People who are brand new to recording should ask the fundamental question, “What is a preamp?” They’re an indispensable, utilitarian part of the recording chain, though preamps can be colorful creative tools as well. If you’ve ever wondered what a…
Recording
The Best Mobile Music Production Apps in 2021
Musicians’ creativity doesn’t come to a halt when they’re on the road. In a perfect world, we’d all have access to the comfort of our home studios 24/7, efficiently churning out music as often as we’d like. But whether you’re…
The Best USB Audio Interfaces For $100 or Less in 2021
Some time ago, we took a look at the best USB audio interfaces for home studios on a budget. The idea behind the list was to compile some of most tried-and-true interfaces for the home recorder likely needing no more…
11 Best DAWs for Mac in 2021
Most major DAWs are cross-platform, meaning your options aren’t limited by the type of computer you’re running. This is great because it evens the playing field whether you’re comfortable on Windows or Mac operating systems. Apple users do have a…
Best Mic for Rap Vocals $1000 & Under
Access to the best microphone in your price range is paramount for recording rap vocals. They’re the #1 thing that has to sound great; we can forgive a beat ripped from YouTube if the vocals sound crisp and professional. Even…
How to Record Bass Guitar at Home
Believe it or not, bass is one of the easier instruments to record at home. There are at least several different approaches, most of which are light on fancy equipment and low on volume levels. Win-win! If you want to…
How to Record Drums at Home in 5 Easy Steps
Usually the biggest challenge recording at home is the drum kit. There are so many straightforward ways to capture other instruments that sound great—but there isn’t much flexibility with acoustic drums. First you need the space, which is a challenge…
The Best Cheap DIY Vocal Booth Options
The key to getting better sounding vocal takes at home is a DIY vocal booth. Believe it or not, it doesn’t have to be terribly fancy, and it especially doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. If your vocal…
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 12 Best Microphone Preamps for Every Budget in 2021
Microphone preamps are the next devices in the signal path right after the mic. We need preamps to amplify mic signals to line level, which is the standard operating level of recording equipment. Even when going direct with higher output…
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…
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…
Using MIDI Controllers to Play Virtual Instruments
MIDI controllers are keyboards that let you play virtual instruments and transmit MIDI information to your DAW for recording. Most of the time they connect to your computer via USB for easy integration and very little set-up. They’re about as…
Step Sequencing: What It Is and How to Use It
Step sequencing is a MIDI-based tool that divides a measure of music into a pre-determined number of note values called “steps.” Each step laid out in the software can then trigger notes and other MIDI information you supply it. Like most…
A Starter’s Guide to Recording Voice-Overs
There are tons of different reasons why you might want to get into recording voice-overs. We sometimes associate VO recording with film or TV post-production, in a process called “automated dialogue replacement” (ADR)—but in the grand scheme of things, that’s…
ORTF Mic Technique | Stereo Recording
ORTF is a common stereo mic technique. Stereo recording uses two microphones to capture a single sound source; each mic then gets panned to either side of the stereo field. Over the years, engineers have developed tried and true methods…
What Does a Pop Filter Do? Recording Vocals
(Alisa Apps Featured in Photo) A pop filter is a simple mesh shield we place in front of a microphone. Typically made of nylon or metal, they clamp to a mic stand with an adjustable gooseneck. For most close-miked vocal…
Recording Drums with One Microphone: Techniques
Believe it or not, you can totally get away with recording drums with one microphone! Even though we’re accustomed to close miking each piece of the kit in order to get the biggest, punchiest sound we can, that isn’t always…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Gain Staging for Modern Recording
A gain stage is any point in the audio signal path where we can adjust the overall level of a track. For instance, this could be with a fader or with the output controls of plugins like compressors and EQs.…
Home Recording Studio Setup Basics
Everyone’s home recording studio setup varies a little bit. Much of it is dependent on room size, budget, and what you plan to do with it. In a lot of cases, a laptop, audio interface, and a set of headphones…
Best Cheap Microphones for Any Instrument in 2021
Mics are some of the most diverse pieces of gear we can own as recording engineers and producers. Some are super versatile and sound great on lots of different sources, and others are a bit more purpose-built. As you look…
The Best DAW for Beginners is Whichever You Choose!
When you’re new to home recording and mixing, one of the biggest questions you probably have is which DAW is the right choice. There really isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to that question. What matters most is choosing the DAW that…
Audio Signal Flow: The Ins and Outs
Understanding signal flow is one of the most fundamental skills an engineer can have. Knowing your stuff can help you save a ton of headache troubleshooting when you could be recording and mixing! What is signal flow? Very simply, signal…
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…
The Best Vocal Mics for Under $500
For most of us putting together a home or project studio, cost dictates the gear we choose. In a perfect world we’d all have a locker full of $3000+ vocal mics, but that’s wildly impractical for the average bedroom engineer’s…
Free DAWs: The Best Available in 2021
We’re in 2021, which means making music doesn’t have to be an expensive proposition. There are so many fantastic ways to produce music on a shoestring with the only prerequisite being a capable computer. We’ll examine some of the top…
Recording a Chamber Orchestra with Brent Fischer & Matt Brownlie! (FREE MULTITRACKS!)
Today, we are at Fever Studio in North Hollywood, with the wonderful Brent Fischer and Matt Brownlie, and they are going to show us how they record an orchestra. We get asked a lot about strings and brass and orchestral…
Recording Huge Drums with 4 Mics: The Glyn Johns Method
The famed Glyn Johns Method get its name from the man himself — an exceptional producer/engineer who’s worked with legendary artists like Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, the Beatles (Get Back sessions), The Who, Eagles, Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt, the Band, Eric…
Should You Record an EP or Full-Length Album?
This is an interesting question, because it seems an increasing trend for independent artists — especially those recording at home or on tight budgets — is to make an EP rather than an LP. There are some obvious and some…
Preparing Your Band Record an EP Efficiently
Getting ready to record an EP is a bit easier than a full-length album from a logistics standpoint. Obviously, EPs are less material than full-lengths. They usually range anywhere from about 3 to 7 songs. Instead of trying to bulk out…
The Complete Starter Guide to FL Studio 20
FL Studio is a standout software choice for electronic and hip hop producers. Its workflow is one of the most unique out there, really lending itself to making beats quickly with its excellent step sequencer, piano roll, and sample manipulating…
Digital Audio Basics: Aliasing Explained
If you record audio using too low a sample rate, a kind of sampling error called aliasing can occur. With regards to audio, aliasing is defined as the misidentification of a signal frequency, which can introduce distortion or other artifacts…
Free Drum Samples for Your Collection
Drum samples are incredibly useful in a number of ways. Firstly, they can be one of the quickest and easiest means to lock down your song’s backbone by programming grooves using a drum VST or your DAW’s built-in sampler. Even…
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…
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 Fray “How to Save a Life” In Depth Drum Recording Breakdown
In today's video we will be going through a breakdown of the drum recording for The Fray's "How to Save a Life"! This is a very exciting song for me. When I worked on this song many years ago now,…
This $129 Interface Sets Gain On Its Own?! | Audient EVO 4 Demo
We've talked quite a bit about Audient's brand new EVO 4 over the past few days, and now we are going to be putting it to the test. Today, we will be recording singer/songwriter Katie Ferrara using the EVO 4!…
Recording Live to Vinyl with Reid Shippen & Pete Lyman
While we were in Nashville recently, we had the pleasure of capturing Reid Shippen and Pete Lyman recording an artist live to disc. The artist literally was playing in the other room, while Reid mixed the track and it was sent…
Recording Drums at Blackbird Studios
As you know we recently had a Masterclass in Nashville, TN at Blackbird Studios! While we were there we had the wonderful Nate Onstott with us and we tracked with two completely different drum setups in studio A! - The…
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…
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…
Recording Drums & Grand Piano at Hansa Studios WITH LEWITT
As you know we were recently at Hansa Studios in Berlin. If you haven’t seen the Hansa Studio tour yet you can watch it here: The World Famous Hansa Studios in Berlin (Studio Tour) As I'm sure you’re all aware,…
Recording Drums at Sunset Sound Studio 1
The legendary Sunset Sound is a world famous studio where some of the most iconic albums of all time have been recorded. These include Prince’s Purple Rain, the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St., the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Linda…
Audio Gain, Volume, & Gain Staging
Many of us have wondered if there’s a technical difference between audio gain and volume. The answer is “yes,” even though the terms sometimes seem to be used interchangeably. The most important distinction between gain and volume is how, or…
Home Studio Ideas: Essential Equipment & Considerations
For aspiring musicians, engineers, and producers, the home studio space is a prerequisite. It’s where you’ll spend countless hours writing songs, recording, mixing, and tinkering! Today, the home recording set-up doesn’t have to cost a fortune—there are many affordable ways…