Category Archives for "Production"
- in Production by Bobby Owsinski
Half-Speed Mastering Makes A Return
Back in the vinyl days, the ultimate in quality came from a process known as half-speed mastering. This is where the playback speed of the tape and disk cutting lathe are slowed down by half to cut the lacquer master in order to improve the sound quality. This unusual process disappeared for quite a long […]
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Are Song Lyrics Getting More Repetitive?
There’s always been a lot of repetition in song lyrics, obviously with some artists and songs more than others. That said, has it been happening more lately than in previous decades? Computer scientist Donald Kuth published an article in 1977 called The Complexity Of Songs that analyzed the subject back then, but there hasn’t been […]
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Will An iPad Pro Be The Next Computer For Your DAW?
When it comes to Apple products I have one of each category from most of the production line. From iPhone to iPad to Macbook Pro to iMac, most of my personal and professional needs are covered. That said, I’ve dabbled in doing serious music on my iPhone and iPad and I could never quite get […]
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How George Martin Changed The Finances Of The Record Business
When iconic record producer George Martin passed away a few years ago it brought effusive thoughts, memories and well-deserved accolades from all quarters of the music business. Most dwelled on Sir George’s creative accomplishments, and truly there were many. Just his work with The Beatles alone changed the way we make music forever, not to mention his […]
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The First Computer Music Was Created In A Garden Shed
Believe it or not, electronic music started in the 1920s, gained steam in the 40s, took off in the 50s, and has become a part of our everyday lives today. We think nothing of having a computer generate music today, especially as artificial intelligence makes great strides, but the first time that music was created […]
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New Music Gear Monday: Steinberg Cubase 10
Cubase is a DAW that seems like it’s been around forever and has perhaps the largest paid user base of any platform. One of the reasons for its popularity is that Steinberg developers continue to update it on a regular basis with features that are usually a step ahead of the competition. True to form, […]
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Improve Your Mixes With These Mastering Compressor Tips
With powerful mastering tools now available to everyone, it’s easy to do more harm than good when self-mastering. Although you’re always better off going to a true mastering engineer, sometimes that’s just not in the budget. Here are a few mastering compressor tips that can also apply to mixing from the 4th edition of my […]
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Glyn Johns Describes The Recording Of The Seminal “Who’s Next”
I’ve always been a huge Who fan and just as big a fan of producer/engineer Glyn Johns’ work. This video is from an interview at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, November 19, 2012, and focuses on the recording of the seminal Who’s Next. What’s especially interesting is how many of the main parts in several […]
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An Interview With Producer/Engineer Ed Cherney
If you don’t know about producer/engineer Ed Cherney then you really should. Ed is one of the best engineers on the planet, with credits like Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, John Mayer, and even Spinal Tap, among many others (you can see them all on his website) and he’s won 2 […]
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5 Basic Tips For Mixing Hip-Hop
It’s fair to say that most people reading my Mixing Engineer’s Handbook are mixing songs recorded with live musicians, but it’s a brave new world out there, and sooner or later you’re going to get some hip-hop in to mix. Needless to say, what works with most other genres won’t necessarily work here, especially when […]
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How To EQ For Size
There are many methods of adding EQ to a mix. EQing for clarity, resonant frequency EQing, and frequency juggling immediately come to mind. That said, one of the most overlooked technique is using the EQ to add size to an element, which is particularly important in sparse mixes. Here’s an excerpt from the 4th edition […]
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In The Studio With Muse
Muse is an interesting band. On one hand it’s a modern power trio while on the other it’s a genre hopping hitmaker unafraid to cross over into any style. Nowhere is this more apparent than in this video, which shows various sessions during the making of the band’s 2nd Law album. You’ll find basic tracking […]
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How Streaming Has Changed Basic Song Structure
Streaming has changed music in oh so many ways, but one area that’s overlooked is the basic form of hit songs. In case you haven’t been paying attention (and you might not have), hit songs these days are way different than in the past. If you looked at hits from way back in the 50s […]
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The Difference Between The Groove And The Pocket
Thanks to the world of DAWs, loops and samples, many producers, engineers, musicians and bands don’t know what the “groove” and the “pocket” of a song is. Because most every recording is placed exactly on the grid, it’s easy to come up with a beat or song that’s perfectly in time, but lacks a groove […]
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So You Want To Record In Jamaica
Although known more recently as a music publisher with his Artist First Music as well as being the former president of the American Independent Music Publishers association, Richard Feldman has an equally rich history in reggae music production. With credits of amazing reggae music stars like Andrew Tosh, Joe Higgs, Junior Reid, The Congos, I Threes and Wailing Souls, he also won […]
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