Feature articles and reviews on audio and music

One of the most high-profile producer/engineers working today, Fab Dupont has accumulated an impressive and eclectic credit list that includes Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, David Crosby, Snarky Puppy, Bon…

As we saw in the previous article, the comfort of the musician is crucial to getting a good performance, and hence a precondition for every good recording. And this comfort depends largely on the sub…

So, what can you learn from the movie analogy from last week? That's what we are about to see right this moment!

In this week's episode we will discuss something that ought to precede any attempt to record your music. Considered optional by some, pre-production is often ignored by beginners. And yet they are th…

After having discussed the functional aspect of automation, it's time to look at it from an artistic point of view.

Having the best gear in the world and being an audio engineer without equal is very nice, but unfortunately that doesn't mean you'll be able to make the best records.

The smartest among you might have realized, after reading the previous article, that most of the problems addressed with functional automation can be solved in other ways, which is something we'll lo…

After addressing the "whys" of automation last week it's only logical that we start looking into the "hows" this week.

Today we'll see how to record a transverse flute.

Although many hits have been marked by the Talk Box sound — take, for instance, California Love by 2Pac, Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi or Pigs by Pink Floyd — it still remains a little known effect.…

Though he has a Music Production and Engineering degree from Berklee, Todd Whitelock says it was on-the-job training that helped him become one of the top recording engineers in the jazz world. White…

Invented by a great Belgian clarinet master around 1840, it is just as widely used in classical music as it is in pop or contemporary music. But it's definitely in jazz where it has gained more promi…

If you were to have the chance to look at the mix session of a commercial song you'd be more surprised by the sheer exuberance of automation lines than by the number of plug-ins used. However, most b…

The long-awaited poll regarding "small" guitar effect pedal brands is finally here! It's open season for anybody who likes controversy!

This week we'll start with the first practical case: tracking a trombone.

Many modern audio interfaces don't offer MIDI connections anymore. And yet lots of us still have MIDI keyboards and/or controllers we don't want to let go of. Fortunately, there are some inexpensive …

You'll fix it in the mix... right? Wrong! That's why I'll try to make sure that this phrase never makes into your home studio.

The recent 141st AES Convention really stood up to the expectations in terms of new products. Here's a small selection of some of the things we thought were most interesting.

This week we'll take a moment to discuss the delicate issue of levels during tracking.

We are the first to brawl about the lack of innovation among speaker manufacturers. Dynaudio is one of those brands with an undeniable know-how, but whose road map only seems to lead into a desert wh…

If you want to start making up melodies and bass lines from chord inversions, as I promised in the last article, we must first address the thorny issue of consonance and its evil twin, dissonance... …

Today we'll discuss a topic that's very important in the all-digital age, namely which format you should use to record your takes.

Despite the explosion of the pedal market and the appearance of countless small manufacturers, the big names in the effects world continue to implacably dominate the business. Here's a list of the ma…

EarMaster Aps is a small Danish company founded in 1994 specialized in the development of a very particular software: EarMaster, whose goal is to train your musical ear and reading skills.

In this chapter we'll discuss a not-so-widely spread category of transducers based on very amazing principles. They can make some people dream because they are freed from the mechanical stages of tra…