MIDI Learn Explained - Control your software remotely with real knobs, buttons and faders
LearningI’m often surprised by musicians who use their mice or trackpads to change MIDI software parameters, and then complain that they miss using real knobs and buttons. I’m surprised because they could us…
Take a Break - A guide to mixing music - Part 54
LearningIn the first article of this mixing series I told you it would be a long journey, both for you and me. As with every quest, sometimes it's good to take a pause to let it all sit for a while and start…
Join us on a visit to one of Nashville's major studios - [Video] Inside Ocean Way Nashville
LearningIf you want to make a high-quality recording, nothing beats the gear and acoustics of a well-designed commercial studio. Unfortunately, the number of such facilities has dwindled down to a relative h…
How to Make Good Use of Presets - A guide to mixing music - Part 53
LearningTo close the chapter regarding dynamics processing once and for all, I'll give you my take on making good use of presets for this type of processors.
Ten Tips for Tracking - Helpful advice to make your recording sessions more efficient
LearningMixing gets the lion’s share of attention in how-to stories about the production process, but tracking —actually recording audio — is obviously quite important, too. It’s crucial to capture high-qual…
Expanders, De-essers, Limiters and Dynamic EQs - A guide to mixing music - Part 52
LearningIn this penultimate article dedicated to managing dynamics during mixdown, I'll briefly mention some other processing options sometimes used at this stage, as well as the reasons why I won't look int…
If You're Thinking About Getting a Pedalboard - Part 2 - Pedal order, powering, and securing effects to the pedalboard
LearningIn the second and last installment, we’ll cover three main issues that you need to work out order to get your pedalboard up and running: The order of the pedals, how to get power to them, and how to …
If You're Thinking of Getting a Pedalboard - Part 1 - Whether you're buying or building a pedalboard, here's what you need to know
LearningWhether you’re upgrading to a new pedalboard, switching over from an all-in-one digital unit, or getting your first pedalboard, there are endless options. The aim here is to give you the info you nee…
Metering and Correction Software - The Loudness War - Part 11
LearningIn this, the penultimate installment in our series discussing the consequences of volume on music, sound and human ears, we look at tools for measuring loudness.
The Best Noise Gate Plug-Ins - A guide to mixing music - Part 51
LearningThere is plenty more to say about the possible uses of a noise gate, especially from a creative point of view. However, that would divert us from the subject at hand. Besides, by now, I hope you have…
Ducking with a Noise Gate - A guide to mixing music - Part 50
LearningThis week we'll take a look at yet another technique specific to noise gates, namely ducking. Personally, it's not my cup of tea, but when you don't have the time for other solutions, it can really …
Studio on a Budget - How to put together a quality recording setup for under $500
LearningWhile it may be as tough as ever to earn money with music, the bright side remains that it’s become much easier to build a recording studio based mostly around your computer — without spending a fort…
Enhancing Percussive Elements with a Noise Gate - A guide to mixing music - Part 49
LearningToday we'll see how to create a percussive instrument from scratch using an acoustic take.
Learn the Pro Tools edit modes and tools in this tutori… - [Video] Get Started with Pro Tools Editing
LearningWhen you're editing in Pro Tools, whether it's Pro Tools 12 or an older version, you won't get far if you don't understand how the edit modes and the main editing tools work. In this video we'll expl…
How to fix pitch and timing with the most economical ve… - [Video] Tap the Power of Melodyne Essential
LearningMelodyne Essential is the least expensive version of Celemony's acclaimed editing software, and though it doesn't have the same feature set of its big brother Melodyne Editor, it's nevertheless quite…