A review of iZotope Ozone 7 Advanced and Ozone 7 - Lucky Sevens
Written testThe Ozone mastering suite from iZotope has gotten better with each major update. The latest, Ozone 7, adds vintage modules to its processing arsenal, which allow you to add warm, analog-like sounds. …
Keep Your Music Data Safe! (part 1) - How to avoid data disasters with a simple backup strategy
LearningComputer experts will tell you that it’s not a matter of if your hard drive will crash, it’s a matter of when. Even solid-state drives (SSDs), though more reliable than those with spinning disks, can…
It's Just a Matter of Feeling - A guide to mixing music - Part 64
LearningBy now, after several articles dealing with the different reverb types, you ought to be able to determine which families match better the goals you have in mind. Now it's up to you to decide which pr…
Composing soundtracks? Let us recommend some soundware - 5 Top Sample Libraries You Might Have Missed
LearningSampled audio collections have undergone significant change since polyphonic digital sampling first emerged in 1979. In the early days, the emphasis was on reproducing audio snapshots and then on ent…
A review of the Valhalla DSP ValhallaPlate reverb plug-… - What's On Your Plate?
Written testBest Value awardMost software reverbs offer a choice of halls, plates, rooms and other types of virtual spaces, but Valhalla DSP takes a different approach. The company has separated its reverb offerings into indivi…
Mixing with Room Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 63
LearningThis week we'll finish our overview of the different reverb families addressing the biggest one among them: rooms.
Mixing with Chamber and Ambience Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 62
LearningToday we'll look into chamber and ambience reverbs.
A review of SampleMagic Magic AB Version 2 - A/B-ing Just Got Easier
Written testWhen the original Magic A/B came out a couple of years ago, I was pretty blown away by it, because it made the important process of A/B-ing a mix a lot easier. Now SampleMagic has rewritten the appli…
Mixing with Plate and Hall Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 61
LearningAs we continue looking at the different reverb families, we'll focus this time on plate and hall reverbs.
Customize Your DAW - How to personalize your DAW to fit your work style
LearningYour DAW is your most important piece of software — the heart of your studio. Most DAWs offer a lot of features that you can customize to fit your taste and the way you work. Since you use your DAW s…
Mixing with Spring Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 60
LearningRegardless of whether your reverb is algorithmic or convolution, chances are the plug-in you use provides different types of reverb. And, in my view, the choice of reverb type is crucial to get the e…
Top Black Friday & Cyber Monday Sales and Discounts on … - Black Friday 2015: A list of the best deals
LearningBlack Friday and Cyber Monday are back with a vengeance, with manufacturers and developers knocking down the prices of countless virtual instruments, effects, sound banks, and even audio hardware, wi…
These synths may be lesser known, but they sound awesome - 5 Top Soft Synths You Might Have Missed
LearningTo help you avoid making music that sounds like everyone else’s, I want to tell you about some premium-quality soft synths you may not know about. Although none of these instruments are terribly obsc…
Reverb: Pre- or Post-Fader? - A guide to mixing music - Part 59
LearningAs we saw in the previous article, it's often better to use reverbs on auxiliary buses. Consequently, it's only logical to ask yourself about the best way to send a signal to those aux buses.
Reverb In or Aux? - A guide to mixing music - Part 58
LearningBefore you start working with reverb, you need to set up a couple of things. That's why this week we'll look into the different routing options available and examine their advantages and disadvantage…
A review of the Soundtoys 5 native effects bundle - Bundle of Joy
Written testFrom EchoBoy to FilterFreak to Crystallizer, Decapitator and more, Soundtoys plug-ins are super-creative tools that offer users the potential to take their music to new sonic places The new Soundtoys…
Reverb Don'ts - A guide to mixing music - Part 57
LearningIn this episode we'll point out a couple of things to avoid when dialing in reverb settings.
Add space to your recordings with these free reverb plu… - 5 Top Freeware Reverbs
LearningWe all know that reverb is one of the staple effects in a mixer's toolkit. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find a recording or live mix without at least some reverb in it. But does getting a good r…
Using Reverb - Step by Step - A guide to mixing music - Part 56
LearningToday I'll describe how we will be proceeding to be able to work with reverbs in all tranquility.
A review of the Sonible Frei:raum EQ plug-in - Space Liberation
Written testInnovation awardLife as a writer for Audiofanzine has its pros and cons...Granted, if you're into audio, spending most of your days testing and reviewing the latest gear from the audio world can be really gratifying…
Space Invaders - The Whys of Using Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 55
LearningWe have now reached a stage where it seems appropriate to start unwrapping those nice little reverb plug-ins you all have lying around.
MIDI Learn Explained - Control your software remotely with real knobs, buttons and faders
LearningI’m often surprised by musicians who use their mice or trackpads to change MIDI software parameters, and then complain that they miss using real knobs and buttons. I’m surprised because they could us…
Take a Break - A guide to mixing music - Part 54
LearningIn the first article of this mixing series I told you it would be a long journey, both for you and me. As with every quest, sometimes it's good to take a pause to let it all sit for a while and start…
How to Make Good Use of Presets - A guide to mixing music - Part 53
LearningTo close the chapter regarding dynamics processing once and for all, I'll give you my take on making good use of presets for this type of processors.
Expanders, De-essers, Limiters and Dynamic EQs - A guide to mixing music - Part 52
LearningIn this penultimate article dedicated to managing dynamics during mixdown, I'll briefly mention some other processing options sometimes used at this stage, as well as the reasons why I won't look int…
