One question that I get on a regular basis is, “What microphone should I buy for my vocals?” The expectation is that I’m going to say, “Definitely buy XYZ because it’s going to make you or your clients sound like a million bucks!”, but unfortunately things are never that cut and dried. Regrettably there’s no […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is David O, who’s work as a composer is enhanced by his unique skills as a multi-faceted music-theatre artist, pianist, conductor, arranger, vocal coach, and sometimes actor. He’s received numerous awards and accolades over the years for his work, including Ovation Awards, LA Weekly and LA Drama Critics Circle Awards, Backstage […]
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Audio ducking, or the process of automatically lowering a sound when another one is introduced, has been around for a long time and you’ve probably never noticed it. How about at an airport when the background music is automatically attenuated when an announcement is made? Or a boardroom where all the other members mics are […]
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With a who’s who list of credits such as Queen, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, Electric Light Orchestra, Rory Gallagher, Sparks, Giorgio Moroder, Donna Summer, Billy Squire, and Extreme, the producer/engineer who goes simply by the name Mack has made his living making superstars sound great. Having recorded so many big […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Martin Seidl, who spearheaded the drive to start Austrian Audio from the ashes of AKG after Harmon decided to close the company 3 years ago. In what might be an unprecedented move, Martin managed to keep the core of AKG together to start the new company and keep it operating […]
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Mic stands can be a pain because they’re always in the way. Whether in the studio or on stage, you can bet that the stand is going to be hit at some point and the mic will soon be pointing where it’s not supposed to be. That’s especially true for a guitar or bass amp, […]
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Your not a music professional if you haven’t been screwed out of money at least once. That’s par for the course and part of the learning process, but it obviously becomes a real problem if it continues to happen. Regardless of what end of the music business you work in, as an independent contractor it’s your […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Chuck Surack, who supplemented his playing career as a sax and keyboard player with a makeshift recording studio in the back of a his Volkswagen bus. That mobile studio was the departure point for what was to become the largest online music retailer in the world – Sweetwater Sound. The […]
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There are a lot of great DAWs on the market right now – so many, in fact, that you probably can’t go wrong if you purchase any of them. There is one in particular that has been steadily growing in popularity and capabilities over the years along and that’s PreSonus’s excellent Studio One. The latest […]
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If you purchased a new computer in the last couple of years you were faced with new array of connection ports that most likely brought about a lot of frustration and expensive adapters. Yes, USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 are much faster and better in the long run, but the connector isn’t anything like what we’ve […]
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I’ve received questions about miking an audience a few times in the past week so it seems like a good time to repost this how-to from a few years ago. It goes without saying that if you’re recording a live performance, then you want to pick up some of the crowd reaction to make it […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Felicity Hall, who’s been a tour manager for the last 10 years in a male dominated world. During that time she’s worked with Snarky Puppy, Bokante, Delain, Public Service Broadcasting, and a whole lot more. Felicity has also been running an online series about managing life on the road on […]
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There are plenty of really great microphone preamps on the market today. So many that it’s difficult to make a wrong choice if you’re willing to spend enough money. That said, it isn’t every day that Neumann introduces a microphone preamp. In fact, the new V 402 is the first stand-alone preamp that the company […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Lij Shaw, who’s leading the fight to save not only home studios but all home-based businesses in Nashville. Imagine that it was illegal for you to record anyone except yourself in your home studio. If you’re a music teacher, imagine that you weren’t allowed to have students over to your […]
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Except for a few outposts in small parts of the world, no one is out on the road making music at the moment. The lockdown won’t last forever though and there will be a time when everyone that can tour will tour so now is a good time to prepare. If you’ve ever been on […]
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