There are virtually infinite ways to mix a song. And there are virtually infinite ways to write a song. Taking this into consideration makes it obvious that there are also virtually infinite preferences when it comes to both mixing and music making. I’m sure you’ve experienced this yourself. You show a mix to a client...
4/4 is so early 2000’s! Seriously, how many pop tracks do you remember with the same drum beat and bassline with the same chord progression for the exact same amount of time? It is easy to get stuck writing what you hear because we simply get inspired by other music. The question then is, how...
Practicing an instrument or learning a new plugin can be fairly straightforward. You run your scales, or you learn what a threshold is, and you repeat until it is memorized. This type of practice is objective and has a clear goal in mind. However, sometimes, your goal is not so clear. Writing music is a...
Many times in my life, I’ve found myself lacking motivation, feeling uninspired, and generally not nearly as creative as I usually am. If you’re reading this, I’ll assume you may also be lacking motivation or feeling a little uninspired. I believe that motivation is a desirable feeling or a reason to WANT to do what...
Knowing when your mix is done is difficult. Your mix may sound perfect in your studio and just decent in your living room. You may have achieved more or less the exact same frequency response in your mix as in your reference track, but something still sounds off. You may have equalized and compressed all...
Jack of all trades, master of none… Many of us have heard this phrase, but what does it really mean? Is it meant to be mean, or realistic? In our field of audio and music, with so many unique jobs to be done, it’s easy to take on tons of work and spread ourselves too...
Major scales are boring. Really, they are so overused and don’t always sound great. So what’s our alternative? Minor Scales Are Your Friend Today, we are going to break down one simple idea: writing melodies on minor chords. While it seems obvious, if you are in a major key, use the corresponding major scale. A...
Getting ready to master your music? Chances are you’ve heard of stem mastering. This alternative approach to stereo mastering has become increasingly common as more and more artists record their tracks in home studios with less than perfect room acoustics. So is it something you need for your next release? Read on to learn more...
Chords are super complex. How are you supposed to know what notes are in them? Over the past couple of blogs, we have been looking into the construction of scales and the idea of intervals. Using a similar concept to constructing scales, we will tackle chords and uncover how simple they really are. Scales Versus...
EQ DAY was AMAZING! We had just shy of 150 people show up and most of you stayed for the entire THREE-HOUR session! Seems like EQ is a topic that we can all nerd out about for a long time, and I think we probably could’ve talked about it for three hours longer! If you missed...