Keith Olsen, legendary rock producer of the ’70s and ’80s, passed away Monday at age 74. Olsen started his career playing in bands in the ’60s before pivoting to record production. He was mentored by Curt Boettcher and Brian Wilson,…
His Rock/Metal Productions Have Earned Over 20 Billion Streams | Interview w/ Howard Benson
A complete transcription of our conversation can be found below: Warren Huart: Howard, how are you? Howard Benson: Good, good. Warren Huart: Thank you so much for having us over. Howard Benson: Doing a lot of work right now. So,…
Peter Doell Is One of the Most Talented Mastering Engineers Ever!
A complete transcription of the interview can be found below: Warren Huart: Hello everybody, I hope you’re doing marvelous today. Sitting here with my good friend Mr. Pete Doell. How are you? Peter Doell: I are good, thank you so…
From Writing Letters to Studios to Writing Hit Songs | Interview with Gary Go
A complete transcription of the interview can be found below: Warren Huart: Hi everybody, hope you’re doing marvelously well. Sitting here with Gary Go. How are you? Gary Go: Good, thank you, Warren. Good to see you. Warren Huart: Good to…
IK Multimedia Brings the Magic of Sunset Sound to Your DAW
The legendary Sunset Sound is a world famous studio where some of the most iconic music of all time has been recorded. Few studios in the world have made as much of an impact on music culture as Hollywood's Sunset…
An Acoustic Approach to Electronic Music | Interview with Neon Vines
Neon Vines is an Austin-based electronic musician with an acoustic background in classical piano, drum line, and marimba. She attributes many of the techniques she developed as a marimba player to the skills she uses to produce music today. A…
Building a career in music – From small clubs to national tours | Interview & Studio Tour w/ Rodger Carter
Rodger Carter is one of the rare Los Angeles natives working full-time in the music industry. He began his life in professional music by playing club shows on the Sunset Strip at just 14-years-old. A drummer by trade, steady studio…
Black Sabbath’s Genre-Defining Debut Was Released 50 Years Ago Today
Friday, February 13th, 1970 is inarguably one of the most important dates in music history. On the eve of Saint Valentine’s 50 years ago, Black Sabbath released their earth shattering self-titled debut album. It’s not hyperbolic to say that the…
Digital Audio Workstations: Everything You Need to Know About Choosing a DAW in 2020
Choosing a digital audio workstation is one of the toughest decisions to make for your studio. First off, there are so many great options to sort through that it’s hard to narrow down just one. On top of that, you’ll…
Interview with Matt Brownlie: GRAMMY-Winning Recording and Mixing Engineer
Matt Brownlie’s career is an illustrious one that speaks for itself through both the range of genres and also the sheer talent he has worked with. His accolades include working with Bette Midler, LL Cool J, Destiny’s Child, Frank Ocean,…
Interview with Stevie Blacke: The “One Man Orchestra”
Stevie Blacke has had a phenomenal career as a musician, string arranger, and multi-instrumentalist dubbed the "one man orchestra." Over the years he's had the pleasure of working with some of music's biggest stars and finest talents. Stevie has played…
Songwriting Inspiration: Ways to Stay Creative
Sometimes songwriting inspiration really does come out of thin air. The other 90% of the time, we’re stuck somewhere between wanting to make music, and actually making music. If you want to spend more time actually making music and steering clear of dreaded writer’s…
Interview with Garth Richardson: Rage Against the Machine, Ozzy Osbourne
Garth “GGGarth” Richardson is a highly successful Canadian music producer and engineer. GGGarth has worked with some of the biggest artists in rock music, including Rage Against the Machine, Ozzy Ozbourne, Alice Cooper, Biffy Clyro, Rise Against, Mudvayne, Chevelle, Trapt, Atreyu,…
MIDI Keyboard 101: Ultimate Beginner’s Guide
A MIDI keyboard—also known as a MIDI controller—is a piano-style device that lets you play and record your DAW’s software instruments and any other VST synths you have. They typically connect to your computer via USB for easy integration with…
Wilbert Roget: Acclaimed Video Game Composer
Wilbert Roget, II is a premiere composer in the video game industry. He has scored numerous AAA and indie titles, including Star Wars: First Assault, Call of Duty: WWII, Mortal Kombat 11, Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire, Lara Croft and the…
Michael Busbee, Hit Songwriter for Maren Morris, Florida Georgia Line, Passes Away at 43
Michael Busbee, a producer/songwriter who worked with Maren Morris on her debut album Hero and co-wrote hit songs for Pink, Florida Georgia Line, Rascal Flatts, and Lady Antebellum, among others, has died. Busbee was only 43. Known professionally as “busbee,” he worked…
Bob Clearmountain: Legendary Mix Engineer and Producer
Bob Clearmountain is among the most acclaimed engineers, mixers, and producers of all time. He’s worked with many of the biggest names in music, including Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, The Who, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Hall & Oates, Bryan…
Jack Joseph Puig: World Renowned Mix Engineer and Producer
Jack Joseph Puig is one of the most recognized names in the industry. The GRAMMY-winning, multi-platinum engineer and producer has worked with handfuls of incredible artists, like The Verve Pipe, Goo Goo Dolls, Tonic, Hole, Jellyfish, The Black Crowes, John Mayer, Weezer,…
macOS Catalina won’t work with a ton music software (Removes 32-bit Compatibility)
macOS Catalina (10.15), Apple’s successor to the current Mojave, introduces significantly tightened security. Set for an October release, the added security measures remove 32-bit compatibility, spelling “headache” for music and video software users. DAWs and many plugins will require updates to run on…
Ringo Starr’s New Solo Album to Include John Lennon Cover Song Featuring Paul McCartney
Ringo Starr’s 20th studio album is well underway, with What’s My Name set to debut October 25th. The album will feature a cover of John Lennon’s “Grow Old With Me,” which appeared on the posthumous 1984 release with Yoko Ono, Milk and Honey.…
Soundgarden’s “Spoonman”: Inside the Song with Michael Beinhorn
We're back again with Mr. Michael Beinhorn, this time talking about the iconic Soundgarden track, "Spoonman." This song should be familiar to almost everybody watching, as it was the first single from Superunknown and often gets credit for launching Soundgarden into the…
Laney Amplification at Thomann Gearhead University 2019
a Rafflecopter giveaway Laney Amplification dates back to 1967 when founder Lyndon Laney established the company in Birmingham, England. The amps generated a lot of 'buzz' amongst local musicians for their unique sound and affordability. Today, Laney is a multinational…
The Significance of Pre-Production with Michael Beinhorn
A lifelong artist, Michael Beinhorn got his start as an illustrator, then a musician, before finally becoming an outstanding record producer, arranger, engineer, and writer. In NYC in the '70s, Michael ultimately forewent what would have been a promising career…
What Inspires Me: F. Reid Shippen
F. Reid Shippen is “New Jersey-born, Nashville-based, highly motivated, completely caffeinated Grammy award-winning producer/engineer/mixer.” We met with him at his private mixing studio, Robot Lemon, in Nashville where we talked about what inspires him to make amazing records! F. Reid…
Butch Walker: Songwriter & Record Producer | Studio Tour & Interview
Butch Walker is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. He was born in Georgia and currently splits his time between Nashville and Los Angeles. In the late '80s and early '90s, he played lead guitar for a glam metal called SouthGang. Butch was…
Jellyfish’s ‘Bellybutton’: Inside the Album with Roger Joseph Manning Jr.
Roger Joseph Manning Jr. is an American power pop and electronic rock musician, singer, and songwriter with a prolific career in the industry. Roger's musical career began as early as 1989, when he started arranging string, brass, wind, and vocal…
Hole’s “Celebrity Skin”: Inside the Song with Michael Beinhorn
The last time we were with Michael Beinhorn we took a look at “Coma White” by Marilyn Manson, which he produced! Now we’re breaking down “Celebrity Skin" by Hole, which is the debut single from the 1998 album of the…
John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s ‘Double Fantasy’: Inside the Album w/ Jack Douglas
We've spent a lot of time with the amazing Jack Douglas over the past several weeks! He told us how he got Cheap Trick signed to their first record deal, what it was like working with Aerosmith throughout the '70s,…
How to Mix Vocals Like a Pro
We’ve all struggled with mixing vocals at some point! It’s easy to feel frustrated when we just can’t seem to get it right, especially because vocals are so important for the listener. Fortunately, there are some standard as well as…
Piper Payne: Mastering Engineer and Vinyl Technologist
Piper Payne is a mastering engineer, educator, and active member of the audio community based in Oakland, CA and Nashville, TN. The biggest recent update from Piper is the company she started in Oakland (Neato Mastering) has now joined famed Infrasonic…
Augustana’s “Sweet and Low”: Inside the Song with Warren Huart
Augustana is a rock band perhaps best known for the song "Boston" off their debut album, All the Stars and Boulevards. They also had a tremendous hit with "Sweet and Low" from their follow-up record Can't Love, Can't Hurt, which Warren co-produced and…
David Gilmour’s Guitars Fetch $21,500,000 at Auction to Fight Climate Change
In what will most certainly go down as one of the most historic instrument collections of all time, 120 of David Gilmour’s guitars were auctioned this week at Christie’s in New York City. All of the proceeds from the auction will…
How to Use a Compressor – Intermediate Techniques
We’ve talked a lot about how to use a compressor in various stages of the recording and mixing processes. The best way to learn is to get your hands dirty, which you’ll be able to do with some of these…
Vance Powell: Multi GRAMMY Winning Engineer, Mixer, & Producer
Vance Powell is 6x GRAMMY winning recording/mixing engineer and record producer. He's based in Nashville where he works out of Sputnik Sound alongside studio owner and fellow GRAMMY-winning producer, engineer, and songwriter, Mitch Dane. We met with Vance to talk about…
Audio Test Kitchen Has Revolutionized the Microphone Shootout
We recently met with the fantastic Alex Oana at Gold-Diggers in Los Angeles to check out his rather amazing endeavors with Audio Test Kitchen! Audio Test Kitchen is a free online resource aiming to change the way we audition microphones. They’ve…
Jacquire King: GRAMMY-Winning Producer, Engineer, and Mixer
Jacquire King is an amazing producer, engineer, and mixer based near Nashville, Tennessee. Over the course of his career he’s worked with: Kings of Leon, Tom Waits, James Bay, Kaleo, Modest Mouse, You Me At Six, Buddy Guy, Norah Jones, Of…
Kings of Leon “Use Somebody”: Inside the Song w/ Jacquire King
Jacquire King is an immensely talented producer, engineer, and mixer based near Nashville, Tennessee. Over the course of his career he's worked with some amazing artists: Kings of Leon, Tom Waits, James Bay, Kaleo, Modest Mouse, You Me At Six, Buddy…
Fred Mandel: Touring & Session Musician for Queen, Alice Cooper, & More!
Fred Mandel is a keyboard player, guitarist, and touring/session musician. Entirely self-taught, he started piano at just age 4, and guitar a few years later at age 8! After moving to Toronto from his hometown in Saskatchewan as a teenager,…
Focal Factory Tour: Building Studio Monitors From Scratch
Focal, headquartered in Saint-Étienne, France, was founded in 1979 by Jacques Mahul. The basis of the company was formed in the workshop of a family-run SME (small to medium enterprise) which specialized in precision mechanics. At the time, only Mahul and…
Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” and “Sweet Emotion”: Inside the Songs w/ Jack Douglas
Jack Douglas has worked on so much incredible music over the years! We're back once again to talk to him about producing two Aerosmith smash hits, "Walk This Way" and "Sweet Emotion"! About Jack Douglas Jack got his start in…
TGU19: Recording Drums in a Castle from the 1700s!
As part of Thomann's Gearhead University 2019 in Treppendorf, Germany, we had the incredible opportunity to record drums in a castle which dates back to the 1700s! About the Castle Castle Reichmannsdorf was built in 1714 and is located near…
John Lennon’s “How Do You Sleep?”: Inside the Song w/ Jack Douglas
This week we’re back again 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 at a time while we were doing an…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…