Production
Sonarworks Launches Multichannel Speaker Calibration Software
Audient Announces EVO 16
The Ultimate Background Vocal Production Guide
Mixing Modern Rock with Marc Daniel Nelson
How to Be in Phase Every Time
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…
Understanding Texture in Music (And How to Utilize It in a Mix)
When we hear the word “texture,” we tend to picture visual or tactile mediums. Paintings and photographs can vividly capture a sense of texture, as can sculptures, architecture, and things naturally occurring in nature. But what about texture in music?…
Using Polyrhythms to Create More Interesting Mixes
Introducing polyrhythm is one way to make your productions more interesting. It doesn’t have to be overly complex to stand out and take your music to the next level! Polyrhythm vs. Polymeter: What’s the Difference? Both share a prefix, but…
The Ultimate List of Free Pro Tools Plugins 2022
If you’re looking for third-party plugins to expand your growing collection, look no further than The Ultimate List of Free Pro Tools plugins. Whether you need a Pultec-style EQ or a trigger gate for electronic music stutter effects, this list…
Best Resources for Drum Loops in 2022
Drum loops are a quick and easy way to set up the foundation of a song. We’re lucky to have so many ways to chop up loops and samples, so they can actually become an integral part of any production…
The 14 Best Drum VSTs for Any Budget [2022 Guide]
The best drum VSTs we’ve gathered run the gamut between $89 all the way up to $700! Thankfully, this means there’s a variety of choices to suit any budget. Of course, there are free options as well so you can…
The Best Pitch Shifter VSTs in 2022 [Free & Paid]
A pitch shifter is a versatile tool for both fine pitch correction as well as heavy-handed effects. Auto-Tune is one of the most well known pitch shifters in history; it’s also a perfect example of how correction can be subtle…
The 13 Best DAWs for Windows [2022 Complete Guide]
Most of today’s DAWs are cross-platform, making it easy to choose if you’re running PC. Some titles are Mac-only, like Apple’s own Logic Pro, but for the most part options won’t be limited if you’ve chosen Windows as your primary…
21 Best FREE VST in 2022 [with Links!]
Steinberg developed Virtual Studio Technology in 1996 to bring synthesizers and effects into digital audio workstations. It’s a plugin format that numerous major DAWs host, like Ableton, Logic, FL Studio, Digital Performer, and Reaper, amongst others. VST instruments are a…
8 Best Orchestral VST For Any Budget (2022)
You might be surprised how often software instruments make it into final productions. Plenty of TV shows and small-budget films infrequently use live orchestras for their scores anymore, simply because the cost and time demand is too great. The same…
The 9 Best Rhodes VSTs [Free & Paid]
The Rhodes electric piano was an incredibly popular instrument throughout the ’60s and ’70s. Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek was one of the first prominent musicians to start playing the Rhodes, picking up one of the earliest models in 1965. Its…
11 Best Orchestral Strings VST in 2022
Using string samples instead of real ones offers a lot of obvious advantages for the average home producer or songwriter. Just from a logistical standpoint, booking studio time and hiring musicians is costly and time consuming. But with samples, you…
How to Use Arpeggiators: 5 Tips to Instantly Enhance Melody & Rhythm
An arpeggiator is a common synthesizer feature. It’s an easy way to quickly add interest and movement to a chord progression. We’ll explore what an arpeggiator is, as well as offer some tips on using them in your own music!…
The Best Chord Generator VST [Free and Paid]
A great chord progression is one of many factors that contributes to a quality piece of music. It forms a template, or the backbone, from which the rest of the song can be built. But finding chords that go together…
Loopcloud 6.0 Review: Changing the Way You Produce Music
Electronic music production has exploded over the past several years. More than ever before, non-instrumentalists are getting into music-making using just their laptops, DAW, and a selection of royalty-free samples. Loopcloud is a provider of over 4 million loops and…
The Top 5 Most Common Drum Programming Mistakes
Drum samples and plugins have gotten so good that it’s never been a better time for realistic drum programming. As a matter of fact, it’s totally viable for solo artists to release projects with convincing programmed drums. But even with…
Top Drum Software for Realistic Sounding MIDI Drums
Using drum software is one of the quickest and easiest means to lock down your song’s backbone. As a matter of fact, drum software has gotten so good that it isn’t uncommon for solo artists to release finished albums with…
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…
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…
11 Mistakes To Avoid In Music Production
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…
5 EQ Mistakes We Make While Mixing
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,…
Free Audio Editors: Cutting Tracks on the Cheap!
Regardless of the type of audio you’re working with, there’s a good chance you’ll want software to help you mix, edit, or directly record the source. It doesn’t matter whether you’re producing music, podcasts, or audio to sync with video;…
FM Synthesis: The Classic Synthesizer Sound
Lots of classic keyboards like the Yamaha DX7 use FM synthesis to generate sounds. If it seems daunting at first, that’s because FM synthesis really is more complex than other types of synthesis. FM is much more theory-driven, so trying…
Understanding Additive and Subtractive Synthesis
Additive and subtractive synthesis are two of the 4 fundamental ways synthesizers create sounds, next to wavetable and FM. If you plan to get into synths at all, or even just use them occasionally in your work, it’s a good…
Choosing Software Synthesizers for Your Home Studio
If you’re a music producer or songwriter, software synthesizers are your best friend. Not only are they super inexpensive compared to hardware, they sound just as good! Plus, a lot of them come with gigabytes and gigabytes worth of sounds…
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…
Making Music on Your Phone: The Best Apps for Mobile
Musicians’ creativity doesn’t stop when they’re on the road. In a perfect world, we’d all have access to the comfort of our home studios 24/7, churning out music as often as we’d like. But whether you’re a full-time artist/producer or…
The Best Audio Sample Subscription Services
Audio sample subscription services are now more popular than ever. Gone are the days of sorting through samples on expensive disks you had to purchase, only to come up short. The demand for royalty-free libraries grew sharply after the advent…
Studio One Version 5 – What’s New
Since its inception in 2011, PreSonus Studio One has quickly become a go-to Digital Audio Workstation for beginners and pro’s alike. Combining the best parts of each DAW, Studio One offers a Customizable Workflow, incorporating everything you need in one…
Using Silence to Improve Your Productions
We don’t often consider the importance of silence when it comes to our musical productions. It’s easy to get caught up in the sounds we want to add, because that’s what music is all about! But if you use silence itself…
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…
Checking out Eddie Van Halen’s 5150 III with Glenn Fricker
Why I Love Reaper with Glenn Fricker
PhantomFocus System: Studio Tour with Carl Tatz
5 Tips to Get You Creating Music
6 Pre-Mastering Tips with Michael Romanowski & Phonitor 2 Giveaway
6 Vocal Recording Tips
4 Mixing Tricks That Have Nothing to do With Plugins or Hardware
3 Delay Mixing Tricks
3 Vocal Reverb Tips
5 Music Production Tricks For Better Songs
The Ins and Outs of Sound Design
Here at Produce Like a Pro, making music is our top priority! Of course, music production is only one facet of audio engineering. Lest we neglect our sound design friends in the film & television industry, it’s important to familiarize…