What Are Guitar and Bass Pickups Made Of? - Everything about guitar and bass pickups - Part 2
LearningIn this second article of our series dedicated to guitar and bass pickups, we'll take a look under the hood.
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.
Podcast Production Basics - Part 1 - How to record a podcast
LearningPodcasts have become an important information and entertainment medium, and the best part is that anyone can get in the game. If you’ve ever thought about creating your own audio podcast, this two-pa…
How Magnetic Pickups Are Built and How They Work - Everything about guitar and bass pickups - Part 1
LearningAn essential part of electric stringed instruments, pickups are surrounded by a mysterious aura, lots of rumors and charm. For some, the instrument's wood and craftsmanship are at the core of its sou…
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…
The Perfect Cadence...and More - Harmony Basics - Part 7
LearningIf you think of music as a language, then you could say that it's made up of phrases, with cadences acting like punctuation marks.
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.
Get the Most from Your Album Release - A step-by-step plan for maximizing exposure when you release your album
LearningToday, it's easy to get your music distributed. But if you want to maximize your promotion, it helps to put together a timeline and plan your release. Promotion is time-sensitive, but if you can coor…
Ten Tips for Tracking - Helpful advice to make your recording sessions more efficient
LearningMixing gets the lion’s share of attention in how-to stories about the production process, but tracking —actually recording audio — is obviously quite important, too. It’s crucial to capture high-qual…
The Other Degrees of a Major Scale and the Minor Mode - Harmony Basics - Part 6
LearningAs we saw in the previous article, the I, IV and V chords of a major scale are themselves...major!
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…
Your Ears, Your Music, Your Hearing - The Loudness War - Part 12
LearningIn this final installment of the series, we present a Q&A with Dr Thierry Briche, ENT specialist, and the former chief of the prestigious Val-de-Grâce Hospital in Paris, France. He was kind enough to…
If You're Thinking About Getting a Pedalboard - Part 2 - Pedal order, powering, and securing effects to the pedalboard
LearningIn the second and last installment, we’ll cover three main issues that you need to work out order to get your pedalboard up and running: The order of the pedals, how to get power to them, and how to …
If You're Thinking of Getting a Pedalboard - Part 1 - Whether you're buying or building a pedalboard, here's what you need to know
LearningWhether you’re upgrading to a new pedalboard, switching over from an all-in-one digital unit, or getting your first pedalboard, there are endless options. The aim here is to give you the info you nee…