Diminished chords are native to both major and minor keys. You’ll find them as the seventh chord of the major scale, and the second chord of the natural minor scale. They get a bad rap for being dissonant, but they…
A Few of the Best Saturation Plugins Available
Saturation is the secret weapon for adding some grit back to pristine digital recordings. Whether you just want to add a bit of body and richness to an instrument, or make it unrecognizable with blazing distortion, saturation is one of…
Best Kontakt Libraries for Every Collection
Native Instruments‘ free sample player, Kontakt, is every music producer’s entry point to the industry’s largest collection of sampled instruments. Kontakt is a universal host to hundreds of realistic sampled libraries from dozens of manufacturers. The best Kontakt libraries should…
Songs that Changed Music: Iggy & The Stooges – Search and Destroy
How Iggy Pop and the Stooges Created an Iconic, Protopunk Anthem with “Search and Destroy” Written by Caitlin Vaughn Carlos In 1969, The Stooges seemed to be ready to take on the world. Lenny Kaye prophesied in Fusion: “If 1967…
Staying Healthy & Headstrong in the Music Industry – Marc Daniel Nelson
Today I want to talk about mental health, things I do to make things easier, the push that gets you over the final line, and just feeling good about yourself. When I first started working in the music industry, it…
Stevie Wonder and the Prodigious Imagination of One of Music’s Most Inventive Voices.
Written by Caitlin Vaughn Carlos Stevie Wonder was born Stevland Hardway Judkinds (later Morris) in 1950, 6 weeks premature and shortly thereafter became permanently blind. “I think I'm very fortunate — I'm very happy to be blind, because I can…
HUGE Christmas Giveaway! $53,618 IN PRIZES!
Happy Christmas everyone! I hope you are doing marvellously well, and are enjoying the holiday season, no matter what you are doing or what you are celebrating! To celebrate the holidays this year, we are doing a MASSIVE giveaway! These…
Analog Tape vs Digital: Can You Hear The Difference? (Multitracks Included!) – Marc Daniel Nelson
In this episode of MakeMineMusic, Marc Daniel Nelson breaks down a song by Chicago blues artist S. Joel Norman. Marc has had people asking for examples of what tape sounds like, and if he has any multitracks he would like…
Songs that Changed Music: Herbie Hancock – Rockit
Written by Caitlin Vaughn Carlos Embracing the Future with Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit” As an 11 year old, child prodigy, playing the first movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.5 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, young Herbie Hancock could never have imagined…
A New Industry Standard Podcast Mic? – Earthworks Icon Pro
Today, we are going to do something we have never done before: review a podcast mic! We will be testing out the Earthworks Pro XLR Streaming Microphone in today's video, and comparing it to the Shure SM7, which we typically…
PreSonus FaderPort: Does Your DAW Need One?
The PreSonus FaderPort gives users tactile control over features in their DAW. With transport buttons and a single fader, it’s main use is for writing automation in a hands-on way. Control surfaces like these bridge some of the gaps between…
Studio Monitors Under $500: Fluid Audio FX80 Review
Today we’re going to be trying out the FX80 Monitors by Fluid Audio! I met the guys at Fluid Audio back in January at NAMM, and we’ve finally got a pair to try out! They have been kind enough to…
Is Waves Vocal Rider the Solution to Levels?
Vocal levels are one of the most important things to get right. Even with all the compressors in the world, nothing compares to putting in the work and riding the fader — automating the levels in each part of the…
Recording Genesis with ONE MIC! – Austrian Audio OC18
This is another video in our "One Mic" Series, and today we will be using the Austrian Audio OC18 to record a cover of "Turn It On Again" by Genesis! As usual, this will be recorded through our Audient ID44,…
iZotope VocalSynth 2 Overview
iZotope launched VocalSynth in 2016. Right away, its features got a lot of attention. It was obviously a fresh approach to creative vocal production not previously seen in other plugins. Two years later, iZotope VocalSynth 2 came out, which is…
Top 10 Tips for a Successful Studio with Matt McQueen
Matt McQueen started recording as a hobbyist several years ago. Because he was a guitar player and in bands, recording was a side hobby for years, but then he started to invite bands and artists over to his home studio…
Blue Cat Audio Freeware Plugin Pack II Review
Blue Cat Audio is a privately held company based in Paris. It was founded by Guillaume Jeulin: musician, software engineer, and audio fanatic. Blue Cat focuses on providing flexible and powerful audio tools for musicians and audio professionals. They believe…
One-Stop Solution for Delay & Reverb? – BABY Audio Spaced Out
BABY Audio has put out a bunch of plugins, and we have reviewed every single one of them, so we are back to do the same with their latest release! The newest BABY Audio plugin is Spaced Out, and combines…
Vocaloid: Virtual Singers in Your DAW
Vocaloid is a very unique type of voice synthesizer software. Initially not meant to be a full commercial product, research on its technology began in 2000. Yamaha then got involved during the development process, and the first version of Vocaloid came out in…
TAL J-8 Virtual Instrument Review
TAL Software GmbH is a small Swiss company founded in 2000. They create high-quality, affordable instruments and effects with a user friendly interface. TAL’s commercial vintage synth emulations are known to be incredibly accurate and authentic to the real thing. If you’re…
Arturia V Collection 8 Review
We go way back with Arturia – starting with Analog Factory, then upgrading to Analog Lab, and even venturing into the plugin world with the ‘3 Compressors You’ll Actually Use’ bundle. No doubt, the V Collection is the one-stop-shop for…
IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5 Review
IK Multimedia’s leading amp and effects modeling software took a massive leap forward with the release of AmpliTube 5 today. Accurately capturing the sound, feel and vibe of the world’s most sought-after guitar and bass gear, the new AmpliTube 5 offers…
Dancing to Distinction: “Blue Monday” and the Reinvented Self of New Order
Written by Caitlin Vaughn Carlos On May 17, 1980, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris all stood, on the eve of their first American tour, poised on the edge of international success. Their band, Joy Division, was about to…
What is Audio Bit Depth?
Bit depth in digital audio is one of the settings that affects the recording’s overall resolution. In technical terms, it’s the actual number of bits (binary digits) in each sample. What is bit depth? Bit depth and sample rate work…
The Key to Modern Radio-Ready Vocals? – Antares Auto-Tune Unlimited
There is nothing more of a dividing line than talking about one of two things: drum samples, and vocal tuning. Some people may be against vocal tuning, and feel like it is cheating, but if you look back, we really…
Choosing the Sample Rate for Your Project
Sample rate is one of the first things you’ll be asked to choose when you open a new session in your DAW. Alongside bit depth, it can have an impact on the fidelity of your audio recordings. What is sample rate? Digital…
The Beatles – Let It Be: Album Breakdown with Jerry Hammack
Jerry Hammack has devoted 8 years of his life to research every tiny detail of the Beatles career and recoding process he could find. He wanted to ‘Write the book, that [he] didn’t have‘. Jerry has collected over 5700 Beatles…
Avid Pro Tools First | Free DAW Overview
Avid Pro Tools is the industry standard. It’s the platform for virtually every studio because it excels at tracking, editing, mixing, and production. Pro Tools First provides an introduction to the gold standard DAW without committing to a pricey monthly…
Small Speaker with Massive Low End? – EVE Audio SC3070
We have had tons of people asking us about EVE Audio's new speakers, and today we have the opportunity to try them out! The EVE SC3070's are ultra-compact 3-way monitors that are optimized for precise midrange and powerful bass response.…
Mixing Hip Hop (FREE Custom Presets!) – Marc Daniel Nelson
In this episode of MakeMineMusic, Marc Daniel Nelson mixes a hip hop track from top to bottom. The song he will be mixing is "I'm Home" by Accent. As he has done a few videos already on his mixing templates,…
Spitfire Audio | Pro Grade Software Instruments
Spitfire Audio collaborates with the world’s top composers, producers, engineers, and studios to create ultra-detailed, realistic recordings of instruments. Their virtual instruments and sample libraries offer thousands of professional quality sounds right inside your DAW. Spitfire truly makes incredible instruments.…
Do You Need a Portable Vocal Booth?
Portable vocal booths cater to home studio enthusiasts looking to isolate their recordings. Having too many room reflections is one of the biggest problems of recording at home. Apart from sounding echoey, untreated reflections also produce comb filtering for a…
Slate FG-2A: Recreating A Legendary Compressor
The FG-2A from Slate Digital is an emulation of the legendary LA-2A compressor! They spent over a year modelling every peak, curve, and sonic nuance in order to create the most accurate emulation. This compressor is very famous, and has…
Room EQ Wizard | Free Acoustics Software
Room EQ Wizard (REW) is free room acoustics software for measuring and analyzing room and loudspeaker responses. The analysis helps you optimize your studio by finding the best spot for the speakers and listening position. Shooting the room gives you…
“Turn It On Again” and The Remarkable Transformation of Genesis
Written by Caitlin Vaughn Carlos It is extremely rare for a well-known band to survive the departure of their lead singer, not to mention achieve even greater mainstream attention. As Chris Salewicz posited in Gig in 1977: “If Mick Jagger…
My Top 10 Jazz Guitarists!
About a year or two ago, I was looking for some really good advice on jazz guitar playing, and as I was scouring the internet, I came across Jens Larsen's YouTube Channel. Jens is a really fantastic jazz guitar player,…
Top Lessons Learned My First Year in the Studio
Being a professional engineer isn’t always easy. It’s as much about perseverance and resilience as it is about technical skill and creative talent. I believe you figure out very quickly whether the life is for you, and these are the…
Waves Abbey Road RS124 Compressor Review
I’m very excited today! We get to try out the BRAND NEW (we got an advance copy!) Waves Abbey Road RS124 Compressor! I’m sure many of you know what this is… it’s a very famous compressor! First designed in 1960…
Tips for Recording Metal Guitar
It’s hard to think of another genre where guitar tone is as important as it is in metal. It’s so essential that an entire subgenre has been nicknamed ‘djent’ — onomatopoeia for a palm muted chug. Recording metal guitar with…
Seventh Heaven Reverb | Convolution Reverbs
LiquidSonics Seventh Heaven reverb is a plugin reproduction of the Bricasti M7 hardware unit. The company is known for their superior convolution modeling, which Seventh Heaven has in spades! Seventh Heaven Reverb: A Convolution Masterpiece Convolution digitally simulates an actual…
How to Get Rid of Vocal Sibilance
Vocal sibilance occurs when singers pronounce words with ‘s’ and ‘z’ sounds, and to a lesser extent, ‘f’ and ‘v’ sounds. Phonetics calls these ‘fricatives’; they’re mainly characterized by the hissing noise they produce. When a passionate vocalist is belting…
The Best Earplugs for Musicians: Protecting Your Greatest Asset
It should go without saying that a musician, engineer, or producer’s greatest asset is his or her hearing. We rely on it for quite literally everything we do related to music, from gathering inspiration to writing, recording, and mixing. The…
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Best Guitar Impulse Responses [Free and Paid]
Collecting impulse responses isn’t necessarily new tech. But it is becoming increasingly popular for capturing the sound of a unique speaker cabinet, microphone, and room for guitar. Beyond your amp settings, there’s a whole lot more that affects your recorded…
How 10cc’s “I’m Not in Love” Reimagined The Popular Love Song
Written by Caitlin Vaughn Carlos In the mid-seventies 10cc was one of England’s hottest bands. They put out five consecutive Top Ten albums between 1975 and 1978 - Sheet Music (1975), The Original Soundtrack (1975), How Dare You (1976), Deceptive…
Digital Music Distribution – Getting Music Out in 2020
Before making albums in people’s bedroom was the norm, record deals were the only way to get your music out there. A label provided the budget for recording, marketing, printing, and distributing copies of an album to consumers. Today, digital…