How to get the best results when a singer records in your studio
LearningProducing a singer for a vocal overdub session sounds like a pretty straightforward task, but to get good results, you not only need good engineering chops, but the ability to coax the best performan…
A look at the best digital reverb pedals
LearningIndispensable on the pedalboard of any guitarist — right next to the overdrive/distortion — the reverb pedal allows you to add some ambient or to modify the position of a sound in a mix. Naturally, i…
Using harmonic exciters and enhancers in mastering
LearningThis eighth episode of our home mastering series will deal with harmonic exciters, harmonic enhancers and company.
How much power does your amp need for rehearsals and gigs?
LearningThanks to "Doc" Emmett Brown, everybody knows that you need 1.21 gigawatts for a DeLorean to go back to the future when its flux capacitor runs out of plutonium.
Multi-band Compression in Mastering
LearningIn the previous article, we addressed compression within the context of home mastering with a classic compressor. It's time now to tackle multi-band compression.
Adding Fills, Crashes, and More
LearningPart 1 looked at the importance of variation in a full-length drum loop track, and also gave tips on customizing drum loops by editing. Here I’ll look at two very important aspects of your drum loop …
How to Make Loop-Based Drum Tracks Sound As Realistic As Possible
LearningI’m not a drummer, but I often produce tracks in my studio that include drum parts. Sometimes I’m fortunate enough to be able to use a real drummer, but in most cases it’s just not practical. Instead…
Remove Low-End Clutter from Your Mix with High-Pass Filtering
LearningGuitars, vocals, pianos, drums or virtually any track in your mix, has extraneous low-frequency information that can be filtered out without compromising the sound. While you may not notice anything …
Figuring Out the Unit That's Right for You
LearningPart 1 looked at how to interpret the specs you see in ads and listings for audio interfaces. This time around, we offer info to help you figure out the audio interface that best fits your needs, pre…
Demystifying the Specs and Features
LearningShopping for an audio interface can be daunting, due to the countless models on the market and the variations in inputs, outputs, formats, maximum sampling rates, and numerous other specifications. T…
How to use EQ in Mastering — In Practice
LearningThe latest installment of our Mastering at Home series deals with some common situations when using an equalizer.
Make Your Solos More Interesting and Musical
LearningWhether you play guitar, keyboard, saxophone or any other lead instrument, there’s more to being a good soloist than just having chops and knowing riffs. Playing fast is great, but speed by itself do…
Keep your levels down and your headroom up, and your music will sound better
LearningYou’ve probably heard the term “headroom” thrown around a lot. What it is, essentially, is a margin of safety between the loudest peaks of your track — or tracks, in the case of a mix — and 0 dB on y…
How to Use EQ In Mastering — The Theory
LearningIn mastering, EQing is a choice whose potentiality is on par with its dangerousness. The key word here is, more than ever, subtlety!
A Step-By-Step Workflow for Your Next Mix
LearningHere at Audiofanzine, we’ve covered many individual aspects of mixing, and offered detailed information on what to do in preparation for a mix. But we've also gotten requests for an overview of the e…
