I know that it’s common to feel like you’ve just heard the loudest sound in the world when leaving your local club after a metal band does its thing, or maybe compare that to the launch of Saturn V vehicle, but neither of those are even close. According to a fascinating article in the FiveThirtyEight, the loudest sound in […]
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On this week’s Inner Circle Podcast #118 I’m happy to feature Bobby Summerfield, my compadre from the AudioNowcast, as my guest. Bobby’s worked with a variety of great artists ranging from Michael Jackson to Carole King to world music superstar Johnny Clegg to the legendary Harry Belafonte. He’s also a composer with his own music […]
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We’ve been used to the keyboard, mouse and trackpad as our main computer interface for a long time now, but didn’t you ever wish for more control than these single dimensional input devices provide? Meet the Sensel Morph, a multi-touch pressure sensitive controller that rethinks the way we input data in just about any application. The […]
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Here’s a real treat. It’s the isolated vocal track from the title track of David Bowie’s iconic Ziggy Stardust album and it features not only David’s excellent vocal skills, but producer/engineer’s Ken Scott’s impeccable production as well. For those of you who don’t know or don’t remember, I co-wrote Ken’s autobiography Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust […]
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Since 1983 Rane Corporation has been manufacturing well-engineered, well-respected audio gear that, unlike other audio gear manufacturers, is made exclusively in the United States. The Seattle-area company began in the inexpensive band and studio gear space, but soon found that it’s products were better suited to the sound contractor niche, and later, innovative DJ gear, where it has […]
Continue readingOne of the things that many musicians and engineers don’t realize is that there’s a way to actually measure sound isolation, and this excerpt from my Studio Builder’s Handbook (co-written with Dennis Moody) shows a real world comparison between different materials and isolation levels. “Before we get into how sound isolation is accomplished, we need […]
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I’m very pleased to have engineer/gear manufacturer Steven Slate on Episode #117 of my Inner Circle Podcast. Steven will discuss his journey from musician to engineer to manufacturing some of the coolest and most forward-thinking audio gear available today. You’ll also hear all about what goes into to making a product like the Virtual Mic or the […]
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Every now and then we see a hybrid device that perfectly captures the best of both worlds between analog and digital. Here’s a great example of such a hybrid, called the XOXX Composer, that takes some spinning wheels, magnets and some custom software to become a hybrid controller. The XOXX Composer is comprised of 8 […]
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There are a lot of plugins that monitor a single aspect of your mix, like dynamic range, frequency response or headroom, but until now there hasn’t been one that looks at everything and more within the same plugin. That’s where Mastering The Mix LEVELS plugin comes in, a neat bit of kit that instantly tells you […]
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When Lorde broke on the scene in 2013 with “Royals” the song was met with positive critical acclaim and the singer immediately built a huge fan base that embraced her minimalist sound. That sound is somewhat deceiving though, because even though the backing track doesn’t contain many elements, Lorde’s vocals are far more complex than […]
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I’ve always said that “Real men play Telecasters” because the guitar’s shape makes it tough to play to any length of time, especially if you’re used to something more contoured like a Strat. That said, the Fender Telecaster is an iconic guitar with an iconic sound that has graced thousands of hit records over it’s […]
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An ever-important aspect of production is mixing, which can make or break a song. A brilliant mix can put an otherwise average production over the top, while a mediocre mix can bring down a brilliant production (although sometimes the song itself is so brilliant that nothing can detract from it). If you’re not an engineer yourself, […]
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Engineer/producer Tony Shepperd has had an interesting journey in the music business that has taken him from Los Angeles to Nashville and back again. Along the way he’s mixed projects for a variety of household names like Whitney Houston, Kenny Loggins, Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, Lionel Ritchie, and many more. Tony is also about to […]
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Many of us rely on Apple computers as our workstations, which means that we have to upgrade every few years to keep up with the technology and horsepower available (same on the PC side actually). Apple has always led the way with new technology, but it’s also in the forefront of booting old tech to […]
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Anyone who doesn’t use a console has the same problem while recording. You have to manually mute the talkback or listen mic when recording starts, and you have to unmute it when recording stops. Doesn’t seem like much, but doing it dozens of times during a session can be a complete pain. The clever boffins […]
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