Just because you have a lot of mics and tracks at your disposal, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll get a great drum sound. Sometimes, the simplest methods can provide a realism that you just can’t get from close-miking every drum. Here are 6 techniques culled from my Recording Engineer’s Handbook that show how you […]
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Studio musicians are frequently unsung not only for their playing, but for their contributions to the songs they many times help arrange. Occasionally they get credit and even some royalties, but usually that’s not the case. Of course, session players (especially the top studio musicians) were used a lot more on the hits of yesterday […]
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There are so many digital audio workstation choices at all different price ranges and they’re all, at worst, pretty good. So why would anyone even consider a new one? For one thing, when it’s pedigree is Fairlight, and secondly, when it’s actually an all-in-one video editor as well. That’s what you get with the new […]
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Mixing monitors may be the hardest job in show business in that you have to keep so many people happy at the same time. Mark Frink, my guest on this week’s podcast, is so good at his job that he’s been trusted by some of music’s biggest celebrities, including Tony Bennett, The Three Tenors, the […]
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One of the easiest things to do to upgrade your playback space is to add acoustic panels around your listening area to create a Reflection Free Zone. You can buy these panels from any number of vendors, or if you feel like swinging a staple gun, build your own for $150 or so by following […]
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I posted this story for a brief period a few weeks ago, but was asked to pull the story back until the official announcement. Now that the cat is out of the bag, here it is. Get ready for another big change in the New York City studio scene as it’s finally been confirmed that […]
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One of the greatest drummers ever is Bernard Purdie thanks to his unique “Purdie Shuffle” and the countless hits he’s played on with James Brown (“Get On The Good Foot”), Aretha Franklin (“Rock Steady”), Steely Dan (“Babylon Sisters” and “Home At Last”), Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and so many others. Bernard’s trademark is the ghost […]
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We’re all familiar with the sound of spring reverbs, but most of the plugins available are based on units with taught springs like the ones found in Fender reverb tanks or the old AKG BX-10 and 20. There was another type of spring reverb though, known as a necklace reverb, found mostly in Hammond organs […]
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You’ve most likely heard of Harrision Consoles, which were a mainstay in music recording studios in the 80s and 90s and still dominate in film studios today. You might not be aware that the company also has an excellent DAW with its Mixbus and Mixbus 32C, and Ben Loftis is my guest on this week’s […]
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In 2012 execs at Gibson Guitar saw that the musical instrument business was in the midst of a what has now become a long slow decline, with fewer new buyers of guitars as tastes in music changed. The company wisely sought to diversify and went on a buying spree, purchase interests in companies like Onkyo, […]
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Oasis Mastering’s chief engineer Gene Grimaldi has a list of blockbuster clients that include Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Ellie Goulding, Carly Rae Jepsen, Lana Del Ray, Nicki Minaj, and many more. In this excerpt from The Mastering Engineer’s Handbook 4th Edition, Gene describes some of his techniques for mastering “in-the-box.” Bobby Owsinski: “How has mastering changed […]
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Session musicians don’t get enough credit for the work they do, and the fact of the matter is that many great sessions players don’t work as much as they used to these days thanks to technology. That said, sometimes a real session player’s overdub can really make a song groove in a way that a […]
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A critical and often overlooked step in mixing (especially when you’re first starting out) is listening to a great sounding reference track to compare your mixes to. That’s easier said then done though, with level matching and instant switching between your mix and the ref track usually taking long for an accurate comparison in a […]
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We all like really great audio gear, but many of us (especially when you’re first starting out) can’t afford it. One saving grace is that there are now many companies that provide kits so you can build the analog gear you need, and one of these is DIY Recording Equipment. This week I have the […]
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How many times have you gone to a concert and returned with your ears ringing thinking, “That must have been the loudest sound system in the world”? It turns out that regardless how loud we think a particular sound system is (even in a car audio competition), the winner is the Large European Acoustic Facility (LEAF) in […]
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