The proper home studio set-up is essential for producers, engineers, and musicians of any level. If you stick to the barebones basics, you can set yourself up a cheap recording studio very easily. People are making amazing records in their bedrooms…
How to Use Auto-Tune for Vocal Tuning
The really interesting thing about Antares Auto-Tune is that just about everyone has an idea of what it is. For engineers, it’s a very useful tool and effect; but the fact that it’s recognized by almost everybody, beyond studio pros,…
Open or Closed Back Headphones? | FAQ Friday
In this episode of FAQ Friday we’re going to talk about a lot of things, one of which is open or closed back headphones… I get asked this question a lot, "what is the difference between open and closed back…
Lewitt Audio Tour & Interview with Founder & CEO Roman Perschon
As you know I'm a huge fan of Lewitt - both the company and products. Their microphones are made extremely well and they care about the music community. They're a company the industry needs and have made their mark making…
Looptrotter’s SA2RATE 2 Demo & Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway I’ve had a bunch of comments asking for us to try out the Looptrotter SA2RATE 2. So guess what we’re going to do, we’re going to try it out! I am told this is the first production…
Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me”: Inside the Song w/ Jack Douglas
Hello, everybody! We're back with another episode of Inside the Song, this time with a very dear friend and mentor, Mr. Jack Douglas! Jack and I have spent countless hours working together over the years---even as much as 9 months…
DAWs 2019: Best Free Audio Editing Software
A long-running trend in music production software has been the ability to download stripped-down versions for free to test the waters of home recording. The great part about many of these isn’t just the price, but the fact that you…
The DIY Vocal Booth for Home Studios
One factor in getting better sounding vocal takes at home is a DIY vocal booth. It doesn’t have to be fancy, and it especially doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. If your vocal recordings are suffering but you’re…
Are Pro Tools Shortcuts Really Necessary? | FAQ Friday
We're back, I'm in black for another FAQ Friday! As always we have a bunch of marvellous questions so let get stuck in! Today's featured question is “How did you get so familiar with all the commands and shortcuts? Can…
Leapwing Audio’s DYNONE Demo & Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway In this episode, we’re going to take a look at Leapwing Audio’s DYNONE. You might remember about a month ago we did a live stream using all of Leapwing’s plugins. We’re going to focus on the DYNONE…
Manley Labs Tour & Interview with President/Co-Founder EveAnna Manley
a Rafflecopter giveaway Manley Labs are well known for producing some of the industry's premiere microphones and signal processors, including pieces like the iconic Vari Mu compressor/limiter and the Massive Passive EQ! Today, we're touring the incredible Manley facility headquartered…
Some of the Best Drum VSTs for Programmed Drums
Drum VSTs are one of the quickest and easiest means to lock down your song’s backbone. As a matter of fact, the software has gotten so good that it isn’t uncommon for solo artists to release finished albums with entirely…
How to Master a Song at Home with These Simple Steps
Mastering is the last step in preparing a song or album for release. The overall sonic aesthetic should be well established by the time a song reaches mastering. What you or a dedicated mastering engineer can do is make final,…
How to make money in music (and get paid!) | FAQ Friday
Happy Friday! Hope your week has been marvellous, as always we have a bunch of wonderful questions to answer for you today! So, let’s get into today's featured question! “How do you go about figuring out splits for publishing and…
EVE Audio Tour & Interview with Founder/CEO Roland Stenz
Hello everyone, we have another exciting video for you today! We're back in Berlin with Roland Stenz, the founder and CEO of an incredible monitor company, EVE Audio! We had a chance to tour the amazing facility where their monitors…
Recording Drums & Grand Piano at Hansa Studios WITH LEWITT
As you know we were recently at Hansa Studios in Berlin. If you haven’t seen the Hansa Studio tour yet you can watch it here: The World Famous Hansa Studios in Berlin (Studio Tour) As I'm sure you’re all aware,…
Tegeler Headquarters Tour & Interview with Owner Michael Krusch
We have a very exciting video for you today! We’re in Berlin with Michael Kursch, the owner of Tegeler Audio Maufaktur! If you've been following us you know we’ve done a live stream with Michael which was a lot of…
The Offspring’s “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)”: Inside the Song w/ Dave Jerden
Dave Jerden is a dear friend and incredible producer/engineer who’s done some legendary work in the alternative rock, punk, and metal scenes. He's also a regular on Inside the Song, where we previously talked about "Been Caught Stealing" by Jane's…
Which Audio Editor and Mixer (DAW) is Right for Me?
An audio editor and mixer, simply called a DAW, is the software used to record, edit, mix, and master music, podcasts, post production projects, and anything else audio-related. The truth is, there’s no “best” DAW—only the one that you know…
Plate Reverb Plugins vs. the Real Thing
On one side is the real EMT 140 plate reverb unit: a 600-pound, 8′ x 4′ behemoth introduced in 1957 as one of the first kinds of artificial reverb. On the other is a wide variety of plate reverb plugins…
Mixing Singles to Sound Like the Rest of the Album? | FAQ Friday
Happy Friday! Hope your week has been marvellous, as always we have a bunch of wonderful questions to answer for you today! So, let’s get into Today's featured question! “We always mix singles but when we want to make an…
iZotope Neutron 3 Demo & Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway In this episode, we’re going to be checking out iZOTOPE's latest iteration of NEUTRON “NEUTRON 3” I've never used the earlier versions, neutron and neutron 2 but I did watch a couple of videos by different people.…
Marilyn Manson’s “Coma White”: Inside the Song w/ Michael Beinhorn
The last time we sat down with Michael Beinhorn we took a look at "The Dope Show" by Marilyn Manson which he produced! Now we're breaking down "Coma White," which was the promo single from Marilyn Manson's third album, Mechanical Animals. Throughout…
Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic”: Inside the Song w/ Francis Buckley
Francis Buckley is a GRAMMY-winning recording and mixing engineer with a broad range of studio experience with breakout bands, well established chart-toppers, and Hollywood films. Francis started his career working at W.E. Studios in Redondo Beach in 1979. He eventually…
Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know”: Inside the Song w/ Francis Buckley
Francis Buckley is a GRAMMY-winning recording and mixing engineer with a broad range of studio experience with breakout bands, well established chart-toppers, and Hollywood films. Francis started his career working at W.E. Studios in Redondo Beach in 1979. He eventually…
Creating Space in Your Mixes
One of the hallmarks of a great mix is separation between every instrument. Most mix elements have wide frequency spectrums—even a kick drum can extend well into the high mids and above. When so much information exists in every instrument,…
Compression Techniques: The Multiband Compressor
Learning to use a compressor is one of the most important mixing skills you can develop. Compression is all over mixes, even becoming the sound we associate with loud, modern pop mixing. If there’s anything you want to really understand, it’s…