Understanding the importance of signal flow is essential to digital music production. When you're mixing and mastering, the order of your processing will have a significant effect on the sound of your project. Because of this, it's usually best to place your reverb after your EQ in the plugin chain.
Thought that the cassette tape was dead? Sony disagrees. They just released a new cassette tape that can store a record-breaking 180 terabytes of data on a single cartridge. For large archives of digital music, and video files, it may soon the most affordable storage on the market. But don't expect to record with it anytime soon.
If you're ever in a place where you need to cut out some background noise in a track, or have an effect apply only to the louder part of a track, gating is your best bet. Gating allows you to set a dynamic threshold as an on/off switch for an effect. The most popular use of gating is with a noise gate, where everything below a dynamic threshold automatically has a gain of zero. Here's a more in-depth explanation of gating and how you can use it.
For Logic Pro users, there are always new recording, mixing and mastering techniques that can be incorporated to better project workflow. To make the most of Apple's flagship audio software, these three resources are a great way learn those techniques for producers who are only scratching the surface on Logic Pro's potential.
The Roland TR-808 drum machine has one of the most loved and recognizable sounds in popular music. Up until recently you had fork over a lot of cash to get your hands on one of the discontinued models that would provide you with its iconic sound. As an act of wonderful generosity, Trash Audio has released a library of free samples from the 808 that you can download online and drop into your mix in minutes.
Some indie producers have rediscovered cassette as a medium for adding analog color into their mix. While this is, for the most part, not the best way to add warmth to digital recordings, there are some cool effects that can be had by incorporating an cassette deck insert into your workflow.
One of the ways the music production world is most rapidly changing is through the proliferation of incredibly powerful and beautiful sample libraries. There's no place this change is more felt than with orchestras, where even the most expensive sample libraries pale in cost comparison to that of recording with live musicians. Here are some more of the best orchestral sample libraries you should check out.
Jack White has set a new world record for fastest record, from studio to store, ever made. In another unconventional release from Third Man records, a live version of the title track "Lazaretto" from White's new album was recorded, mixed, mastered, printed to vinyl 45s, and sold in less than four hours.
One of the biggest money-saving technologies of the modern digital recording age is the use of high end instrument samples. Whereas traditional composers would have been prohibited to produce music within a budget of who they can afford to hire and record, now an entire orchestral track of music can be produced with samples costing less than a one hour recording session with a live group of musicians. Here are some of the best orchestral sample libraries available.
As yet another step in the world of accessibility in home recording, the UK's National Philharmonia Orchestra has made thousands of recorded instrument samples of their orchestra available for free online. Each instrument in the standard orchestra, along with multiple percussion patches, can be downloaded directly from their website.
If you self-publish your music, you may want to consider making your own album art. Creating it isn't as difficult as it seems. By following these three tips you can produce a professional looking cover for your music on your own.
One of the lesser known, but powerful, mixing and mastering tools is sidechaining. Sidechaining allows you to use the audio from an auxiliary track to trigger an effect. In other words, it allows you to pinpoint elements of your mix, and how they relate to each other, much more specifically. Here's an overview of sidechaining and how it can be used.
Following up on our last post on the basic technical rules of vocal recording, here are three basics for getting the best performance from your singer. A better performance makes for a better recording and, ultimately, a better mix and master. Stick to these principles and you'll be on the right track to getting a great sound.
While there are endless ways to record vocals, it's actually not that tricky to get a good, clean recording from a singer. Here are three basic tips for recording vocals that are easy and will almost always get you a great sound.
Professional publications are a great way to keep up with the latest news and get tips on your recording, mixing and mastering. You can glean a lot of understanding from reading interviews of producers and in-depth gear reviews. These three magazines are a great place to start if you want to develop your craft and keep up with the rapidly-changing music business.
