Reverb Tools of the Trade - A guide to mixing music - Part 85
LearningToday we'll close the chapter on reverb with one last suggestion and a short list of plug-ins I personally like to use when working with sound spaces.
Good Vibrations: How Speaker Cones Work - The Operating Principles of Loudspeakers - Part 1
LearningSound is possible thanks to transduction, in other words, the transformation from one form of energy into another one.
A review of IK Multimedia's Lurssen Mastering Console - Mastering Made Painless
Written testThe Lurssen Mastering Console is new mastering software from IK Multimedia that was created in conjunction with Gavin Lurssen at Lurssen Mastering in Los Angeles, a high-profile facility that’s resp…
Kick Start Your Playing Skills - A practical approach to improving your instrumental abilities — quickly!
LearningAre you in a rut on your instrument? Do you feel like you’ve been playing the same old stuff forever without any significant improvement? If so, and if you’re willing to commit an hour or so a day to…
Relative Chord and Tonal Exchange Substitutions - Harmony Basics - Part 16
LearningThis time around, we'll look at two additional ways to substitute chords: Relative chord and tonal exchange substitutions. But before we do that, I want to complete the previous article and finish di…
Lateral Movement with Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 84
LearningThis week we'll discuss a swaying technique which will allow you to easily create the illusion of lateral movement using reverb exclusively.
Responsive Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 83
LearningSo far we have reviewed quite extensively the "classic" uses of reverb during mixdown, but I would now like to invite you to discover more exotic applications in the next couple of articles. These ar…
We interview the author of "Beatles Gear: The Ultimate … - Fab Four Gear!
Interview / PodcastDid you know that John Lennon’s first guitar was a Gallotone Champion acoustic that he ordered from a catalog, or that George Harrison played a Framus Hootenanny 12-string on “Help," or that Ringo st…
Unreal Soundscapes - A guide to mixing music - Part 82
LearningLast time, we saw how to recreate a realistic sound space with the three last buses of the setup I suggested to use when working with reverb. This week we'll address the concept of depth in a sound s…
We choose our favorite new products from Musikmesse 2016 - Top 10 from Musikmesse
LearningMusikmesse, the massive music trade show that takes place every year around this time in Frankfurt, Germany is the place for numerous new product introductions. The Audiofanzine crew was on the groun…
Review of the Electro-Harmonix Lester G Deluxe Rotary S… - Spin Doctor
Written testOne of the new pedals Electro-Harmonix debuted the 2016 NAMM show was a Leslie-speaker simulator called Lester G. Not only does it offer rotating speaker sounds, but also an overdrive circuit and a c…
Tritone Substitution and Secondary Dominants - Harmony Basics - Part 15
LearningIn this installment, we'll continue exploring chord substitutions with two new forms based on the dominant function.
How to Adjust Depth with Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 81
LearningIn this new episode, I'll show you how to recreate a realistic sound space with the last three buses of the reverb setup we've been using in the last couple of weeks.
Multiply your creative processing with these multi-effe… - 5 Multi-Effects Plug-Ins You Might Have Missed
LearningYou could collect individual plug-ins that deliver the kinds of effects you use most; that’s one approach, and a popular one. Another is to use a single plug-in that offers lots of effects for sound …
Chord Substitutions - Harmony Basics - Part 14
LearningIn the previous two articles I took a brief detour from the somewhat theoretical tone of this series to show you some specific examples of harmonic chord progressions that are easy to understand and …
Glue It Down with Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 80
LearningToday I'll focus on the sixth bus of my personal reverb mixing setup. As I told you before, this bus is aimed at producing the so-called "glue" effect. In other words, the more or less signal you sen…
How to Know When Your Mix is Finished - 5 questions to ask yourself to determine if your mix is ready to go
LearningTop mix engineers will tell you that they instinctively know when they're finished with a mix. But for those of us who haven’t reached that level yet, it’s usually hard to have that kind of certainty…
The Ears Have It! (part 3) - Frequency and sound issues with in-ear monitor systems
LearningIn the final installment of this three-part article, we’ll look at a few other key issues to consider when contemplating switching over to an in-ear monitor system.
More Chord Progressions - Harmony Basics - Part 13
LearningIn the previous article I introduced you to some of the most popular cadences and chord progressions. But there are still some left!
A video review of Eventide Anthology X - A Big Bundle of Processing
Written testThe Eventide Anthology X bundle ($999 street) offers users a large collection of effects processing plug-ins. Although there's an emphasis on the harmonizer/delay type effects that Eventide is famous…
Choosing Reverb Sounds - A guide to mixing music - Part 79
LearningToday we'll follow up on the previous article by discussing the presets for five of the nine reverb buses of the template I proposed.
The Best DJ CD Decks for Around $500 - The top budget CD decks for DJs
LearningEven if DJs are turning more and more towards immaterial formats nowadays, it's still useful to keep a good old CD player lying around, one that can play back normal Red Book CDs as well as those sta…
The Ears Have It! (part 2) - The challenges of adjusting to an in-ear monitor system
LearningIn part 1, we talked about how in-ear monitors can benefit performing musicians, this time around, we'll look at some of the issues you'll face using an in-ear system.
Getting Down to Work with Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 78
LearningWe have been discussing reverb for quite some time now, although in a more or less theoretical way. I know it can get a bit frustrating but, trust me, it was necessary. Now that we are done with all …
The Ears Have It! (part 1) - Improve your band’s onstage sound with in-ear monitors
LearningBands frequently run their stage monitors super loud in order to better hear themselves singing. But in the process, they're not only increasing stage volume to unbearable levels, they're also sabota…