New Music Gear Monday: SSL Origin Large Format Console

If you thought large frame recording consoles were dead, you’d be wrong. Just about every manufacturer that makes them are having no trouble selling what they have at the moment. And there’s even new ones being introduced, as evidenced by SSL’s new Origin console. The Origin has 32 inline inputs, 8 stereo busses and a […]

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Label Catalog Dilemma, AES New Gear, And Mastering Engineer Michael Romanowski On My Latest Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is Michael Romanowski, who is a Grammy nominated mastering engineer and the owner and chief mastering engineer at San Francisco’s Coast Mastering. He’s also the co-owner and founder of the analog tape label The Tape Project, and a trustee of the The Recording Academy San Francisco Chapter (NARAS).  Michael has worked […]

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Thank You, Ed Cherney

I can’t tell you how sad I am to hear the news that Ed Cherney has passed. Not only was he a super engineer, but he was an even better person who cared deeply about others and always wanted the best for everyone. Ed engineered an album that I produced for SNEW a few years […]

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Meet The iCaster, Made From 107 Recycled iPhones

So I bet you always wondered what happens to all those old iPhones that you’re not using anymore. Well, at least 107 of them have ended up in a custom Telecaster-like clone called an iCaster. Yep, the guitar is mostly made up of discarded phones, and it even sounds like a Tele in the end. […]

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New Music Gear Monday: Sonnox Oxford Drum Gate Plugin

Ahhh, gates. We love them and we hate them. They always almost seem to do the job, but never quite 100%, especially on drums. Chatter, mis-detection, choked and lost ghost notes are more the norm than not. But that was before the Sonnox Oxford Drum Gate, which takes gating to a whole new level when […]

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CD Baby And TuneCore Enter China, Digital Patchbays, And Producer-Engineer Yoad Nevo On My Latest Inner Circle Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is Yoad Nevo, who’s credits include over thirty #1 singles, more than fifty Top 10 albums and over sixty Top 10 singles worldwide as a producer, mixer and mastering engineer. Among the artists he’s worked with include Sia, Bryan Adams, Pet Shop boys, Sugababies, The Dandy Warhols, Moby, Morcheeba and many […]

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The Power Of Sound In Our Everyday Lives

We’re inundated with sound everywhere we go, but especially when we go shopping. It may seem like simple background music (and sometimes it is), but when you enter a large national retailer sound becomes weaponized to help move you towards a purchase. In this video Julian Treasure explains how sound affects us physiologically (even down […]

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Words Of Wisdom From Uber-Mixer Dave Pensado

Over the last two decades Dave Pensado has taken mixing to a new level of artistry, having mixed huge hits for superstars like Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Black Eyed Peas, Beyonce, Shakira, and Michael Jackson, among many others. Well known in the business way before his popular Pensado’s Place web series, Dave […]

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Maybe 10,000 Hours To Become An Expert Isn’t A Rule After All

Ever since Malcolm Gladwell introduced the 10,000 hours concept in his 2008 book Outliers, the number has become a standard for the work you must put it in order to become an expert in the skill that you’re pursuing. That can be pretty daunting for anyone just starting out playing an instrument or working in […]

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New Music Gear Monday: Apogee Clearmountain’s Domain FX Signal Chain Plugin

Bob Clearmountain is one of the most celebrated, yet under the radar, mixers in the world today. His work on the classic hits by everyone from Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Bryan Adams, David Bowie, Roxy Music and about a hundred more has stood the test of time in that we still listen to and […]

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Spotify Losing Market Value, Producers Working For Free, And Agent Bruce Houghton On My Latest Inner Circle Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is Bruce Houghton, who started his boutique Skyline Artists Agency more than 25 year ago. The agency now grown to offices in Los Angeles, Nashville, New England, Virginia, Florida and St.Louis, and serves 60 diverse artists that include Roger McGuinn, Poco, Atlanta Rhythm Section, The Motels, Freddie McGregor Zoe Keating, Darlingside, […]

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New iLok Manager Released With A Cloud Mode

If you’re like most other DAW owners on the planet, you most likely run a software app or plugin that requires an iLok. Yes, we all hate the copy protection, but the fact of the matter is that software developers deserve to make some money for all the time they put in and this is […]

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DAW And Audio App Owners – Beware macOS Catalina

You’ve probably heard of the latest Mac operating system update that’s just been released called Catalina (OS 10.15). There are a lot of great features like the ability to use an iPad as a second screen, new entertainment apps, and much increased privacy and protection, that will make it a viable update for everyone at […]

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How A Fender Strat Is Made

Even if you’re not a guitar player you still know what a Fender Strat is and are aware of its iconic status among electric guitars. I’d venture to say that most serious guitar players own at least one, and many musicians spend their musical lives attached to one. But even if you have an intimate […]

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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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