The Theremin Before Sci-Fi

We all know what a theremin sounds like, and we’ve heard it on dozens of sci-fi movie and TV show soundtracks, but not many of us are aware of the history of the instrument. The theremin was actually enjoyed by audiences well before it was used in scary movies. RCA Victor produced the first commercial […]

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New Music Gear Monday: PreSonus StudioLive 64S Digital Mixer And Interface

PreSonus has been making some great digital mixers for a long time now (I have one in a rehearsal studio), and they keep on finding ways to make the StudioLive series better – not just in small steps but in leaps and bounds. The company’s latest StudioLive 64S takes the product series to the next […]

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Grammy Audio Co-Ordinator Michael Abbott On My Latest Inner Circle Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is Michael Abbott, who started in television audio doing front-of-house sound for projects like the Olympics ceremonies and the Academy Awards, to working for the major television networks as a staff mixer on a variety of shows. Michael now heads the sound design, engineering and consulting company All Ears, where he […]

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Steve Albini Shows Us His Junk

Engineer Steve Albini (Nirvana, The Pixies, Bush and tons more credits) is often asked for his opinions on the music business and his honest straight-talk approach can sometimes come off as a little jaded and some say even a tad grumpy. Get him around his Electrical Audio studio talking gear however, and he becomes as […]

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The 2 Arrangement Rules That Every Producer And Mixer Should Know

One of the first things a producer does during preproduction is to dig deep into the songs to check out the arrangements and the song structure. Even if a song is written well and has catchy hooks, the arrangement is what really makes it cook. How you arrange the song is the key to how […]

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How The Blue LED Changed The World

Our world is lit by LED light that’s so ubiquitous that we don’t even notice it anymore. Buy a piece of audio gear and all the indicators are LEDs. Buy a new lamp or light bulb and it’s now composed of LEDs, but did you know that the key to the omnipresent LED lighting comes […]

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New Music Gear Monday: XLN Audio XO Sample Mapping Tool

Anyone with a large sample library knows that ones of the banes of such a big selection is having too many choices. It’s difficult to find exactly what you want quickly, and it gets even harder if you have duplicates or custom sounds with similar names or tags. Enter XLN Audio’s XO sample mapping plugin, […]

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Digital Audio Bad For Environment, String Player – Royal Opera Lawsuit, And Music Registry’s Ritch Esra On My Latest Inner Circle Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is Ritch Esra, who is the former promotion coordinator for A&M Records and director of A&R for Arista Records, where he worked extensively with the publishing and songwriting communities for material for Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Melissa Manchester, Tanya Tucker, Jennifer Warnes and Jermaine Jackson, and various […]

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Prince Estate Wins $4 Million Judgement Against Engineer

Put this one down to “Better call a music attorney first.” The Prince estate sued engineer George Ian Boxill and his business partners for nearly $4 million for attempting to release a six-song EP of previously unreleased songs that Boxill worked on with the late artist. Days after it was announced that the EP would […]

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Mastering Engineer Colin Leonard On His Aria Online Analog Mastering

It takes a lot to convert hit-maker mixers like Phil Tan and Dave Pensado into big fans, especially if you’re not in one of the media country’s media centers, but Atlanta-based Colin Leonard and his proprietary mastering technology has managed to do just that. With credits that include Justin Bieber, Jay-Z, Echosmith, Leona Lewis, Al […]

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Don’t Look Now But There’s More Sampling In Music Than Ever

When digital sampling first came available in the 1980s it was a revelation. Sounds could be replaced with better ones and loops of audio could be used as the basis of songs. For some reason many musicians, artists, and producers have been under the impression that sample use peaked around the turn of the century […]

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New Music Gear Monday: Eventide Instant Flanger MK II Plugin

Anyone who listened to either the Small Faces “Itchycoo Park” or The Beatles “I Am The Walrus” has been captivated by the sound of what’s become known as “flanging.” The name was given to the process by John Lennon because you have to place your hand on the tape flange (see the figure below) as […]

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Producer Jack Miele, Beamforming Audio, And Streaming Keeping The Dough On My Latest Inner Circle Podcast

My guest on the podcast is producer/engineer Jack Miele, who’s won a Grammy, Emmy, 4 Telly awards and 2 Global Music awards. Based in New Orleans, Jack has a wide range of studio credits that include Rod Stewart, The Roots, Beyonce, Aloe Blacc and the Zac Brown Band, among many others.  As a composer, Jack’s work has […]

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Manny’s Music Site Sold To The Rockefeller Group

Everything has a cycle, even though we know that there’s always a tear shed at the end, and Manny’s Music is no exception. Although the store has been closed for over ten years now, the building was knocked down last year, truly putting a final end to a brilliant era of New York City music […]

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Engineer Frank Filipetti On Recording Drums

From Celine Dion, Carley Simon, James Taylor, Tony Bennett and Elton John to Kiss, Korn, Fuel, Foreigner and Hole, Frank Filipetti has credits that run the entire musical spectrum. Known for his fearless ability to either extensively experiment or get instant sounds as the session dictates, Frank’s old school wisdom combined with his adventuresome and […]

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