The Shure SM57 is the definitive workhorse microphone. It’s ubiquitous across the world, from home project studios to world-renowned places like Sunset Sound. The microphone is rock solid, pragmatic in cost and usage, and highly effective. It’s impossible to miss…
Rock’s Greatest Eruption: How Eddie Van Halen Revolutionized the Guitar
Written by Caitlin Vaughn Carlos “Ed Van Halen is going to change a lot of lives around the world in the next 12 months” - Kim Fowly predicted in Phonograph Record in 1977. Van Halen had only recently been signed…
Rock and Roll on the Dance Floor: Behind the Music of “Let’s Dance”
Written by Caitlin Carlos From his early beginnings as Davy Jones, to his alien persona of Ziggy Stardust, David Bowie had spent much of the sixties and seventies, inventing and reinventing himself. The decade’s end culminated with the critically acclaimed…
The Incredible History of Hollywood’s EastWest Studios
EastWest Studios is one of the world’s premier recording complexes with an amazing history. The facility is located right in the heart of Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard and has been home to some of the most celebrated artists of the…
Engineer/Mixer Chris Fogel: Alanis Morissette’s Groundbreaking ‘Jagged Little Pill’ Turns 25
Chris Fogel is a GRAMMY-winning recording engineer and mixer based in Los Angeles, California. He has had the pleasure of recording and mixing scores and soundtracks for over 170 major motion pictures and television shows, including the Oscar-winning score to Black Panther,…
Testing: 12345 – The TG Console and the Abbey Road Album
Fifty years. It seems like yesterday. Fifty years ago, The Beatles’ Abbey Road was released to the world. One other album would follow, but we’d all learn soon enough that this one was truly their swan song, and one that…
Brian May’s Legendary Red Special – Then and Now
Brian May isn't just the guitarist in one of the most iconic rock bands of all time. Beyond the inimitable music he's created with Queen, May has lived a rich life as an astrophysicist, activist, author, and Victorian stereophotography enthusiast---as…
Michael Romanowski: Grammy-Nominated Mastering Engineer
Michael Romanowski is a Grammy-nominated mastering engineer from the San Francisco Bay Area, currently based in Berkeley. He is the owner and chief mastering engineer of Coast Mastering, as well as the co-founder and co-owner of an exclusive reel-to-reel tape record…
Al Schmitt: The Most Successful Engineer of All Time
Al Schmitt is a recording engineer and and producer. At 88 years old, with a career spanning 7 decades, Schmitt has won 23 Grammy Awards and recorded/produced over 150 gold and platinum albums. Needless to say, he is the most…
Making Microtonal Music is Easier Than You’d Think
Welcome to this Tutorial Tuesdays article by Michael W. Dean, synth player in BipTunia. Author of $30 Music School. PRO TIP: I’d recommend that while you read this article, you listen to this Microtonal Playlist on Spotify. It has…
Legendary Luthiery: Scott Baxendale & the Baxendale Conversion Process
Scott Baxendale is a renowned luthier who began building custom instruments for Mossman Guitars in 1974. By 1978 he had joined the team at Gruhn Guitars in Nashville–one of the most well-known used, vintage, and collectible instrument dealers in the…
Earning royalties as a Producer in 2018 | FAQ Friday
FAQ Friday is our weekly episode where I answer your most frequently asked questions! How do you get your question answered? Leave thought provoking, conversation starting questions or comments on the videos! If you've been wondering about something, ask away!…
Did they high-pass in 1979? | FAQ Friday
FAQ Friday is our weekly episode where I answer your most frequently asked questions! How do you get your question answered? Leave thought provoking, conversation starting questions or comments on the videos! If you've been wondering about something, ask away!…
Audio Recording Through the Ages (This history of audio recording)
Ever wondered how sound technology developed to the advanced heights of today’s digital music production? It’s strange to think about, but less than 200 years ago no sound had been recorded...Ever. The music industry didn’t really exist as the technology…