New Standards - The Loudness War - Part 10
LearningIn this installment, we'll discuss the consequences of volume on music, sound and human ears.
Getting Creative with a Noise Gate - A guide to mixing music - Part 47
LearningUp to now we have only seen the more typical uses of a Noise Gate. Now we'll start looking into less obvious techniques that can make a gate much more interesting during mixdown.
Demystifying Synth Programming - Part 1 - Understanding synth parameters is key for creating your own sounds
LearningImagine if you could break free from the limitations of synthesizer presets and create your own custom sounds to fit your music. The first step toward that goal is to understand the standard synth pa…
Use a Gate to Kill the Spill - A guide to mixing music - Part 46
LearningIn the previous installment, we saw what bleed is, and the problems it can cause during mixdown. Today we'll look at how to remove or minimize this harmful phenomenon with a noise gate.
Major and Minor Modes - Harmony Basics - Part 2
LearningToday we'll dive into the heart of the matter and tackle the different modes, major and minor (natural, melodic and harmonic), as well as the relative scales.
Periphery’s bassist/producer on recording drums, EQing,… - Tracking and Mixing with Nolly
LearningAdam “Nolly” Getgood is more than just the bass player in the progressive metal band Periphery. He's also a producer and engineer with an extremely intelligent approach to recording, and he played a …
Don't Let it Bleed - A guide to mixing music - Part 45
LearningToday we'll talk about the phenomenon of mic bleed, and how it can cause difficulties during a mix.
Classic synth emulations that won't cost you a dime - 5 Free Vintage Synth Plug-Ins
LearningYou often hear that a $1,000 laptop today has the power of a billion dollars worth of computer equipment from 50 years ago. Likewise, the equivalent of thousands of dollars of vintage synthesizer gea…
Setting the Gate - A guide to mixing music - Part 44
LearningNow that we've seen the main parameters of a Noise Gate, let's move on to the practical side, starting with its most traditional use: suppressing noise.
Preserve Your Music! - Strategies for archiving your session files and mixes for the long haul
LearningBack in the days of analog tape, archiving multitrack sessions was not an easy task. You needed a place to store the bulky tape reels, and if you didn’t “bake” the tapes to get the moisture out of th…
Play It By the Rules - The Loudness War ─ Part 9
LearningIn this new installment we'll continue discussing the consequences of volume on music, sound and human ears.
Noise Gate 101 - A guide to mixing music - Part 43
LearningThis week we'll tackle a type of dynamics processing that was used all the time in the analog days, but, bizarrely enough, doesn't get called upon nearly as much in the all-digital era. And yet it's …
A video tour of Fry Pharmacy Recording, an all-analog s… - A Studio Where Tape is Still King
LearningLocated about 20 minutes northeast of Nashville, Fry Pharmacy Recording is a throwback to the days when tape ruled supreme. Audiofanzine visited the studio recently, and we produced this video tour.
All You Need to Know About Sound Synthesis - Sound synthesis, sound design and audio processing - Part 30
LearningDear friends, the time has come to say goodbye, at least regarding this article series. This last article is a sort of summary of what we've seen throughout the series, which I hope has been useful.
Cool crossover gear and apps for iOS and Mac/PC - Bridging the Gap
LearningWith every passing iOS update from Apple, the variety, inventiveness and overall appeal of music-making apps for the iPad and iPhone just grows and grows. Yet most computer musicians and producers do…