During the podcast this week I’ll take a look at musicians in the UK thinking about calling it quits, and the perils of being a horn and wind player during the pandemic. My guest is Anthony Martini, who got his start as a rap/metal vocalists before finding his way into other parts of the music business. During […]
Continue reading
If you ever listened to a hard rock album from the 70s and 80s, chances are it was produced by Martin Birch. The producer had long running relationships with Iron Maiden (10 albums), Deep Purple (10 albums), Fleetwood Mac (9 albums), Whitesnake (9 albums), Rainbow (5 albums), and pairs of albums with both Blue Oyster […]
Continue reading
One of the biggest attributes for an engineer or producer to develop is what’s known as “studio ears.” That’s the ability to discern between minute changes within the music that you’re hearing. Is that guitar slightly out of tune? What frequency is the vocal harshness coming from? Is the keyboard part coming in slightly early […]
Continue reading
My guest on the podcast this week is Sean Giovanni, producer, engineer and owner of The Record Shop Studio in Nashville. Sean has worked with clients in the studio ranging from Tim McGraw, Big and Rich, Zakk Wylde, The Wallflowers, Juicy J, and Lil Jon. He’s also passionate about helping creatives build a sustainable business around their art […]
Continue reading
You have to hand it to Roland. Over the years the company has come up with some great effects that managed to become key sounds on tons of records. One of those effects has actually been somewhat forgotten even though it’s been in use on hit records for decades – the AP-7 Jet Phaser. You’ve […]
Continue reading
There’s good news if you’re about to update your workstation. It looks like both RAM and SSD prices are about to plummet, and we’re all going to be the winners as a result. As you probably know, your pocketbook can get raked over the coals when it comes to either of these upgrades, even if […]
Continue reading
The use of reference tracks is a topic that has been popping up a great deal lately and there seems to lots of confusion as to how to select and use them. Here’s a quick guide that will tell you all you need to know on the subject. Why Use A Reference Track? The reason […]
Continue reading
My guest on the podcast this week is Adam Cowherd, the founder of AmplifyX, a company that bridges the financial gap between musicians and fans by letting supporters invest in artists like startups. When his work with Ernst & Young in the financial sector landed Adam in Los Angeles, it wasn’t long before he started seeing gaps in the music […]
Continue reading
Equalizer plugins are a dime a dozen. Every DAW comes with at least one, and every plugin developer offers one. Why then does the world need another EQ plugin, you might ask? When the developer is Empirical Labs, you know that it’s going to be different, and Big FrEQ certainly is. Big FrEQ is an […]
Continue reading
Andrew Scheps has a long list of great mixing credits, from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Adele to Metallica to Justin Timberlake and many more. He’s also one of uber-producer Rick Rubin’s go-to mixers. His excellent advice on the value of your work comes from The Music Business Advice Book, which excerpt from his […]
Continue reading
My guest on the podcast this week is Dewey Bunnell, who’s a founding member and half of the band with a lot of big hits that you probably know well – America. Dewey’s best known compositions include “Horse With No Name,” “Ventura Highway,” “Tin Man” and “The Border,” among many others. During this long interview we talked about […]
Continue reading
Mixing acoustic guitars can be finicky mostly because there’s such a wide variance between them and the ones you have handy might not compliment the track. Many mixers who can get an electric guitar to fit in the mix in no time sometimes can take ages with an acoustic, and that’s why the new Quick […]
Continue reading
If you’ve not had much experience miking brass instruments then your first inclination might be to put a mic right on the bell of the instrument and call it a day. That probably won’t get you the result that you want though, but these tips culled from the 4th edition of my Recording Engineer’s Handbook […]
Continue reading
My guest on the podcast this week is Adam McInnis, who’s a singer/songwriter most known for his work on tv and film as well as for collaborating with the top DJ’s of EDM. He has interests in 3 publishing companies, a recording studio in Austin, a skin care line, and a yearly songwriter camp in Costa Rica called […]
Continue reading
It’s difficult to be surprised by a new microphone these days. After all, the basic designs haven’t changed in more than a hundred years, and for the most part, we just get tiny evolutions with each new model that’s introduced. The new Aston Element microphone is breaking that trend though, as it has a couple […]
Continue reading