Every genre has its own unique sonic signature. Pop music is known for being ultra-slick, while punk music is raw and unfiltered. EDM is quantized tight to the grid while jazz is loose and free-flowing. A good engineer understands how every piece of equipment in the signal chain affects the sound. While one microphone may...
One of the most difficult parts of running a successful studio is setting your rates. Charge too much and no one will hire you (unless you’ve got the industry credits to back it up, of course). Charge too little and you’ll end up working 16-hour days, seven days a week. But by pricing your services appropriately,...
It’s not 1979 anymore. There are no more staff positions at recording studios. If you want to make a living as an audio engineer, you have to find your own clients. It’s up to you to make a name for yourself. In part one of our three-part series on how to make money as a...
I’m going to tell you a secret no one in the music business wants you to know. Learning how to properly use compression is hard. Everybody thinks they understand how to use a compressor way before they actually do. Sure, they know what all the knobs are for, but most of the time they’re either...
Mixing punk music can be a delicate balance. You don’t want the band to sound too polished, like a bunch of corporate sellouts. But you also don’t want the track to sound too raw, like a demo or a live show. In this post, I’ll break down my favorite EQ tips for punk rock. Admittedly,...
Making a living as a freelance audio engineer can be tough. One of the hardest parts is creating a consistent stream of work. We recently published a piece on how to find more clients by focusing on a specific niche. But in order for those clients to actually find you, you’re going to need a...
One of the hardest parts of starting a career as a recording engineer is standing out from the crowd. Everybody with a laptop can produce a decent song these days, which can make it extremely difficult to persuade artists to hire you, especially when you offer every audio service under the sun. A jack of...
With over 7,000 moving parts, pianos are incredibly intricate instruments. They fall somewhere in between a stringed instrument and a percussive instrument. Pianos produce a very complex sound with rich overtones that can be difficult to record. Let’s break down a few simple techniques for dialing in the perfect piano sound—whether you’re on a grand,...
If you want to record electric guitars without feeling like the end result sounds like a muddy mess, then you’ve come to the right place. Nothing ruins a rock song quicker than weak, wimpy guitars. You want massive, powerful, roaring guitars that knock the listener off their feet! Over the years, countless engineers have concocted...
If you’re reading this, you’re probably here for one of two reasons. Either you’re getting ready to set up your first home studio, and you’re looking for advice on how to do it right. Or you already have a studio, and you’re not happy with the sound of your recordings. It’s OK; we’ve all been...