Tips for Mixing Rap Vocals: EQ - Mixing Rap Vocals – Part 2: EQ
LearningI’ve read (too) many articles about mixing vocals. Cut 300Hz, boost 2kHz, compress 4:1, yada yada. Unfortunately these articles don’t actually give you any real resource – they simply speculate on ge…
Audio Horoscope: insight into your mixing “character” - Quiz: Rate Your Audio Skills, Knowledge & Personality Type
LearningIn order to help understand where you are in this overwhelming audio maze, I have put together a quiz to help rate your knowledge and personality type.
How to Manage the Low End - Tips for Mixing the Low End
LearningBesides vocal mixing - I would say the most common question I read about on the internet is how to manage the low end. The kick and bass, or whatever else might be occupying that area, is the weight …
Some Basic Editing Processes - Editing: The Unsung Hero
LearningMy last article was on arrangement. This one is about editing. These two articles really both need to be read and absorbed to illustrate a greater point...
All About Dynamics Processing - Mysteries of Dynamics Processing Revealed
LearningA dynamic processor is something that outputs a signal, where the level of the outgoing signal is based on the level of the incoming signal. In other words, a loud signal coming in will come out diff…
World Class Mix Engineer Answers Some Questions - Exclusive Interview with Dave Pensado
LearningDave pensado is a man who requires minimal introduction. He’s a world class mix engineer who’s worked on countless hit records. He’s also a teacher & mentor to an entire generation of successful mix …
When it’s time to mix a recording, you need a strategy - Mixing - The 12 Step Program
LearningMixing is not only an art, it’s the crucial step that turns a collection of tracks into a finished piece of music. A good mix can bring out the best in your music—it spotlights a composition’s most i…
When Noise Attacks Your Signal, Fight Back! - Seven Ways to Reduce Noise
LearningIs noise really a problem? After all, analog tape hiss is almost extinct. We have 24-bit converters with signal-to-noise ratios that far exceed that of the CD. Low-level hum? Today's signals have ple…
Proven Ways to Enhance Your Vocals - Recording & Processing the Ultimate Vocal
LearningSo what’s the best way to record vocals these days? The answer, of course, is that anything goes if it gives the sound you want. Following are some of the possibilities.
It's Possible to Get "hot" Masters without Losing Dynam… - Big Sounds without Overcompressing
LearningI was driving along one of those Floridian roads that goes between the coasts, and is flatter than the Spice Girls without auto-tuning . . . in other words, a perfect place to crank up my car's CD pl…
Panning According to Craig Anderton - Panning Laws Revealed
LearningThe idea of panning seems pretty obvious, right? You turn a panpot (real or virtual) to place a sound somewhere in the stereo field...
To Your CPU, Mixing Is the Ultimate Power Trip - Mixing in a Plug-In World
LearningYou gotta love plug-ins, but they’ve changed the rules of mixing. In the hardware days, the issue was whether you had enough hardware to deal with all your tracks. Now that you can insert the same pl…
Have Fun with Noise Gates - Noise Gates Don't Have to be Boring
LearningNoise gates aren't as relevant as they were back in the analog days, when hiss was an uninvited intruder on anything you recorded. But noise gates can do some really cool special effects that have no…
Tips for Mixing Rap Vocals - Mixing Rap Vocals
LearningIf I had to pick the most frequent question I get asked on a regular basis – it would have to be “how do I mix rap vocals?” Or some variation thereof. At least once a week, if not more often.
All About Dithering - Much Ado About Dithering
LearningIt's a dirty job to go from high-res audio to 44/16, but someone's got to do it.
The Secrets Behind Wide, Spacious, Pro-Sounding Mixes - How to Create Wide Open Mixes
LearningHere are some secrets behind getting those wide, spacious, pro-sounding mixes that translate well over any system.
Exploring the Art of Filthy Signal Mutation - Extreme Drum Processing
LearningI like music with a distinctly electronic edge, but also want a human "feel." Trying to resolve these seemingly contradictory ideals has led to some fun experimentation, but one of the more recent "h…
All About DC Offset - DC Offset: Case of the Missing Headroom
LearningIt was a dark and stormy night. I was rudely awakened at 3 AM by the ringing of a phone, pounding my brain like a jackhammer that spent way too much time chowing down at Starbucks. The voice on the o…
How to Compress a Guitar or Bass - Dynamics Processing Meets Rock Guitar
LearningDynamics processing with studio-oriented processors? Been there, done that. But have you re-visited it lately in a guitar context? Dynamics control for vocals or program material is very different co…
Whether for Recording or Live Performance, the Right EQ… - Making Equalization Work For You
LearningEqualization is one of the most important and powerful tools in the recording enthusiast’s arsenal, yet too many people adjust equalization with their eyes – not their ears. For example, one time aft…
7 Things You Should Never Do While Mixing - Live Sound Mixing
LearningTop 7 tips to learn and live by when you are behind the mixing console at a live show.
Exclusive Interview Reveals Production Tips and Tricks - Infected Mushroom Sound Alchemy
Interview / PodcastInnovators, geek tricksters, obsessive-perfectionists, un-serious, electronic-rock geniuses? Time will tell, yet The Legend of the Black Shawarma, Infected Mushroom’s 7th album release will certainly…
EQ and Compression Techniques Pt.2: Drums - EQ and Compression Techniques Pt.2: Drums
LearningDespite the preponderance of exceptional drum samples and loops on the market, for certain genres of music (notably country and rock) there is no substitute for a great session drummer playing on a w…
Mixing Guitar and Vocals - EQ and Compression Techniques for Vocals and Acoustic Guitar
LearningAs an engineer/producer, one of my biggest early challenges was getting my mixes to sound as polished and balanced as the mixes of songs on my favorite albums. Living in Nashville, I knew the problem…
Introduction - Using a Mixer: Rehearsals
LearningBefore you’re ready for arenas and stadiums, where you’d no doubt call on the services of an experienced sound technician, you need to rehearse. And as long as you’re rehearsing you might as well do …
