This is a guest post by Mark Dowdell. The more I create, the more I learn the beauty of a lean mix and even leaner composition. When I had just started out using Ableton to arrange, compose, and mix my music, I had this romantic view of how my work would immediately blow everyone away....
I’m dedicating this week to fighting The Loudness Wars. What war is that? The war where everyone is competing to be the loudest kid in the room. It’s similar to yelling at you at the same time. Who are you going to listen to when everybody is screaming for you to hear their spiel? You’re gonna...
Are you happy with your audio interface? I’m looking to upgrade so I’d love to hear your thoughts. I usually don’t believe in buying the newest gear since exception. What Audio Interface are You Using? I’m in the market for a new audio interface. My old Alesis has problems that I’m too lazy to figure...
This is a guest post by Conor O’Hagan. The Status Quo It is no grand statement to praise the technical ability of the elite vocalists. In the majority of cases it is a necessity to have not only a large vocal range, but an acute precision to hitting the exact note every time. (There is...
You’ve noticed how the world keeps getting smaller haven’t you? The internet makes everything available, right there at your fingertips. For us engineers, this means we can offer our skill set to anyone around the world. For musicians and bands, this means they’re not limited to the two mixing engineers they know in their hometown....
Man have I got a RESOURCE for you! You might have heard about Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio by Mike Senior. It’s a great book that shows you how to create great mixes in even the smallest bedroom studios. But what you might not know is that his book has an amazing companion site, complete with 50 multi...
The newest and fanciest equipment is always, oh-so desirable! Isn’t it? All those glossy print ads you see in the magazines or the demos on Youtube. It seems like they’re designed to make your mouth water sometimes. But do you really need that new gear the moment it’s released? Couldn’t you use that money for...
Do you always have a hard time using compression? Are the knobs too much to handle, and are you ALWAYS unhappy with the result? Don’t worry, you don’t really need to know how to compress. Especially if you’re happy with your source sounds. I mean it, don’t worry about it. You can achieve something similar...
This is a guest post by Kyle M. Bagley. If you want to submit a guest post, please see the guidelines in the author box below. Getting a great take from a singer often takes more than just choosing the right microphone or preamp. In the end, it is the great vocal performance that will define the...
I’m heading out to Anaheim partake in the craziness that is NAMM 2012. Last year was awesome, and I’m sure this one will be even better. It’s my third year and so far it’s just been getting better and better every year. For those of you who can’t make it to NAMM, I’ll be regularly...