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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The band Chicago has become one of the most long-lived American bands after starting in 1967, and still going strong almost 50 years later. Over the course of its history, the band has sold more than 100 million records, with 21 Top 10 singles, 11 number one singles, and 25 platinum albums. In fact, Chicago […]
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What would you do if all of a sudden you began to “see” notes, staffs, clefs and a musical score pop up in front of you during the course of your every day life? Believe it or not, more people than you think have these types of music-oriented hallucinations where they see music scores whiz by. […]
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You may never work in a studio that has an assistant engineer, and if you own your own gear, you may never be one yourself, but it’s good to find out what an assistant in a major facility like the Record Plant, Capitol, Oceanway or Avatar really needs to know. These 7 tips are excerpted from […]
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My guest this week on my Inner Circle Podcast is sound designer and composer Diego Stocco. Diego’s not only worked on movies like Takers and Sherlock Holmes, television shows like The Tudors and Moonlight. and video games like Assassin’s Creed, but he’s also one of the people behind the great sounds on the Korg Z1, […]
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Big studio facilities in large cities are very difficult to maintain, considering that real estate prices have skyrocketed and studio prices have plateaued in recent years. That’s why it’s no surprise that another of iconic New York City studio is about to close its doors. Manhattan Sound Recording (or MSR as it’s known) is shutting […]
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I’m always surprised when I change something as simple as a cable and the sound lights up. That’s because there’s much more to cables that you’d ever think (check out my interview with Larry Smith from Wireworld Cable Technology for a great explanation between the differences in cables). The one thing that most guitar players […]
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One of the best things about listening to an isolated or instrumental track of a hit is hearing how intricately designed the arrangement is. Such is the case with The Four Tops version of “Baby, I Need Your Lovin,’” played by the Motown studio band The Funk Brothers. There’s a lot going on within the […]
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I often get asked what plugins I regularly use, and even though I like to think that I’m pretty open minded about it, there are some that I keep coming back to. Here are my 10 go-to plugins, with a number of honorable mentions, in no particular order (even though they’re numbered). 1. Universal Audio 1176 […]
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