Audient Nero Desktop Monitor Controller Demo & Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway As you know we love Audient at Produce Like A Pro and they've recently announced that they have a new monitor controller out (Nero) but there is only one in America! Today I'm sitting with my good…
Ultimate SNARE Drum MIXING On 7 Different Songs
We have another instalment of our Ultimate Guide Series, where today we will be looking at 7 different ways to mix a Snare Drum on 7 different songs, each a different genre. Cameron Webb will be mixing a a snare…
CLO ReMix Contest Winners Announcement with Matt Lange and CLO
Last month we announced an exciting new ReMix Competition with CLO and Matt Lange where the song participants were working with was Sliding Doors by CLO. Check out the full competition guidelines here. You can listen to the song here.…
Dave Mattacks Interview: One Of Most Recorded Drummers Of All Time
Dave Mattacks is arguably one of the world's best and most recorded drummers of all time. His recording credits include: Joan Armatrading, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Sandy Denny, Nick Drake, Brian Eno, George Harrison, Jethro Tull, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page,…
How to Record Acoustic Guitar at Home | 7 Tips

Recording acoustic guitar for the first time can be a challenge. Usually what kind of mic to use and where to put it are the two biggest hurdles for beginners when it comes to getting the best sound, but there…

Recreating Chris Lord-Alge’s Studio Mix LA? Waves CLA NX Plugin Review
The CLA Nx Plugin brings Grammy-winning mixer Chris Lord-Alge's famed Mix LA studio control room to any pair of headphones – so you can monitor reliably on headphones and make better mixing decisions anywhere, anytime. After faithfully modeling Chris’s console…
“Reelin’ in the Years”: The Lasting Legacy and Consummate Musicianship of Steely Dan’s Iconic Hit
Written By: Caitlin Vaughn Carlos The story of Steely Dan is one of consummate musicianship, cerebral writing and audio polish. Their first big hit - “Reelin’ in the Years” showcased these values. Fusing together their deep love of jazz’s complex…
Iconic Session Guitarist: Elliott Randall Interview (Steely Dan, John Lennon, Peter Frampton)
Elliott Randall is an American guitarist, best known for being a session musician with popular artists. Randall played the well-known guitar solos from Steely Dan's song "Reelin' in the Years" and Irene Cara's song "Fame". The solo was ranked as the 40th best guitar solo of all…
Mixing Top 40 Pop Hits On An SSL – George Seara (Drake, Rihanna, Shawn Mendes)
George Seara is one of Toronto’s leading Mixers and Recording Engineers. A musician and lifelong recording enthusiast, he is known for his great musical ear and astute attention to detail. George works in all genres of music and happy recent…
A War Of Inches – Consistent Mixing with Marc Daniel Nelson
In this episode of MakeMineMusic, Marc Daniel Nelson goes all in on the importance of consistency in mixing. With mixing, you have to be consistent in all genres, in all songs on an album – it is one of the elements…
Artists Who Changed Music: Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck has been called “the greatest living rock guitarist.” He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, in 1992 as part of The Yardbirds, and in 2009 as a solo artist. Jeff Beck has won…
Professional Mixing & Mastering Headphones? – Austrian Audio Hi-X65 Review
Today we are looking at Austrian Audio's Hi-X65 Professional Headphones. Austrian has generously given us one of these headphones for a giveaway, so enter below for a chance to win the Hi-X65's. a Rafflecopter giveaway Austrian Audio designed the Hi-X65…
Ultimate VOCAL MIXING On SEVEN Different Songs
We are back with another video in our Ultimate Guide Series, where we will be looking at Vocal Mixing. We will have 7 completely different songs mixed in 7 different ways, so you can see all different kinds of ways…
How To Build A Network In The Music Industry?
How do I build a network in the music industry? This is a question that I get asked a lot! Getting yourself into a good community and finding other people to work with is so important. Working online has completely…
8 Tips For Getting Better Low End
This is a bit of a contentious subject, and one that is talked about a lot, but it is an important one! Low end is a crucial part of every mix, and if it is not done properly, it can…
Mixing Basics: EQ Before or After Compression?
In today's video we are going to be talking about whether we should EQ before or after compression! There is not a lot of consensus on this topic, because the truth is, it may vary from case to case. The…
15 Mixing Tips I Wish I Would’ve Learned Sooner

It’s perfectly normal to feel like you’ve hit a wall when it comes to progressing as a mixer. A lot of the time we rely on our tried and true methods which get the job done, but ultimately leave something…

Drum EQ Basics
In today's video we will be going over Drum EQ Basics! We also have the multitracks for you to download, so you can follow along and mix them yourself! Click here to download the multitracks! EQ is one of the…
The Basics of Recording Vocals

Recording vocals seems like it should be pretty simple. You get a mic set up, the artist stands in front of it, and you’re ready to go…While this is the basic set-up, there’s a bit more to it if you…

6 Key Ingredients to a Better Vocal Production

If you’re struggling to fine-tune your vocal production chops, don’t be alarmed. Every time a new vocalist steps up to the mic, there are a bunch of variables at play which can skew our results from session to session. Keeping…

Mixing Metal Drums with David Gnozzi
In today's video we have the opportunity to take a sneak peek at our good friend David Gnozzi's marvellous course "Recording, Mixing, and Mastering Metal." In this excerpt David teaches us all about his techniques for mixing metal drums! David…
11 Mistakes To Avoid In Music Production
In today’s episode, we are going to be talking about the top 11 mistakes to avoid in music production. Over the years the producer's role has changed dramatically. There was a time when a music producer was essentially the person…
Mixing Basics: Guitar
We’re going to do another part in our mixing basics series! In this series, we are mixing a song completely and utterly in the box using only stock plugins. So far we’ve worked on the vocal, bass, and drums. I’m…
Mixing Basics: Bass
We’re back with another episode of Mixing Basics. In this episode we’re going to mix Bass guitar! This session is available for download so you can follow along with me! These multitracks are from Produce Like A Pro Academy, every…
Mixing Basics: Drums
Today, we will be going over the basics of mixing drums. We’re back with another episode of Mixing Basics. In this episode, we’re going to get into the basics of mixing Drums. If you recall in the previous episodes, we…
Microphone or Interface: What’s More Important?| FAQ Friday
As always we have a bunch of marvellous questions in today's episode! So let’s jump right into today’s featured question! "When it comes to recording quality, Is a good audio interface or microphone more important to get that radio-ready sound?”…
The Benefits of Recording a Scratch Track

A scratch track is a rough playthrough of a song, or section of a song, that acts as a guide while recording other instruments. It’s usually just a couple instruments, like a rhythm guitar and vocal playing along to a…

Sound Synthesis: Basics of Granular and Wavetable Synthesis

Whether we’re aware of it, many of us are using sound synthesis technology everyday. As engineers and producers, we’re often relying on virtual instruments and plugins which use granular and wavetable synthesis to make sounds! Granular synthesis is the technology…

The Basics of Starting a Mix – Setting Levels
In this episode, we’re going to concentrate on the basics of starting a mix. This is a good thing for beginners but it’s also an amazing discussion point for anybody who’s intermediate or advanced. For me, the best way to…
How to deal with a creative block in the studio | 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 do you deal with creative Blocks? How do you manage to keep…
Mastering in the Box – Tutorial & Plugins

If you plan to put the final polish on your mixes at home, you’ll need to understand mastering in the box. Some techniques involve things like additional EQ, compression, M/S processing, and limiting to finalize a song before release. Generally…

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…
Song Mastering: Preparing Your Tracks to Master

Song mastering is the final step in getting your tracks ready to release. What a mastering engineer does differently than a mixer is make final, sometimes very subtle, tweaks to make something sound polished and “commercial.” You can learn how…

Guidelines on How to EQ 14 Common Instruments

Understanding how to EQ–probably the most used tool available to engineers–is essential. Sometimes it’s as simple as high-passing an instrument, while other cases require more precision. Either way, EQ is fundamental in making mix elements sound more or less defined,…

Are these the Best Value Small Diaphragm Mics? (Only $149!)
a Rafflecopter giveaway Hello everybody! This year at NAMM we visited with our good friends at Lewitt and they showed us some brand new Microphones the LCT 140 AIR & LCT 040 MATCH. - They're finally coming out! One great thing…
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…

Do you gain stage tracks before mixing? | FAQ Friday
Today’s featured question is: “Do you gain stage tracks before mixing?" What a great question! Yes! Quite often! Not on stuff that I’ve recorded because I record it at a level that makes sense through my equipment, but definitely when…
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…

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,…

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…

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…

Dealing with Distractions While Mixing | FAQ Friday
We’re back with another episode of FAQ Friday! We have a bunch of questions here that are very business oriented and I realize that doing youtube and having my own channel one might think I'm a professional YouTuber but I'm…
Copyright in Music: Sample Clearance vs. Fair Use

Like any artist, songwriters have a tendency to borrow from their influences. Especially in hip hop and related genres, producers will sample music from another artist to flip it and make it their own. The issue with this, though, is…

How to Mix Vocals to a 2-Track Instrumental

Mixing vocals to a 2-track instrumental is something every engineer will encounter at some point. It’s especially common in hip hop/pop, where artists routinely download pre-mixed instrumentals online and bring them to a studio to record. The challenge with learning…

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…

The Basics of Reamping
Reamping. It may be a basic part of your recording process already, or it might be something that you’re just starting to dip your toes into. Even if you’re deep into the reamping game, it’s always good to get a…
The Best Free VST Synth Plugins

If you’re a music producer or songwriter, virtual instruments and software synthesizers are your best friend. And if you haven’t already developed an unhealthy obsession with plugins, you will eventually! The only problem with the plugin game is that it’s…

How to Master a Song: Understanding the Goal of Mastering

Mastering is the final step in preparing a song or album for commercial release. This means that it takes place after mixing, so the overall sonic aesthetic should be well established by the time a song reaches mastering. What a mastering engineer…

Which Vocal Compressor is Right for the Mix?

We’ve stressed the importance of mixing vocals time and time again! Because lyrics are what average listeners immediately identify with, making a singer sound great should almost always be a priority. Amongst other tools, the perfect vocal compressor for the…

Modular Synthesis: The Most Powerful Synthesizers Ever

Modular synthesis is one of the most powerful sound design and music production tools you can use. From the outside, though, it looks pretty confusing…Even understanding the basics can take a while if you don’t know where to start. Luckily,…