Anyone who’s ever used a ribbon mic is aware of a surprising limitation – the output is low. Likewise for good sounding dynamic mics like the Shure SM7B or RE-20, and even the SM57. This isn’t a problem when the program material has a moderately high SPL level, but if that’s not the case you […]
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My guest on the podcast today is Ben Mendoza, who created UK-based Beatchain along with co-founder and musician Steve Jones to accelerate artist growth by using data science and automation. Ben has spent almost 25 years using software to improve decision making and automate time-consuming processes with leading expense management company MDSL, which Beatchain now brings to the music […]
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Most rock and pop musicians takes a percussion instrument like a tambourine for granted, thinking that it just provides something to do when you’re not actually playing your instrument. In the hands of percussion artist, the tambourine comes to life though, as this video with percussionist Gabriela Jiménez clearly shows. Using the skin, frame and metal […]
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There’s so much more that goes into recording an electric guitar that goes beyond just slamming a 57 up against the grill cloth of the speaker cabinet. Here are 10 points culled from the 4th edition of my Recording Engineer’s Handbook that you might want to consider before your next guitar recording session. 1. An […]
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When we look at our most used music delivery formats we immediately think that they’re pretty environmentally friendly, right? After all, vinyl records and CDs are made from plastics and are recyclable, and streaming music is in the cloud where there’s no impact at all. I thought the same thing until I read more about […]
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If you weren’t around in the early days of digital audio, then you might not be aware that the field was originally dominated by two major players – New England Digital’s Synclavier and the Fairlight CMI. Although the Synclavier developed into a digital audio workstation that dominated the charts for a period of the 80’s, […]
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My guest on the podcast today is Paul Edwards who’s a Montreal-based engineer who has worked on projects by Smashing Pumpkins, Flaming Lips, Ben Harper, Arctic Monkeys, Interpol, Bloc Party, Seal and many more. For 3 years Paul was also the lead audio engineer for the online mastering service LANDR. In the interview we talked about getting into mastering, some insights into […]
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I think if you’re part of the music business in any way, one of the reasons is that music excites you. In some cases it excites you so much that it gives you goosebumps while listening. Believe it or not, that doesn’t happen to everybody, and according to a recent Harvard study, it means that […]
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Regardless of whether you dig the Grammy broadcast or not, what goes on behind the scenes is truly a massive feat of audio strength. How big? Take the largest audio setup you ever heard of and multiply it by at least another order of magnitude, as you’ll soon see. Dani Deahl wrote a great piece […]
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Boy, do we love vintage gear. The problem is that often when we get that long lost gem home we find that a few parts are missing, and the easiest to lose over the years are knobs. That’s usually not a problem though as replacement knobs, even vintage ones, are readily available today. But what […]
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Live sound engineers have struggled with the variance in venues ever since the beginning of the discipline. Whether a sports arena, a roadhouse stage, or a house of worship, every space presents its own unique challenges when it comes to sound engineering and speaker placement. And while there are some great analysis tools available, none have […]
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My guest on my latest podcast episode is Bill Reynolds, who’s a Grammy-nominated producer, engineer, mixer, songwriter and former bass player with Band of Horses. Bill’s credits include the Avett Brothers, Band of Horses, Truth and Salvage Co, Tim Chaisson, Lissie, among others, and his songs have appeared on TV shows like House, Justified and Army Wives. He currently works out of his […]
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Many of us still love vinyl. For all its faults (and there are many), there’s still a warm sound that makes believers out of listeners when combined with a good playback system. That said, the technology of the black plastic analog disc isn’t discussed much these days, which is why I think you’ll find the […]
Continue readingWhether you like football or not, you have to admit that the Super Bowl has risen almost to the level of a national holiday. While most of us tune in for the game itself, the halftime show is also the music event of the year to many. With an audience of around 100 million, what […]
Continue readingMIDI changed music creation in so many ways when it was introduced, but you hear less about it these days thanks to virtual instruments and so much music making in the box. That said, it’s still a very important tool, especially if you want your DAW to talk to outside instruments. Even though MIDI might […]
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