Critical listening in a home studio - A guide to mixing music - Part 123
LearningChronologically speaking, the critical listening stage is divided into two phases for any home studio enthusiast: the first one under his/her usual working conditions and the second one outdoors. Thi…
An interview with mixing wiz Ryan West - West is Thriving in the East
Interview / PodcastSucceeding as a freelance mixing engineer in New York City is no easy feat, but Ryan West has done it—impressively. Working predominantly on the hip-hop and R&B scenes, his credit list includes such …
Recording drums — The snare drum (Part 2) - The ultimate guide to audio recording - Part 27
LearningIn the previous episode we saw the ABC of close miking a snare drum. Today we'll take it a step further...
Things to consider during critical listening - A guide to mixing music - Part 122
LearningIn order to approach the critical listening sessions seriously, here are a couple of things you might want to ask yourself while at it. You should focus mainly on two aspects, which I recommend you t…
Recording drums — The snare drum (Part 1) - The ultimate guide to audio recording - Part 26
LearningNow that we've covered the Mono Room and Overheads tracks, the time has come for us to tackle the recording of the different elements of the drum kit with the close miking technique. We'll start this…
The hour of truth for your mix - A guide to mixing music - Part 121
LearningDear friends, I know the closer we come to the end the more impatient you get. What do we have left after the delicate automation phase? Well, quite a few things and not particularly easy ones. In th…
Recording drums — Last advice on overheads - The ultimate guide to audio recording - Part 25
LearningThis installment is the last one dedicated to overheads. Yes, I know four articles discussing that topic exclusively seems like a lot. But I insist, the overall result of a drum kit recording depends…
Last advice on automation - Part 2 - A guide to mixing music - Part 120
LearningToday I'll give you some final recommendations regarding automation.
Recording drums — Overheads and the A-B technique - The ultimate guide to audio recording - Part 24
LearningAfter having seen the ORTF, XY and M/S techniques, we'll look now into two other methods to record drum overheads.
Last advice on automation - Part 1 - A guide to mixing music - Part 119
LearningTo close the chapter on automation I'll start listing today some advice and remarks I haven't mentioned before, but which I nevertheless deem important and useful.
Recording drums — Overheads: the XY and M/S techniques - The ultimate guide to audio recording - Part 23
LearningAs I told you last week, there are several techniques to record the incredibly important drum overheads stereo track. We already saw the ORTF method and today we'll dive into the XY and M/S technique…
An interview with producer and Live expert Laura Escudé - From Violins to Ableton
Interview / PodcastLaura Escudé, who performs under the name "Alluxe," has built a successful and eclectic career in the music world as a producer, performer, and programmer. An expert in Ableton Live—she was Ableton’s…
The traps of automation - Glitches and clicks - A guide to mixing music - Part 118
LearningToday I'll write the second part of our brief compilation of the most common mistakes and issues when dealing with automation.
Recording drums — Overheads and the ORTF technique - The ultimate guide to audio recording - Part 22
LearningThis week we'll focus on, in my opinion, the most important track when it comes to recording drums: overheads.
The traps of automation - Part 1 - A guide to mixing music - Part 117
LearningAs we've seen in the past weeks, automation is no rocket science or black magic. However, when it comes to putting it all into practice there are some pitfalls you should try to avoid. Here's a brief…
Recording drums — Mono Room - The ultimate guide to audio recording - Part 21
LearningIn this episode we'll start discussing the recording of drums with what is usually called the Mono Room track, which is much more important than it seems...
Handling intro-verse-chorus transitions with automation - A guide to mixing music - Part 116
LearningWith this article I'll close the automation "tips and tricks" chapter by approaching it from a song structure point of view. This time we'll deal with how to put together different puzzle pieces like…
Recording drums — Introduction - The ultimate guide to audio recording - Part 20
LearningToday we'll begin discussing a topic that will take us several weeks to cover: recording drums.
An interview with legendary producer/engineer Ed Cherney - For the Joy of It
Interview / PodcastTalk about an impressive career—Ed Cherney has produced or engineered a veritable who’s who of iconic musicians including Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Iggy Pop, The Rolling Stones, Buddy Guy, Bob Dyla…
Highlighting background instruments - A guide to mixing music - Part 115
LearningToday I invite you to join me in discovering some automation techniques that take advantage of our animal instincts to give some background life to your music.
The importance of good tuning - The ultimate guide to audio recording - Part 19
LearningThis week I invite you to discuss the importance of tuning in a recording situation.
Automation - Tips and Tricks - A guide to mixing music - Part 114
LearningIn the previous episode we saw how you can, in theory, make use of human instincts to keep the attention of the listeners throughout an entire song, simple as it may be. This week I'll reveal some tr…
The bothers of a home studio - The ultimate guide to audio recording - Part 18
LearningToday I'll address some constraints inherent to recording in a home studio. Being aware of these issues will allow you to prevent them more easily to avoid any unwanted noises making their way into y…
Instinct and automation - A guide to mixing music - Part 113
LearningToday we'll look into a concept that's relatively simple to understand and which will be of a lot of help when you automate your mixes.
Recording a hardware synth - The ultimate guide to audio recording - Part 17
LearningThis week we'll tackle a somewhat peculiar case: hardware synthesizers.
