I’ve been reflecting a lot about the process of creating The Long Wait album this week. I’ve been asked about it a lot and it’s not hard for me to start yammering on about it. After all, I am incredibly proud of the work we did together. In fact, I was so passionate about it...
Ian Shepherd just sent me a couple screenshots of the mastering EQ he used on a couple tracks of The Long Wait album. Even he thought they looked a bit scary! But the thing is, and I’ve been listening to the album masters multiple times, it sounds great! We often get worried about whether we’re boosting...
Got a question about how to blend backing vocals recently. Here are a few tips you can use right away to solve that particular problem. 1. Blend Using Volume It goes without saying, but getting a good blend with volume and the right balance between the vocal tracks is the first order of business. If both...
I’ve got some exciting stuff for you today. I sat down with Ian Shepherd of Production Advice and we talked about his process of mastering The Long Wait’s debut album. In case you didn’t know, The Long Wait is my band. We recorded the album in the last year and after producing, recording and mixing the entire thing...
Hello hello! You might know this already but the reason I created Audio Issues is because I want to create practical and easy to use audio production tips that you can use right away. I’m not a big fan of long-winded theory and materials that take forever to get to the point. You shouldn’t need...
Ian Shepherd wrote a great post called Do You Make These 6 Home Mastering Mistakes. I’ve been guilty of a few of them in the past, especially #1, but continuous improvement is the way to mastery (no pun intended). Learn Home Mastering in 8 Weeks If improving your mastering is something you’re interested in I...
I was talking about compression the other day and this analogy popped into my head. Using compression is like getting into a fist fight with somebody. I don’t get into fist fights anymore. I’m not interested in being sued for battery, and I’m also a fucking adult so I leave fist fighting to memories of teenage bar...
I get a lot of audio questions via email. I try to answer them as well as I can but sometimes I need to write a post about them instead. I don’t think any of these questions are stupid. To me, there are no stupid questions. However, there are misguided questions that miss the point so...
As much as you want to buy that shiny new plug-in for $500 you already know that it won’t make you a better mixer. You already have the plug-ins in your DAW that you need to get a great mix. You see, every time I go through your survey responses after I ask what you...
Saturation is the last plug-in I teach you to use in the Mixing With 5 Plug-ins course. If you don’t have any saturation plug-ins, don’t worry. They’re easy to find for free on the internet. Besides, like you’ll learn in this post, you don’t always want to use them. However, sometimes it’s exactly what you need...