Noises Off - How to Use Broadband Noise Reduction Software to Clean Up Music Recordings
LearningMuch as we try to avoid it, there are occasions when noise gets onto our recordings. It could be a live recording where the source was too quiet and background hiss was picked up, or a passage on ele…
Mastering at Home — Part 9 - The Use of Stereo Enhancers While Mastering Music
LearningToday, our journey across the mastering world takes us into the slippery terrain of stereo enhancers.
Producing a Vocal Session - Part 1 - How to Get the Best Results When Recording a Singer 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…
Mastering at Home — Part 8 - A Guide to Using Harmonic Exciters and Enhancers in Mastering
LearningThis eighth episode of our home mastering series will deal with harmonic exciters, harmonic enhancers and company.
Mastering at Home - Part 7 - A Guide to 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.
Cut the Mud from Your Mix - 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 …
Mastering at Home — Part 6 - How to Use Compression While Mastering
LearningToday we will focus on compression, another important aspect of the mastering process that's often misunderstood.
Buying an Audio Interface - Part 2 - Help Picking the Best Audio Interface
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…
Buying an Audio Interface - Part 1 - Demystifying the Specs and Features of an Audio Interface
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…
Mastering at Home - Part 5 - How to Use EQ when Mastering — In Practice
LearningThe latest installment of our Mastering at Home series deals with some common situations when using an equalizer.
Why Headroom is Important - 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…
Mastering at Home - Part 4 - How to Use EQ In Mastering — The Theory
LearningIn mastering, EQing could be your best friend or your worst enemy. Which of the two depends on your grasp of the word: subtlety!
Mixing: A 12-Step Program - A Helpful Approach for Efficiently Mixing Music
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…
Learn From Other Mixes - How to Analyze a Mix
LearningJust like painting, photography and, obviously, music — mixing is an art in itself. And, as such, it also requires some training.
Long-Distance Collaboration - Work Together Remotely via DAW File Sharing
LearningSharing tracks over the Internet makes it possible for musicians to work together remotely, whether they're around the corner from each other or around the world.
Mastering at Home - Part 3 - A Great Workflow for Mastering Music at Home
LearningIn this third part of our Home Mastering series, we will write about the process to follow in order to make the right decisions at the right time.
Mastering at Home - Part 2 - Prepare for Your Mastering Session
LearningIn this installment, we'll offer some tips that will simplify your life when mastering.
Comparing Two Approaches to Drum-Track Creation - MIDI Drums vs. Audio Drum Loops
LearningIf you’re not a drummer, but you need drum tracks for your productions — and assuming you don’t have the budget and facilities to hire and record a real drummer — you’re going to need to use either M…
Mastering at Home - Part 1 - An Introduction to Mastering Audio
LearningIf you're fortunate enough to be able to afford professional mastering with a dedicated engineer in a well-designed and equipped mastering studio, that's clearly the route to the best quality results…
Minimize Drum Bleed in Your Home Studio - Reduce or Eliminate Leakage When Tracking Drums and Other Instruments Together
LearningSo, you’ve got a band, you’ve got some recording gear, and you’re ready to start cutting your album in your home studio. If you’re recording with a drummer and you want to do a “live” basic-tracking …
Panning Strategies - Advice For Placing Elements in the Stereo Soundscape
LearningPanning seems like a simple enough task. You turn the panning knobs to the positions you want your tracks to be situated in the stereo image and you’re done, right? Well there’s more to it…
Phase – The Solutions - Everything about Phase Problems - Part 3
LearningAfter having seen the theory and the cases where you could have phase issues, in this final installment we will see different ways to identify eventual problems. And we will also go through the vario…
Phase — Practical Cases - Everything about Phase Problems - Part 2
LearningAfter a simplified — but not simplistic — approach to the theoretical aspects of phase in our last article, today we will see in which cases you may find yourself having to deal with phase problems.
Improve Your Microphone IQ - Understanding the Differences Between Mic Types Will Improve Your Mix
LearningIf you're not sure of the difference between condenser mics, ribbon mics, and dynamic mics, or what a polar pattern is, here’s a quick overview that will get you up and running when it comes to micro…
Understanding Phase - Everything about Phase Problems - Part 1
LearningIf you are into audio, you have surely heard about phase many times — whether in reference to mixing or recording live in the studio — and usually in a negative way.
