Audio & music gear guides & articles

As I mentioned in the last article, the ideal home studio must have good room acoustics and soundproofing. But, what does these two concepts mean? To answer this question we need to dive into some th…

The overdrive pedal is one of the most timeless and classic effects for electric guitar, and finding the overdrive of your dreams can be a lifelong endeavor. They have become a true cult object and m…

Sometimes, $50 for a pair of studio cans might be over your budget, be it because you don't have the money in the bank or you need to buy four at the same time or any other reason you can think of. B…

As promised, this week we'll see how to make the most of tape machine and console-emulating plug-ins.

The Summer NAMM was just a couple of weeks ago and we were there, obviously! Here's our report (better late than never...): As usual the world of guitar was omnipresent during the event. Here's a lis…

This week we'll keep on discussing distortion by addressing plug-ins that emulate legendary tape machines and consoles.

Today you'll see how to put into practice everything you've learned so far about harmonic distortion.

Far from being a simple accessory, the vibrato has become an essential element in the playing style of many guitarists. Be it for subtle modulations with clean sounds or dive bombs with fat distortio…

Is there anything more annoying than a guitar that won't stay in tune? Most guitar lovers will say no. While there are several factors to consider, the quality of the tuning machines plays a crucial …

This week we'll continue exploring harmonic distortion.

One of the great things about pedalboards is that they give you the freedom to choose the effects you want for your rig. There is one caveat: Your pedalboard is a finite size, and you can only add ef…

After our previous discussion of electrodynamic speakers, we'll now move on to describing different categories of speaker transducers, starting with the equivalent of the condenser mic in the speaker…

This time around, we'll focus on distortion.

Many factors can negatively impact your band’s sound, from lack of rehearsal to bad acoustics to feedback to malfunctioning gear to burnt-out sound engineers. But perhaps the most consistent impedime…

From the corner of a bedroom to the living room or a garage, the home studio always ends up adapting to the elements. As usual, it all boils down to your own needs, means and possibilities.

In the coming weeks we'll discuss in detail the so-called "glue" effect, in other words how to make the mix more homogeneous using different procedures. Today we'll discuss a simple method to emphasi…

In the last article of this series dedicated to electrodynamic speakers we'll talk about some unique and interesting designs. The biggest difference with these two examples compared to previous speak…

To close the chapter dedicated to the use of delay during mixdown, we'll look into the relationship between reverb and delay.

Hopefully, one day you’ll go to Abbey Road to record your music, just like the Beatles. But since recording in such a studio is prohibitively expensive for most musicians, you might want to consider …

This week we'll look into a somewhat particular use of delay ─ as a way of filling up a mix. You certainly won't be able to use this technique every day, but it can come in pretty handy to "dress up"…

In the previous article we discussed compression drivers and acoustic horns. Today we'll focus on a technology whose patent was issued in the 1920s and widely used for microphones. However, its usabi…

In this installment, I'll show you how to use delay instead of reverb to reinforce the sonic cohesion of your mix.

To finish with this overview of the most widely used type of speaker, we'll discuss electrodynamic cone models. To improve the performance in the high frequencies, the cone is usually replaced with a…

One of the most useful audio plug-in types in any computer-based studio toolbox is reverb. In this article, I’ll look at my five current “go-to” reverb plug-in choices. But first, a little background.

This time around, we'll look at two "classic" uses of the delay effect.