2,778 articles found
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…
Start Your Mix Out Right - Comparing different ways to approach the beginning of a mixLearningMixing a song offers a cornucopia of creative choices. You decide how loud to make every instrument, where to place it in the stereo image, which effects to use, which tracks to mute, and so forth. I…
Compression in the Volume Wars - The Loudness War - Part 2LearningToday we'll continue our series on the volume wars. This time, we'll focus on mainly on compression.
Find Your Latency Threshold - Understand and minimize latency when recording in your DAW – Part 2LearningFinding an acceptable level of latency is something everyone making music with computers must deal with at times. For some of us it's child's play, but for some others it can get complicated very qui…
Review of Synchro Arts Revoice Pro 3 - Tighten it UpWritten testThe folks at Synchro Arts, renowned for their VocAlign software, recently came out with Revoice Pro 3, the latest version of their application that incorporates vocal alignment, pitch correction, dou…
Physical Modeling Synthesis - Sound synthesis, sound design and audio processing - Part 23LearningAfter having explored synthesis methods that have opened the doors to the most extravagant worlds of sound, today I invite you to tread a more conventional path: The artificial reproduction of well-k…
The Top 15 Products of Musikmesse 2015 - Best of Musikmesse 2015LearningWe were spoiled at NAMM last January. While Musikmesse turned out to be a bit slower, we still found it to be quite interesting. Specifically, 15 products got our attention. So here’s the list, in no…
Ratio and Threshold in a Compressor - A guide to mixing music - Part 30LearningThis week we'll proceed with the final steps of the method to learn about the sonic impact of the main parameters of a compressor. After having seen the attack and release times, now it's the turn of…
Review of the Waves Butch Vig Vocals plug-in - Vocals Like VigWritten testIn the tradition of its Jack Joseph Puig, Chris Lord Alge, Eddie Kramer, and Manny Marroquin signature plug-ins, Waves has released Butch Vig Vocals (Mac/PC), a processor plug-in designed to let you …
The Frequency Spectrum in FM Synthesis - Sound synthesis, sound design and audio processing - Part 22LearningIn the previous article you learned that FM synthesis allows the creation of harmonically rich sounds. Today we'll see what that means in terms of frequency spectrum....
Improve Your Studio on the Cheap - 9 free or inexpensive ways to make your studio betterLearningThe most direct ways to improve your studio are by upgrading the gear and adding professional acoustic treatment, but doing so requires a significant investment. If you're not ready or able to drop a…
Attack and Release in a Compressor - A guide to mixing music - Part 29LearningIn this installment, I'll show you a way to set a compressor that helps you understand what each parameter does. This method is by no means the ultimate solution, however it ought to help you grasp t…
A review of the Audio-Technica ATH-M70x headphones - The Hear and NowWritten testIf you’re serious about your production work, you probably should have at least one pair of premium headphones in your studio. They’re extremely helpful both when mixing and tracking, and the more ac…
Frequency Modulation or FM Synthesis - Sound synthesis, sound design and audio processing - Part 21LearningIn the fifteenth article of this series, I briefly mentioned FM while introducing the different forms of synthesis. Now, the time has finally come to discuss it, but before we do that I must first ta…
Panning to the Extremes - LCR panning can make your mixes come aliveLearningConventional mixing wisdom states that when panning elements in a mix, you’re free to utilize the entire left-to-right spectrum. With the exception of elements like kick, snare, bass and lead vocal t…
The best overdrive pedals for electric guitar - The gritty details on our five favorite overdrive pedalsLearningWith over 100 overdrive pedals listed on just one gear-shopping website, how does one choose the top five? The first order of business is to define the terms: An overdrive pedal should have enough vo…