Your Vocal To Another Level

Many singers just do what comes naturally, which can work for a while but eventually leads to throat problems with heavy gigging or recording. Trained vocalists usually don’t have the same problem because they’ve learned the techniques that most great vocalists use. I’ve written about techniques for vocals here before, but this article by Cari […]

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New Music Gear Monday: Jupiter Accessories micozy Microphone Cover

A condenser microphone can be a fragile thing, attracting dust form the air onto the delicate capsule, which can result in a gradually deterioration of the mic’s performance. The options are to either remove each microphone from its stand after the session and place it in its individual hard case (which can be time-consuming), or […]

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Streaming Royalties May Change For The Better, SM58 Facts, And Engineer Jesse Ray Ernster On My Latest Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is engineer, mixer and composer Jesse Ray Ernster, who grew up in a musical family with both his parents playing in bands and making records. Jesse’s entrance in the music business began at age of 16 touring with several artists as a lead guitarist/vocalist, but he then realized his true calling […]

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Will The Future Of Music Notation Be Animated?

There seems to be less notation used in music than ever before. Why write it down when it’s easier to record it? That being said, notated music still holds a mighty place in music instruction, and when needed to get the exact point across when needed (like in the studio). The big question is, does […]

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Words Of Wisdom From Producer/Engineer Joel Hamilton

When I was compiling my Music Business Advice Book there were so many fantastic pieces of advice that it was difficult to get them all in the book. There was one phrase by 6 time Grammy-nominated producer/engineer/musician Joel Hamilton (who’s credits include the Black Keys, Iggy Pop, Elvis Costello, and Pretty Lights, among many others) […]

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New Music Gear Monday: Goodhertz Megaverb Reverb Plugin

Way back in the dark ages of the 80s adding a reverb unit to your studio was normally very painful to your pocketbook. You either bought a real plate (hopefully you had room for it) or ponied up the really big bucks for a digital Lexicon, AMS, or EMT unit. Then along came Alesis, the […]

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Latest Music Sales Data, 40th Anniversary Of The Walkman, And Miles Davis Nephew Vince Wilburn Jr. On My Inner Circle Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is Vince Wilburn Jr. who has both toured and recorded with his uncle Miles Davis on many legendary recordings from 1984 through 1987. He is also a producer on the Grammy-winning Miles Ahead soundtrack for “Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media, and is co-executor of Miles Davis Properties. Vince has played […]

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Just When You Got Used To USB-C, It’s On To USB4

Anything with electronics inside to subject to an arms race when it comes to a way to interface with it. There was a collective groan from computer users everywhere when USB-C was introduced, not because of its considerable features, but because the plug was different. That meant that hard drives, interfaces, monitors and more were […]

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