In The Studio: How To Charge For Your Time
A look at the pros and cons of several alternatives for engineers, producers and musicians... Read More
Study Hall posts in Recording
In The Studio: Explaining The Sound Of Guitar Speakers
Most guitar players are blissfully unaware of the details of the speakers they’re playing through. Sure, they may know what size the speakers are and how many are in the cabinet, but other than that, they have no idea… Read More
RE/P Files: Studio Design And Construction
From the archives of the late, great Recording Engineer/Producer (RE/P) magazine comes a wealth of knowledge on live-end/dead-end acoustics which first appeared in the June 1982 issue. Read More
Capturing Great-Sounding Drums Using Only Four Tracks
Here’s a simple, common-sense method to record a great-sounding drum kit on only four tracks. I’ve always been a follower of the less-is-more philosophy, and this kit technique goes all the way back to my analog 4-/8-/12-track days when track… Read More
Artificially Flavored Audio
As a large human, you can rest assured that I know a few things about food. Following a similar train of thought, after more than twenty years in professional audio, I know a little about sound. I guess my ears… Read More
The Grand Mother
Ask 100 sound engineers how to mike a piano and you’ll get 99 ideas. The piano is the Mother of Musical Creation, the heart of most musical genres and every singer’s lover, yet in live sound it’s often replaced by… Read More
In The Studio: 5 Mistakes Beginning Mix Engineers Make
Starting out as a mix engineer can be daunting, and the road to success for graduates of recording schools and audio engineering educational programs often find that success comes from lots of experience. In order to fast-track you to better… Read More
In The Studio: “Music 101” For Recording Engineers
If you’re a doctor, you can’t operate if you do not know what you should and should not cut. If you’re a mechanic, you can’t repair a car unless you know how the engine parts work together to move the… Read More
Capturing The Energy Of Live Shows
What makes a live recording sound live? The audience, of course. A live recording is all about the energy of the event, and that energy comes from the crowd, so some real thought has to be given as to how… Read More
In The Studio: Condenser Or Dynamic For Vocals? The Cases For Both
Whether it’s a documentary on your favorite band, a movie scene in a recording studio, or a full-page ad in Sweetwater‘s latest catalog, one common theme exists: vocalists use large-diaphragm condenser microphones. I’m not a big fan of the phrase… Read More
In The Studio: Stereo Microphone Techniques
One of the most popular specialized microphone techniques is stereo miking. The use of two or more microphones to create a stereo image will often give depth and spatial placement to an instrument or overall recording. There are a number… Read More
A Mastering Engineer’s View On A Quality Mix
Who is really responsible for a fantastic sounding master? Mixing is justifiably a bigger subject than mastering and would easily fill a book or two by itself. For that reason, rather than give a tutorial on mixing, I am simply… Read More