Multitalented producer Greg Wells talks about his craft… - Producing for the Art of It
LearningAlthough he spent most of his childhood playing and studying music, it wasn’t until Greg Wells was 18 that he got bitten by the recording bug. “I got my parents to co-sign a loan, and I bought a Mac …
The Last Note - Recording a clean ending is not as simple as it may seem
LearningWhen recording an ensemble or just overdubbing one instrument, there's one part of the song that gets very little attention: right after the very last chord or note has been struck. Especially if the…
Of Suspensions and Magnets - The Operating Principles of Loudspeakers - Part 2
LearningWe started this series by describing the cone diaphragm of an electrodynamic speaker. It obviously plays an important role in the final quality of a speaker, as the radiating element, but it's far fr…
The Use of Delay - A guide to mixing music - Part 86
LearningAfter closing the chapter dedicated to the use of reverb during mixdown, we will now focus on a relatively similar topic: delay.
We interview the author of “The Great British Recording… - The Golden Age of British Recording
Interview / PodcastIn the early 1960s, at the beginning of the British Invasion, the studio scene in England was thriving, but the British studios used different gear and got a very different sound than their U.S. coun…
Reverb Tools of the Trade - A guide to mixing music - Part 85
LearningToday we'll close the chapter on reverb with one last suggestion and a short list of plug-ins I personally like to use when working with sound spaces.
Good Vibrations: How Speaker Cones Work - The Operating Principles of Loudspeakers - Part 1
LearningSound is possible thanks to transduction, in other words, the transformation from one form of energy into another one.
Kick Start Your Playing Skills - A practical approach to improving your instrumental abilities — quickly!
LearningAre you in a rut on your instrument? Do you feel like you’ve been playing the same old stuff forever without any significant improvement? If so, and if you’re willing to commit an hour or so a day to…
Relative Chord and Tonal Exchange Substitutions - Harmony Basics - Part 16
LearningThis time around, we'll look at two additional ways to substitute chords: Relative chord and tonal exchange substitutions. But before we do that, I want to complete the previous article and finish di…
Lateral Movement with Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 84
LearningThis week we'll discuss a swaying technique which will allow you to easily create the illusion of lateral movement using reverb exclusively.
Responsive Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 83
LearningSo far we have reviewed quite extensively the "classic" uses of reverb during mixdown, but I would now like to invite you to discover more exotic applications in the next couple of articles. These ar…
We interview the author of "Beatles Gear: The Ultimate … - Fab Four Gear!
Interview / PodcastDid you know that John Lennon’s first guitar was a Gallotone Champion acoustic that he ordered from a catalog, or that George Harrison played a Framus Hootenanny 12-string on “Help," or that Ringo st…
Unreal Soundscapes - A guide to mixing music - Part 82
LearningLast time, we saw how to recreate a realistic sound space with the three last buses of the setup I suggested to use when working with reverb. This week we'll address the concept of depth in a sound s…
Tritone Substitution and Secondary Dominants - Harmony Basics - Part 15
LearningIn this installment, we'll continue exploring chord substitutions with two new forms based on the dominant function.
How to Adjust Depth with Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 81
LearningIn this new episode, I'll show you how to recreate a realistic sound space with the last three buses of the reverb setup we've been using in the last couple of weeks.
Chord Substitutions - Harmony Basics - Part 14
LearningIn the previous two articles I took a brief detour from the somewhat theoretical tone of this series to show you some specific examples of harmonic chord progressions that are easy to understand and …
Glue It Down with Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 80
LearningToday I'll focus on the sixth bus of my personal reverb mixing setup. As I told you before, this bus is aimed at producing the so-called "glue" effect. In other words, the more or less signal you sen…
How to Know When Your Mix is Finished - 5 questions to ask yourself to determine if your mix is ready to go
LearningTop mix engineers will tell you that they instinctively know when they're finished with a mix. But for those of us who haven’t reached that level yet, it’s usually hard to have that kind of certainty…
More Chord Progressions - Harmony Basics - Part 13
LearningIn the previous article I introduced you to some of the most popular cadences and chord progressions. But there are still some left!
Choosing Reverb Sounds - A guide to mixing music - Part 79
LearningToday we'll follow up on the previous article by discussing the presets for five of the nine reverb buses of the template I proposed.
The Best DJ CD Decks for Around $500 - The top budget CD decks for DJs
LearningEven if DJs are turning more and more towards immaterial formats nowadays, it's still useful to keep a good old CD player lying around, one that can play back normal Red Book CDs as well as those sta…
Getting Down to Work with Reverb - A guide to mixing music - Part 78
LearningWe have been discussing reverb for quite some time now, although in a more or less theoretical way. I know it can get a bit frustrating but, trust me, it was necessary. Now that we are done with all …
The Ears Have It! (part 1) - Improve your band’s onstage sound with in-ear monitors
LearningBands frequently run their stage monitors super loud in order to better hear themselves singing. But in the process, they're not only increasing stage volume to unbearable levels, they're also sabota…
Chord Progressions - Harmony Basics - Part 12
LearningIn the last article, we saw how chords have a natural tendency towards other chords depending on their degree in the key of the song where they are currently been employed.
The Importance of Contrast in a Mix - A guide to mixing music - Part 77
LearningToday I'll close the brief parenthesis I opened last week. And I'll do that tackling a notion that is crucial when it comes to mixing, namely...
