NASA has given us the first sound from Mars, courtesy of its Perseverance Rover. While the technology behind capturing the sounds is unbelievable, the actual sounds themselves weren’t all that much. It turns out that Mars is a very quiet world thanks to its thin atmosphere that’s mostly made up of carbon dioxide. Sound doesn’t […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Larry Jaffee, who’s going to take us behind the scenes of the biggest vinyl selling day of the year, Record Store Day. Larry has been editor in chief of several magazines and websites covering the media and marketing businesses, including Medialine, which specialized in physical music product. […]
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Ever since Universal Audio first came out with its original Apollo and Satellite hardware, many people who wanted the plugins have been asking, “Can I get these plugins without buying the hardware?” Of course the answer was always “No” because the UA plugins need a lot of hefty processing power that could only be provided […]
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We all have home studios these days, but that also means that most of us have isolation problems as well. True acoustic isolation comes from mass, which means some heavy construction is in order to keep your sounds in and outside noises out. Most people are not able to go that far since isolation also […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Gary Lux, who is one of Hollywood’s premier music mixers with literally thousands of projects to his credit. Before stepping out on his own, Gary was the head music mixer for Universal Studios, where he earned two Emmy Award nominations for his work with The Jacksons, and […]
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One of the cool things about plugins is that there’s something for almost every situation, regardless of how seldom that situation might come up. We may only need a particular sound once or twice every few years, but there’s usually an easy solution for it in the box. One of those situations is when you […]
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It seems like every day there’s a new music plagiarism lawsuit that pops up. From “Stairway To Heaven” to “Blurred Lines” to the latest round of lawsuits against Dua Lipa’s “Levitating,” it just goes to show how difficult it is to write a song that isn’t subject to a plagiarism action these days. Considering that […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Laura Whitmore, who started her career in the direct marketing department of CBS Records before a 20 year stint as the marketing director for Korg USA. There she was instrumental in marketing, PR and artist relations for the Korg, Marshall, and VOX brands as well as editor […]
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Since just about every artist, songwriter, musician and producer now has a home studio, most everyone has run into the problem of finally getting a perfect take only to have it ruined by some outside noise. Sometimes you get so desensitized to the noise that you don’t even hear it until hours or even days […]
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It doesn’t matter if you’re an artist, band, songwriter, engineer, producer or label exec, I’m sure you’re all too aware that crafting a hit song isn’t easy. Most people in the music business struggle their entire careers to be a part of just one, while others will do anything they can to get a sweet […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Hayden Maringer, who has performed countless shows and tours all over the world working with artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Demi Lovato, The Band Perry, Carrie Underwood, and many more. Hayden established himself as a music director and guitarist, but also as an actor, working as the […]
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It’s hard to believe that there was a time when mixing engineers didn’t use any mix buss processing, but it’s true. That’s why music from the 70s and before has lots of dynamic range, but consumers have proven to like our mixes better when it’s more controlled. That’s why today mix buss processing is pretty […]
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It’s a cliche now that a song “needs more cowbell,” but there’s nothing better if that sound works in a mix. It’s pretty easy to just use a sample where needed and be done with it, but if you’re a purest and really want to record one, here are two good ways do it. Some […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Michael Walker, who went from being a living-out-of-his-car touring musician to reaching #2 on the iTunes Alternative Charts in 6 months by using some simple grass-roots marketing techniques. After touring professionally for eight years, Michael decided to set up Modern Musician to teach other artists and bands […]
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Knowing the proper studio etiquette while recording is almost as important as doing your gig. If you make people uncomfortable or do something that’s considered out of place, chances are that you won’t be asked back. Let’s look at the way everyone expects you to act during the session with these 11 tips. Most of […]
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