On my latest podcast episode: Indie Week (November 8 to 12) founder Darryl Hurs talks about the advice that led him to change careers, getting a job with Live Nation, the biggest mistake indie artists make, trends in the indie world, and much more. How playlists are now controlling the music industry without anyone noticing […]
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Modeling microphones are wonderful devices, designed to emulate a wide variety of vintage mics that are out of reach in price and availability to the average user. The problem is that you have to buy the microphone to get the simulations which can still be pricey. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could turn any […]
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Whenever I do song critiques or hit song analysis for my Hit Makers Club members, I can always bet I’ll get the same two comments, “How did you know to listen for that?” and “I’ve listened to this song dozens of times but I’ve never heard that before!” That’s because we’ve grown up hearing, but […]
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On my latest podcast episode: Music publisher Sean O’Malley talks about working for ASCAP, the differences between GMR and other PROs, AI-generated songs, the era of derivative content, the future of music publishing, and much more. The rise and fall of music clubs and venues – it’s been happen longer than you think The Global […]
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We live in a DAW world where outboard mic pres can suffice for most recording projects, but if you’re tracking and need a fair amount of mic pres, then there’s no solution like a real console. Most small studios don’t need a huge number of inputs that a large format desk can bring though, and […]
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While some people think of bongos as a remnant from the old beatnik days, it’s surprising how often they’re used to add movement to a track. Here are a couple of techniques from my Recording Engineer’s Handbook, along with some additional aspects of the instrument to pay attention to. Considerations Before placing the microphone, there […]
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On my latest podcast episode: Rod Stewart music director and keyboardist Chuck Kentis talks about playing sessions in New York City, getting the gig with Rod, writing production and game music, cutting basics with a band, Eurorack synthesis, and much more. A look at the rumored Spotify Platinum tier with HIFI audio Overlooked mastering skills […]
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We haven’t talked much about 500 Series modules for a long time, so now’s a good time to take a look at a brand new one from API. The company has recently introduced a series of modules that, as president Larry Droppa explains, gives API “…the technology and experience to engineer and produce audio products […]
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A while ago I posted about the new Bluetooth LE standard, which supposedly would finally bring lossless wireless audio to the world. If you want to wire up your headphones, you can easily listen to CD-quality or hi-res audio, but putting on those Apple Airpod Max’s or earbuds were a different story. But we’re beginning […]
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On my latest podcast episode: Musician’s social network Vampr co-founder and CEO Josh Simons talks about touring expenses, using unseen collaborators, representing artists for sync placements, learning from bad publishing deals, and much more.. The CD turns 40 years old, and it almost never happened Plugin developer Slate Digital gets acquired by Audiotonix Listen to […]
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For many music genres, Sony’s C-800G is the Holy Grail of vocal microphones, but at a retail price of more the $10k for a new one, it’s way out of reach for most home studios. The company is aware of the limitations that price can have and has responded with a much lower cost version […]
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If you thought that crafting an electric guitar was rather complex, you haven’t seen anything yet. When it comes to musical instruments, nothing beats an oboe for complexity. Not only that, they’re made from only one species of endangered African hardwood and can take up to 5 years to make. No wonder they cost so […]
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Scoring mixer Justin LaRocca talks about making the transition from musician to engineer, the differences between engineering music and post production, the complexity of mixing Lord of the Rings, the many plugins in his mixing template, and much more., and much more. YouTube has a secret weapon to overtake Spotify as the best place for […]
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Just about everyone has a computer with a DAW in their home studios these days, but not everyone has a laptop. Even if you do have one, you might not want the tech hassles that come with computer recording when all you want to get your ideas recorded before you forget them.. One of the […]
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On my latest podcast episode: Crowd Surf’s Cassie Petrey on convincing a major label about the value of social media, motivating artists to post, how artists may compromise their brand on TikTok, getting artists to establish their brand, and much more. A look at the new bills before Congress for artists to get royalties from […]
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