1,098 articles found
Sidechain Compression - A guide to mixing music - Part 37LearningToday 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 CloudWritten 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 CaliberWritten 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 36LearningIn 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 StandWritten 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 26LearningThis 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 typeLearningIf 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 35LearningNow 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 PaulLearningThe tale begins in Winter 1951.
Review of the Akai Advance 49 Keyboard Controller - Advancing the State of the ArtWritten 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 34LearningToday, 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 33LearningAfter 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 BloomWritten 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 25LearningWe 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 youLearningProfessional 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 32LearningToday 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 UADWritten 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…
Watching the Waves - Visual clues from a DAW’s waveform display can speed up your workflowLearningIf you are someone who’s interested in learning more about recording technology — and you probably are, since you’re reading this — you may have come across interviews with big name engineers and pro…
Add Consistency with Compression - A guide to mixing music - Part 31LearningIn this episode, we'll concentrate on dynamics processing during mixdown, and we'll see how to use compression to give consistency to your tracks. This usage, in my opinion, is the most important one…
Applications of Physical Modeling Synthesis - Sound synthesis, sound design and audio processing - Part 24LearningToday we'll finish reviewing the different types of physical modeling synthesis and move on to how it has been implemented.
A review of SONiVOX Tony Coleman Drums - Tony Goes VirtualWritten testSONiVOX's Tony Coleman Drums (Mac/Win), is a virtual drum plug-in featuring sampled kit sounds from Coleman, who’s played with a who’s who of blues and R&B artists including B.B. King, Bobby Blue Bl…
Louder Doesn't Mean Better - The Loudness War - Part 3LearningIn this installment, we'll look at the consequences of the loudness war on music, sound and human ears.
Virtual Tone Tips for Guitarists - How to get killer sounds with your amp-modeling plug-inLearningThe debate about real amps versus modeling amps is over. Numerous blind tests among players and engineers have revealed that it’s often impossible to distinguish modeled amps from the real thing, esp…
