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…
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…
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.
Steely Dan’s Producer Talks Recording, Mixing, and More - Gary Katz on Producing
LearningDuring Steely Dan’s original incarnation, the band produced a string of classic albums that are admired equally for their smart and catchy songwriting, amazing musicianship, and state-of-the-art reco…
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…
Adjust and Process Groups of Tracks at a Time - Control Your Mix With Subgroups
LearningOne easy way to improve your mixing efficiency is to use the flexible routing capabilities in your DAW's mixer to create subgroups. Also referred to as "submixes," they let you create custom subsets …
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.
Doubling Made Easy - What is a fat guitar sound and how do I reproduce it?
LearningOne of the most powerful ways to make a track sound bigger and more impactful is by doubling it. The quintessential example of this is the doubled rhythm guitar part, which can really fatten the soun…
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.
DAW Automation 101 - Master your DAWs Automation Features to Gain Control Over the Mix
LearningOne of the most powerful features in your DAW is its ability to automate the volume, pan, send and return levels, and effects parameters of the various tracks in your mix.
Polishing and Exporting the Final File - Recording Your DJ Sessions - Part 4
LearningIn the three previous parts, we showed you how to set up the DJ hardware, how to configure your computer to record an optimal signal and some good practices to keep in mind for your sessions. Now tha…
Best Practices for Recording Your DJ Mixes - Recording Your DJ Sessions - Part 3
LearningIn the first two parts of this article, we discussed how to prepare your mixer and configure your computer to record a mix. Now that the hardware is ready, we can now move on to some tips for you to …
Setting Up Your Computer To Record Your DJ Mixes - Recording Your DJ Sessions - Part 2
LearningIn the first part of this article, we discussed how to prepare the decks, records and mixer to have an optimal audio signal...
Setting Up Your Mixer To Record Your DJ Mixes - Recording Your DJ Sessions - Part 1
LearningRecording yourself whenever you mix is an excellent habit that will allow you to learn and grow your DJ skills. Listening to your mixes later with a clear head allows you to put things into perspecti…
Organize Your DAW Files to Work Better and Faster - Spend More Time Making Music instead of Fighting your DAW
LearningAs a home-recording musician, you have to wear many hats. You’re the talent, the engineer, the producer, the mix engineer, and often even the mastering engineer (not to mention the studio manager and…
Producing A Big Rock Drum Sound - How To Get A Big Drum Sound- Part 1
LearningAfter guitar and bass, the time has come to focus on how to get a big drum sound. A subject matter so vast that we will need at least three articles to cover the basics.
Clean Up Your Vocal Tracks - Editing Techniques That Help Remove Imperfections From Sung or Spoken-Voice Recordings
LearningYou may have already utilized the editing features in your DAW to make vocal comps and move individual words or lines around in time, but you can also use them to get rid of, or minimize, the sonic g…
How To Get a Punchy Drum Sound - PureMix Video On Mixing Drums
LearningIn this new PureMix video, sound engineer Ben Lindell shows you how to use your audio processing plug-ins to mix drums giving them more substance and presence.
Audio Editors: Readers' Choice - The Top Audio Editors
LearningBe it to master a song, do some sound design, manipulate audio files or edit samples, the audio editor is a very precious tool in your creative arsenal. We chose nine paid audio editors from which yo…
What is Comping? - How To Get The Perfect Take
LearningComping is an audio editing technique that consists in putting together different takes of the same instrument in order to get the "perfect recording" without the trick being audible.
