Stochastic and Graphic Synthesis - Sound synthesis, sound design and audio processing - Part 27
LearningGraphic and stochastic synthesis are not very widely used and, yet, they are quite interesting. Let's see why...
Review of the Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork - A Devilishly Clever Pitch Shifter
LearningThe Pitch Fork is a powerful and clean-sounding pitch shifter with some smartly designed features. It can produce shifts of plus or minus 3 octaves, which can make for some pretty cool and unusual so…
Compression as Glue - A guide to mixing music - Part 38
LearningThis week we'll look into a side effect of compression that's beneficial, as long as you use it wisely. It's the so-called "glue" effect that takes place when you use a compressor on a group of track…
Mastering and remastering - The Loudness War - Part 7
LearningHere's the latest installment in our series of articles dedicated to the race for volume, and its consequences on music, sound and human ears.
Which Site is Best for Selling Gear? - A guide to selling your gear online — part 1
LearningIf you’re a home recordist or a performing musician, chances are you have gear you want to sell. Perhaps you’re thinking of upgrading to something better, or you have extra hardware or instruments th…
These instruments and effects may not be well known, bu… - 5 Cool Plug-ins You May Never Have Heard Of
LearningSome people become addicted to plug-ins; others become connoisseurs. That is, they're borderline addicts but too refined to splurge on just anything. They need a certain something, which is what the…
Sidechain Compression - A guide to mixing music - Part 37
LearningToday we'll continue unveiling new tricks and tips on compression with an installment dedicated to the sidechain.
A review of the EastWest Composer Cloud subscription se… - Instruments from the Cloud
Written testSubscription-based plans are becoming more common for music software. While presumably a good thing for the developers, they’re not necessarily so great for users, who have to pay over and over for a…
Sonarworks Headphone Calibration Review - High Caliber
Written testYou all know what it's like to finish a mix that sounds amazing on your headphones and then try to show it to your grandma on her hi-fi system, only to discover that it sounds terrible. The mix is co…
Parallel Compression - A guide to mixing music - Part 36
LearningIn this week's chapter, we'll tackle a specific use of compression you have surely heard about before, not least in our series of articles dedicated to mastering. I'm talking about parallel compressi…
Classic Gear Spotlight: The Les Paul - Part 2 - And the Guitar Was Born!
LearningThe telephone rings. Pegg's back suddenly stiffens, she adjusts her glasses before picking up the phone. She can tell by the timbre of the voice that asks for Ted McCarty that it's bad news for her b…
A review of the Blue Microphones Hummingbird - A Bird in the Stand
Written testA mic with a swiveling capsule is not a new concept, but it isn’t something you typically find in a mic as affordable as the Blue Hummingbird. The swiveling feature is no gimmick — it makes a big dif…
Formant and Linear Arithmetic Synthesis - Sound synthesis, sound design and audio processing - Part 26
LearningThis time around, I invite you to discover two unusual forms of sound synthesis: Formant and linear arithmetic synthesis.
Take Your Pick - Alter your tone for pennies by changing to a different pick type
LearningIf you are like most guitarists, you are on a continual quest to improve your tone and/or discover additional tonal options. This can involve spending thousands of dollars on amps, guitars, pickups, …
Serial Compression - A guide to mixing music - Part 35
LearningNow that we've seen the basic usage of compression when mixing, I'll walk you through a couple of tips and tricks that I'm sure you'll find quite useful. This week we'll look into a technique that mi…
Classic Gear Spotlight: The Les Paul - Part 1 - History of the Les Paul
LearningThe tale begins in Winter 1951.
Review of the Akai Advance 49 Keyboard Controller - Advancing the State of the Art
Written testInnovation awardImagine a MIDI-controller keyboard that lets you seamlessly switch between virtual instruments from different manufacturers, keeps all your patches together in a single browser, and automatically map…
The Opposite of Punchy - A guide to mixing music - Part 34
LearningToday, I invite you to continue exploring the possibilities of dynamics processing at the microdynamic level. After having dealt with "punchy" sounds, we'll use dynamics to go for the opposite — "rou…
Make Your Mix Punchy with Compression - A guide to mixing music - Part 33
LearningAfter looking at some applications of compression at the macrodynamic level in the two previous articles, we'll deal here with microdynamics, starting with how to get a "punchy" sound.
Sensomusic Usine Hollyhock II Review - Music in Bloom
Written testBest Product awardThere are lots of software solutions for live performance. Strangely enough, Sensomusic's Usine Hollyhock II doesn't come up on the radar as often as other products. And yet...
Weighing the pros and cons of DIY mastering - So You Want to Master Your Own Album?
LearningFor a long time the mastering process was a mystery for most musicians, even those with studio skills. But thanks to all the information now available online, it's a lot easier to learn about how mas…
Pulsar and Phase Distortion Synthesis - Sound synthesis, sound design and audio processing - Part 25
LearningWe are slowly coming to the end of this series!
More than Just the Full Mix - Alternate mixes that pro engineers do for every song — and so should you
LearningProfessional engineers typically render more than just a full version when they finish mixing a song. They also run a number of variations, which are referred to as "alternate mixes." In this article…
The Right Way to Loudness - A guide to mixing music - Part 32
LearningToday we'll continue our discovery of the use of compression with an application that will surely interest all of you: An increase in loudness.
A review of the new plug-ins in Universal Audio UAD 8.1… - Another Three from UAD
Written testUniversal Audio just released a new version of its software for Apollo and other UAD-2 devices. The release is highlighted by three new plug-ins, including spot-on emulations of the Neve 88RS Channel…
