Some of you readers might have remembered when my MacBook broke a while back. Man, some of you even But what you don’t know is that I bought 8 GB of additional RAM when I ordered it back in June. That extra RAM was lying on my desk for the last 4 months because I...
This is a guest post by Kim LaJoie. Bass mixing isn’t easy. It’s one of easiest ways to tell the difference between a lousy mix and a great mix. If you don’t know what you’re doing, your bass will sound boomy or hollow or tubby or messy or indistinct. In a great mix, however, the...
Sometimes you’ll produce music that’s simply uninspiring. If you’ve got your music production down but you feel like it’s lacking interest, what do you do? There are a few simple ways you can spice up a mix and make it more interesting. Percussion An added percussion track in the chorus helps lift it up. I’m now talking about...
What’s your audio production related new year’s resolution? Is it to get better at compressing? To use less reverb in a mix or finally learn some new microphone techniques? Audio production is a massive subject, and looking at every aspect of it can easily make your eyes water. However, it’s easy to learn a massive...
This is a guest post by Andrew Reilly. Being able to get your interested people and parties has long been an important issue for bands looking to hit the big time. Tapes were the most common way for bands to get their music heard in the 80s but when the 1990s rolled in, this all...
This is a guest post by Andrew Reilly. You might have noticed that a musical genre is the first label placed on a band. More often than not, the labeling is a lazy one. Not every band is able to fit neatly into a little box with a bunch of other bands but because of the...
This is a guest post written by Barry Gardner of SafeandSound Online Mastering. 1. Postpone non-essential equipment purchases and invest some money into acoustic treatment. The results from basic acoustic treatment in a room will be audible on every recording and mix you make. Start with side wall absorbers for early reflections. Next, install a ceiling cloud...
Related to last week’s post, How to Use a Reference Track to Improve Your Mixes, here is the flip-side focusing on getting the best sound out of your live sound system. Depending on your live sound situation, you need to adjust your P.A. system correctly. It’s one of the most crucial things to do when setting...
This is a guest post by Kyle M. Bagley. Saxophone is one of the most difficult instruments to record. Engineers can easy fall into problems that will make the recording unusable or inadequate. This article will describe a basic overview of the instrument and its sound and mic techniques. This article focuses mainly on close-miking players...
This is a guest post by Mark Dowdell The process of mixing has so many dimensions, there’s no question that keeping track of everything is a task in and of itself. The tracks, the returns, the effects, the overall groove… it all piles up quicker than we’d like. Taking all of this into account while...