Equalization is one of the most difficult parts of recording to get the hang of since there’s literally almost an infinite number of possibilities. Most of us learn by experience and usually massive amounts of trial and error, but there are some very simple general guidelines that can be an enormous help for those new to […]
Continue reading
If you were a SONAR user you’ve had a rough last year or so. First of all, Gibson announced that it was shutting Calkwalk down and no longer supporting the software, then the company’s IP was sold to Singapore-based music tech company BandLab. That was a good thing, but the DAW was still in limbo as […]
Continue reading
It’s really difficult for a piece of gear to become a standard that everyone must have. It’s especially difficult when it comes to compressors, since most of the classic designs were created 50 years ago or so and we’ve seen mostly variations on a theme since. That’s why Dave Derr’s EL8 Distressor is such a […]
Continue reading
My guest this week is saxophonist Joe Sublett, who’s a Grammy and W.C. Handy Award winner as well as an inductee of the Blues Hall of Fame. Joe’s credits include work with superstars like The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Little Feat, The Band, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, BB King and a […]
Continue reading
If you’ve ever played in a band you know that it gets loud when you play whether you like it or not. Regardless of if you’re on stage or in rehearsal, drums and amps are sometimes blaring with the sound bouncing all over the room, and if you don’t wear ear protection it’s common to […]
Continue reading
There’s so much to more to getting a great electric guitar sound that goes beyond just slapping a miking in front of an amplifier speaker. These 10 tips from the 4th edition of my Recording Engineer’s Handbook will help take that guitar sound to the next level in the majority of situations that you’ll run […]
Continue reading
Saturday Night Live has been around for a long time and music has always been a big part of the show. Yes, the musical guests are important, but it has a smoking hot band that’s at the show’s heartbeat. Not only that, music makes up a big part of many of the sketches, which is […]
Continue reading
All songwriters face writer’s block from time to time and search for anything anywhere for inspiration. If that’s happened to you, one excellent place to refer to is a new plugin from Plugin Boutique called Scaler that’s uses “Creative Chord Composer” as an apt description that’s almost guaranteed to get you thinking about music in […]
Continue reading
My guest on the podcast this week is Joyce Kettering, a composer who became so successful licensing her music that she did the thing that so many dream about – she was able to quit a very good day job as a financial auditor and just dedicate herself to music. What makes this story even […]
Continue reading
If you’re an audio pro there’s a good chance that you’re working on a Mac. If that’s the case, you’ve heard the startup sound countless times as well as the Sosumi and click sounds. Jim Reekes is the guy who designed these sounds and he has a great story about all of them. The original […]
Continue reading
It’s hard to underestimate the influence that engineer Doug Sax had on the business of mastering. He was one of the first independent mastering engineers and literally defined the art when he opened his world-famous Mastering Lab in Hollywood in 1967. Sadly, Doug passed away in 2015, but his magic remains a big part of […]
Continue reading
Let’s face it, we do so much listening in our cars that we know the sound probably better than in our studios. In fact, the automobile is still the main reference point for many mixers. Forget the expensive studio monitors, if it sounds right in our car then the mix is right with the world. […]
Continue reading
You probably read the headline for this post and thought, “Not another compressor plugin,” and I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that at first I thought the same thing about Boz Digital Labs’ Manic Compressor. But this plugin has a number of tricks up its sleeve that most compressors don’t have, which makes […]
Continue reading
Thanks to Music Instrument Center for naming us as one of the top 30 music blogs that producers must follow. It feels good to be ranked with so many other great blogs. Thanks again, Alex!
Continue reading
My guest on the podcast this week is producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer Clarence Jey, whose credits include music on US Billboard Hot 100, a Grammy-winning record, one of the largest viral music successes in history, music for film and multiple Emmy-nominated TV shows. His broad musical spectrum ranges from creating music for the Grammy […]
Continue reading