Left, Right and Center - A guide to mixing music - Part 12
LearningAs mentioned in the last installment, we'll start the rough mix by panning the different elements of the mix. To do that, I recommend you an incredibly effective game I discovered several years ago t…
Studio tips, techniques and wisdom from a producer, eng… - Alan Parsons Talks Recording
LearningAlan Parsons' career is as impressive as it is long. He got his start as an assistant engineer at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London...
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…
Just for Laughs ─ Metal Bands - You Know You Are in a Metal Band When...
LearningPlaying in a metal band is something that can happen to anyone, even to the best of us. That's why you need be watchful. You know you play in a metal band when...
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…
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…
Should You Go Paperless Onstage? - The pros and cons of using an iPad to view charts and lyric sheets on the gig
LearningIf you’re one of those performing musicians who needs to bring charts and lyric sheets to the gig or rehearsal, you might want to consider getting rid of all that paper and your music stand, and conv…
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…
A Mono/Poly Game - Sound synthesis, sound design and audio processing - Part 9
LearningIn the previous articles we saw what makes up a synthesizer's basic sound chain: Oscillators, followed by filters and an amplifier, plus envelopes to control them. We also saw that an oscillator can…
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…
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.
Send It in an Envelope - Sound synthesis, sound design and audio processing - Part 8
LearningWe have started to study the way in which you can create a sound with the aid of a hardware or virtual synthesizer. But, how does sound ─ which is up to now a combination of voltages or binary data p…
