Create a Rough Mix - A guide to mixing music - Part 11
LearningIn the last installment, I gave you an overview of the mixing method I'll be presenting in the upcoming articles. In that workflow, one of the first things you need to do is create a rough mix, and i…
A Method to Your Mixing - A guide to mixing music - Part 10
LearningThis time, I will give you an overview of the mixing method we will follow in the coming weeks. I don't intend it to be "The Method," since there are lots of other ones that are just as valid. Howeve…
Candid comments from the renowned producer/engineer abo… - Jack Joseph Puig Speaks His Mind
LearningOne of the best known and most successful producer/engineers in the business, Grammy-winner Jack Joseph Puig has worked with heavyweights like U2, Green Day, Stone Temple Pilots, John Mayer, Fergie, …
Critical Listening - A guide to mixing music - Part 9
LearningBesides guaranteeing "virtual headroom" and an optimal level to process each track with any plug-in or outboard gear, the "gain staging" method described in the last installment also allows you to ma…
It's Your Gain! - A guide to mixing music - Part 8
LearningIn this installment, we will examine the first practical task of your mix, which also happens to be the last purely technical one. Once you've done it, you will finally be able to confront your visio…
Start Small, Think Big - A guide to mixing music - Part 7
LearningFrom what we've seen up to now, we could deduce the following: Mixing can be assimilated to assembling pieces of a 4D puzzle according to a given tempo to form a sonic moving picture. But what can we…
Time Is on Your Side - A guide to mixing music - Part 6
LearningAs eloquent as it may be, the puzzle analogy for mixing conceals a major aspect of music ─ in the end, the puzzle represents only a static image, yet music is essentially dynamic. So it's only natura…
Video: Altering Pitch with Melodyne Editor 2 - Change pitches in melodies and inside of chords with Melodyne Editor 2
LearningCelemony Melodyne Editor 2 is a powerful plug-in and standalone editor that can do a great deal of impressive DSP, involving both pitch and time. In addition to corrective work, it can also be used c…
Colin Leonard takes the analog path to mastering success - It's About the Vibe
LearningColin Leonard, owner and engineer of SING Mastering in Atlanta, has to be ready to handle any musical style that comes his way. “I could go from Gaelic Christmas music to hardcore hip-hop to pop to …
Putting Together the Puzzle - A guide to mixing music - Part 5
LearningSometimes the best way to make people really grasp an idea is to resort to a fitting metaphor. That's why, today, I'll show you a way to visualize a mix that ought to allow you to understand the whol…
Dynaudio BM Compact mkIII review - Danish Sound
Written testLack of space is a well-known issue for most people living in cities. When you live in a small apartment and you make computer music, every single inch counts. That's why one particular model caught …
Go Safely and Back Up - A guide to mixing music - Part 4
LearningBefore getting into the heart of the matter, I deem it necessary to deal with a subject that isn't only limited to computer music, namely backups.
Review of Eventide UltraReverb - More than Just Another Reverb
Written testEventide’s UltraReverb is an algorithmic reverb plug-in that offers impressive sound quality, sonic control and flexibility, making it a potent contender in the reverb plug-in wars. Not only does it …
Better Tracks Through Editing - Part 2 - How to replace bad notes or chords via copy and paste
LearningIn part 1 of this article we discussed using cut, copy and paste editing techniques to fix rhythmic mistakes. This time around, we'll use those same edit tools to replace notes that are the wrong pit…
The Living Colour guitarist on film scoring, DAWs, amp … - Vernon Reid Talks Tech
LearningWhen you hear the name Vernon Reid, your first thought is probably of his work with Living Colour, featuring his speedy and inventive guitar playing. But Reid is also an accomplished composer, scorin…
The Prerequisites for a Relaxed Mixing Session - A guide to mixing music - Part 3
LearningThe simple act of clearing certain technical and practical tasks in the earliest stages of the production of a song can have miraculous effects, not only in terms of efficiency, but also from a creat…
Better Tracks Through Editing - Part 1 - How to Fix Rhythmic Mistakes in a Recorded Track
LearningToday’s DAW software — not to mention a slew of third party plug-ins — offers you powerful processing options for manipulating the time and pitch of your audio. But did you know that you can fix a lo…
Mixing with Myself…or Not! - A Guide To Mixing Music - Part 2
LearningWe'll devote this second installment of our mixing article series to a bit of advice that is worth its weight in gold: Whenever possible, let someone else mix your songs and/or recordings
Classic Gear Spotlight: The Teletronix LA-2A - Legendary Optical Compressor
LearningA number of outboard compressors from the analog era are considered legends in the audio world, among them the Fairchild 670, UREI 1176, and the subject of this article, the Teletronix LA-2A. The LA-…
An Interview With Producer, Engineer and Guitarist Eyal… - Production Insights from a Metal Master
Interview / PodcastOver the last 15 years, Eyal Levi has become a highly respected producer, engineer and musician in the world of metal music. He’s worked on 40 albums that have made it to the Billboard Top 200 chart,…
Mastering at Home - Part 22 - How to Use Volume in Mastering
LearningThis penultimate article in our series dedicated to mastering at home is surely the one you've all been waiting for. Indeed, today we will talk about a couple of tricks to get a really HUGE sound. Bu…
Tips on Recording Vocals for Musicians - Vocal Recording Clinic with Kris Crummett
LearningNo matter what musical style you're into, if you own studio gear, you probably record vocals at least some of the time. So when we had a chance to tap into the expertise of Kris Crummett — a prominen…
Mastering at Home - Part 21 - Best Audio Formats When Rendering a Mastered Track
LearningIn this antepenultimate installment, we'll discuss several points that you need to bear in mind to get an optimal final result, depending on how your music will be distributed.
Classic Gear Spotlight: The Versatile and Durable Shure… - The Legendary SM57
LearningThe Shure SM57 arrived on the scene in 1965 and quickly became a fixture in the pro audio world. The versatile, solidly built, yet inexpensive dynamic mic is great for guitar cabinets, snare drums, h…
Q&A: Telefunken Engineer Ryan Loftus - A peek inside a legendary mic manufacturer
LearningAudiofanzine met up with Ryan Loftus ─ engineer at Telefunken Eletroakustik ─ to talk about the high-end microphones the company manufactures.
