Category Archives for "Production"
Equalization 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 […]
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If 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 […]
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There’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 […]
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Saturday 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 […]
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If 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 […]
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You 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 […]
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You 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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Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words and these 4 pictures tell you all you need to know about how audio recording has evolved over the years. There are really 4 eras to audio recording – the acoustic era, the electronic era, the magnetic era, and the digital era. Let’s look at some great […]
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Things like this aren’t supposed to happen. With all due respect, Marvin Gaye and RATT aren’t exactly in the same league, but sometimes there’s an unexpected synergy that happens that just defies every expectation. That’s what happens in this mashup between RATT’s hit “Round and Round” background track and Marvin Gaye’s “Heard It Through The […]
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Preproduction is the best time to work out any kinks in songs and arrangements way before you begin to record. Chances are that there will come a time when your band is playing either in rehearsal or in the studio and suddenly there’s a train wreck where something sounds way off, and you may have […]
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Getting his start in Atlanta in the 70s engineering and producing hits for Paul Davis, Peabo Bryson, and Melissa Manchester, Ed Seay has become one of the most respected and influential engineers in Nashville since moving there in 1984. With hit-making clients such as Blake Shelton, Lee Brice, Martina McBride, Ricky Skaggs, Dolly Parton, Pam […]
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Rehearsals are the life-blood of a band. Whether you’re neophyte players in the garage or a bunch of A-listers in the studio reading down a chart, you want to get the song down so it sounds great as quickly as possible. Here are 4 band rehearsal tips from my How To Make Your Band Sound Great book […]
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Steve Albini has produced albums for Nirvana, The Pixies, PJ Harvey, and Iggy Pop, among others, and he was a featured interview in my Recording Engineer’s Handbook. In the following video he discusses the ins and outs of how to produce an album, and I have to say, he’s a man after my own heart. […]
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There’s no doubt that getting a drum sound is the number one priority for any recording that has a drummer. Sometimes you luck out and the drums sound great by just putting the mics in front of them, but other times they require more care in order to make them sound the way you want. […]
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Max Martin is one of the most successful producer/songwriters on the planet, penning and producing hits for the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Arianna Grande, Katy Perry, Pink, Jesse J, Usher and Maroon 5, among many others. He’s also one of the highest paid producers ever, reportedly getting a $100,000 advance per song plus […]
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