You’ve probably heard of the latest Mac operating system update that’s just been released called Catalina (OS 10.15). There are a lot of great features like the ability to use an iPad as a second screen, new entertainment apps, and much increased privacy and protection, that will make it a viable update for everyone at […]
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Even if you’re not a guitar player you still know what a Fender Strat is and are aware of its iconic status among electric guitars. I’d venture to say that most serious guitar players own at least one, and many musicians spend their musical lives attached to one. But even if you have an intimate […]
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It seems like every engineer uses a subkick mic when recording kick drum these days. Whether you buy one (there are now a number of them on the market to choose from) or build one yourself, they will enable you to add some girth to the kick drum that you almost can’t get any other […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Scott Sugden, who started as a live systems engineer for bands like Van Halen and The Steve Miller Band to theater productions like Spamalot and The Producers before specializing in large format sound system design for festivals. He initially came to L-Acoustics as application support and education engineer, which led into a product role […]
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Mix engineers are called upon to do so much more than ever before. Individual track editing used to be done by the producer way before the mixing stage, but mixers now find that it’s part of the job they’re expected to do as part of the mix. Here are some tips for tweaking track timing […]
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I posted this on my Music 3.0 blog last week but it’s a significant enough development that I thought I’d post it here as well. We finally know where all that immersive audio content that Dolby has been collecting from Universal Music Group is going to end up. The company announced its partnership with Amazon […]
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I do love it whenever I ready about someone using the New York City compression trick. The reason why is that I coined the phrase in the first edition of my Mixing Engineer’s Handbook way back in 1999. I noticed that, at the time, most engineers that resided in New York used a lot of […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is engineer Craig Burbidge, who gained multi-platinum status having worked with hundreds of R&B stars like Barry White, Steve Perry, Natalie Cole, Take 6, Teddy Pendergrass, Vanessa Williams, Brian McKnight, Kirk Franklin and many more. Craig was also one of the first American engineers to take his talents to Asia with a long-time working relationship with Taiwanese superstar […]
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There’s been a revolution going on in guitar sound over the last decade that hasn’t been at all subtle. Amplifier simulators have gradually taken over to the point where even some of rock’s guitar gods are using them onstage. The common tube amp looks like it will soon to be a thing of past, as […]
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Many singers just do what comes naturally, which can work for a while but eventually leads to throat problems with heavy gigging or recording. Trained vocalists usually don’t have the same problem because they’ve learned the techniques that most great vocalists use. I’ve written about techniques for vocals here before, but this article by Cari […]
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A condenser microphone can be a fragile thing, attracting dust form the air onto the delicate capsule, which can result in a gradually deterioration of the mic’s performance. The options are to either remove each microphone from its stand after the session and place it in its individual hard case (which can be time-consuming), or […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is engineer, mixer and composer Jesse Ray Ernster, who grew up in a musical family with both his parents playing in bands and making records. Jesse’s entrance in the music business began at age of 16 touring with several artists as a lead guitarist/vocalist, but he then realized his true calling […]
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There seems to be less notation used in music than ever before. Why write it down when it’s easier to record it? That being said, notated music still holds a mighty place in music instruction, and when needed to get the exact point across when needed (like in the studio). The big question is, does […]
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When I was compiling my Music Business Advice Book there were so many fantastic pieces of advice that it was difficult to get them all in the book. There was one phrase by 6 time Grammy-nominated producer/engineer/musician Joel Hamilton (who’s credits include the Black Keys, Iggy Pop, Elvis Costello, and Pretty Lights, among many others) […]
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Way back in the dark ages of the 80s adding a reverb unit to your studio was normally very painful to your pocketbook. You either bought a real plate (hopefully you had room for it) or ponied up the really big bucks for a digital Lexicon, AMS, or EMT unit. Then along came Alesis, the […]
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