Computer Music guides & articles

Today we'll talk about a delicate — but very useful — subject, namely the firewalls that can help you avoid being yet another victim of the loudness war.

Amplion Pro 1.1 is the latest version of this amp-and-effects modeling software from Audiffex. Can it hold its own with stiff competition in the modeling software field?

In this installment we'll talk about plug-ins that allow you to visualize levels correctly — after all, whether you like it or not, mastering has become synonymous with volume, so it's a good idea to…

Introduced with iOS 7 and available on all iOS devices, Apple’s inter-app audio feature allows compatible apps to share audio streams and MIDI with each other, making it possible to work with multipl…

Following up on our series of articles dedicated to useful tools for mastering at home, this time we will focus on plug-ins that allow you to analyze the stereo image.

The time has come to explore the territory of analyzers of all sorts, which will prove to be very helpful within the context of mastering at home. This week we will deal with the spectrum analyzer, a…

Now that we have covered the entire mastering chain, let's move on to different tools that are useful in the context of DIY — like headphones.

In part 1 of this article, we looked at preference settings and key commands. Here in part 2, the focus will be on the Smart Tool, some important timeline options, and how to create customized sessio…

Avid Pro Tools features industry standard audio recording, editing, and mixing, along with a reasonably well-featured MIDI section. But with an application this powerful, getting up to speed can take…

In this 14th episode, we will deal with a mysterious stage in the mastering chain: Dithering

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…

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 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.

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…

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…

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

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

Capo 3 software for Mac ($29.99 via the App Store), from the awesomely named software developer, SuperMegaUltraGroovy, is marketed with the slogan “Reverse Engineering Rock and Roll,” and, indeed, it…

In the previous article, we addressed compression within the context of home mastering with a classic compressor. It's time now to tackle multi-band compression.

I’m not a drummer, but I often produce tracks in my studio that include drum parts. Sometimes I’m fortunate enough to be able to use a real drummer, but in most cases it’s just not practical. Instead…