Audio & music gear guides & articles

Talk about multi-talented: L.A.-based Carmen Rizzo is a two-time Grammy-nominated producer/artist/electronic musician and composer whose credits include Seal, Coldplay, Paul Oakenfold and Ryuichi Sak…

The Boss OD-1X OverDrive was one of two new stompboxes the company announced at NAMM 2014 (the DS-1X Distortion was the other). It features the company’s recently developed Multi-Dimensional Processi…

This week we will tackle a landmark in the mastering chain — the limiter.

The quality and variety of synthesizers available for your iOS device just keeps getting better and better. Although many of the top, name-brand synths will cost you in the range of $20 or even more,…

The quantize function in your DAW lets you to clean up sloppy timing in MIDI recordings, and in many DAW’s, in audio tracks, too. It’s very powerful, but also very easy to overuse. Here, we’ll look a…

The guitar hasn't quite followed the evolution of its creator ─ the homo sapien ─ and still cannot stand up straight on its own. So, after having to break that news to you, let's look at the differen…

Mojave Audio, the company started by renowned microphone designer David Royer (also of Royer Labs), has built a reputation for making high-quality, reasonably priced mics. Here, we review the MA-300,…

The iO Dock II is the latest version of the Alesis all-in-one audio and MIDI interface for iPad, and includes mic preamps, monitoring facilities and more, making music production super easy. Let’s s…

Before moving on to the next processor in the mastering chain — the limiter/maximizer — it's appropriate to talk about a topic often overlooked by many people learning to master: Automation.

Most guitarists don't think too much about the pots (potentiometers) inside their guitars, unless they start going bad and making noise. But did you know there are different types of pots with differ…

Guitar necks come in different shapes, sizes and finishes. So, how can you pick the right one for you? In this article we'll explore the different neck options available, in order to understand their…

In part 1, we looked at choosing a bus-powered audio interface to use for connecting microphones, instruments and MIDI controllers to your iPad. In this second installment, we'll look at an alternati…

In this new installment of our article series dedicated to mastering at home, we will delve into the world of mid-side processing.

Did you ever dream of a totally mobile studio, a compact setup that can fit in a backpack? A rig that you can carry with you virtually anywhere, and record and produce music, even where there's no AC…

Since the days of the original Big Muff Pi, Electro-Harmonix has been building distortion pedals, and one of its latest entries is the EHX Tortion ($179). Way more than just a distortion effect, it a…

If you’ve ever recorded an acoustic instrument, you already know that there’s more involved than just sticking a mic in front of it. Factors that influence how the recording will come out — besides t…

In this tenth episode, we will tackle an effect that is seldom used by people starting out in mastering, namely, reverb.

Much as we try to avoid it, there are occasions when noise gets onto our recordings. It could be a live recording where the source was too quiet and background hiss was picked up, or a passage on ele…

Although most amp modeling is digital, Tech 21 has always created its amp emulations using analog circuitry. The Hot-Rod Plexi pedal ($179) is the latest example. It’s an effects processor that’s des…

Today, our journey across the mastering world takes us into the slippery terrain of stereo enhancers.

Producing a singer for a vocal overdub session sounds like a pretty straightforward task, but to get good results, you not only need good engineering chops, but the ability to coax the best performan…

Indispensable on the pedalboard of any guitarist — right next to the overdrive/distortion — the reverb pedal allows you to add some ambient or to modify the position of a sound in a mix. Naturally, i…

Electromagnetic transducers play a crucial role in the sound of a guitar player and many of us like to change the original pickups on our guitars. Here are the results of a survey we ran some time ag…

This eighth episode of our home mastering series will deal with harmonic exciters, harmonic enhancers and company.

The time has come, your band is ready for the big jump: Your first live gig as a guitar player is imminent. However, your stress is rising at a rate that would shock any cardiologist. Stay cool — her…