You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January, 2007.
[updated 06/06 per poorsod’s comment below] Mike at Garagespin brought my attention this morning to Lightspeed Audio, a company promising real-time internet musical collaboration. Lightspeed claims: “[Our] media collaboration technology platform allows musical enthusiasts to create digital-quality audio over the Internet in real-time.” Their technology, as described (it’s not available yet,) differs from existing offerings […]
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Here’s a tutorial on grabbing your own samples, and building a beat in Acid:
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It’s Vista Launch Day, and Create Digital Music has the shortlist of music software with full Vista compatibility. I certainly would not make Vista my primary system at this point, but a dual-boot might be very feasible (and will probably remain the best option for some time). We’ll track compatibility here; I expect to have […]
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You could spend $1000 having Bob Katz master your CD, or you could save a few bucks, like Ry Cooder did, and simply entrust the job to iTunes: Then Mr. Cooder noticed something else: When he burned a copy of the album using Apple’s iTunes software, it sounded fine. He didn’t know why until one […]
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Mix Magazine’s Classic Tracks looks at Phil Collins, and the recording of Face Value: The famous drum fill, Collins contends, could have been anything. What is on the record is what came out at the moment. “When people talk about the ‘Phil Collins drum sound,’ that is actually a huge variety of drum sounds,†Collins […]
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Some quick tips, for recording on a Saturday night: Monitor through different sources while mixing and mastering: As you work, periodically check your mixes through near-field monitors, HiFi speakers, computer speakers, headphones, even an old boom box if you have one. As the mix nears completion, you’ll be much more confident that your work sounds […]
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How does one capture that transparent acoustic guitar sound? I like to record steel stringed acoustic guitars with two mics, one aimed at the bridge and one aimed towards the neck, just about where the neck meets the body. The mic aimed at the bridge will get the bright stuff and the one aimed at […]
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Toys for making noise While the U.S. recording industry continues to slide under pressure from illegal downloaders and file-sharers, the other side of the music world — businesses catering to those who create the music — has nearly doubled over the last decade to become a $7.5-billion industry. Indies aim to grab share of online […]
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Self-recording artists often focus mainly on the instruments in a mix, and pray the vocals will somehow take care of themselves. This is understandable, as many of us started our learning on guitar and keyboard, so it’s these instruments we’re most comfortable mixing. For a guitar player, vocals are sometimes a necessary evil, rather than […]
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Make your own paper CD holders. Advice from Diskfaktory on hassle-Free CD Pressing. Some short thoughts on duplicating and distributing your CD.
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It’s been quiet around Hometracked for a few days. Was I at the Winter NAMM show? Well, no. But lots of people were. And while I like to focus here on technique and tips, it’s hard to completely ignore the importance of technology in the lives of home recordists. So, for those who aren’t yet […]
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Recording violin and fiddle is both art and science: In almost every situation, I would be at LEAST 4 feet further away with the mic than in those pictures. the harshness comes from the fact that the instrument was never designed to be heard from that close. Do you need your ears cleaned? An audiologist […]
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While it’s sometimes considered bad practice, there’s no reason you can’t serve as your own mastering engineer. This article from Music Tech Magazine covers (in flashy detail) everything you need to know about mastering your own material: One of the reasons people take their music to professional mastering engineers is that they bring a ‘fresh […]
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Here’s a short video showing how to layer in Reason for fatter drum tones. Of course, you can accomplish the same thing in any DAW, if you use midi-triggered drums, by duplicating the midi track and sending each copy of the track through a different drum synth.
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Basements Become Recording Studios But advances in computer equipment have made it easier to set up a high-quality music studio with a relatively small budget — for teenagers with a couple of guitars and a drum set as well as entrepreneurs with professional aspirations. World’s first 1 terabyte drive Hitachi’s storage division has unveiled what […]
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Vocal recording and effects chains include, depending on the performance, a de-esser, a noise gate, an equalizer, and a compressor. Frequently, engineers also add effects like chorus, delay, tape saturation (unless recording to tape, of course,) and reverb, to enhance the sound. In a pro studio, most of this treatment is handled by expensive hardware […]
Read the full post ...From Revolution Audio, 5 ways to speed up your work. Tips on improving your efficiency without upgrading your hardware. [A] disorganized studio is no help to anyone… The first key to organization: making a space for everything. Do you have a place to hang your mic cords? Do you store your mics and stands when […]
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Brandon at RecordingReview.com has developed the Home Recording Soundcard Wizard, “the easiest way to find a soundcard that is right for you.” As a newbie, it’s tough to get straight answers as to what you really need. You have to do a month of research just to figure out what you need to research. Well […]
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This thread on homerecording.com has some good advice on finding inspiration to finish writing a song. I think you’re stuck on a mental fixation. Perhaps the anxiety of creating a good song is getting in your way. The difference between a veteran songwriter and begining songwriter is that the veteran has developed his own system […]
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Lars Ulrich & crew discuss some of the techniques used when tracking his drums on Metallica (i.e. The Black Album) The secret to Lars’ sound? Cut’n’paste … and plywood.
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Here are detailed instructions for building your own plate reverb: Typically, the plate is a large sheet of steel suspended in a tubular steel frame. In theory, the plate simulates a large concert hall, or church, with a decay time of approximately five seconds at approximately 500 Hz. A driver attached to the plate excites […]
Read the full post ...Music biz hopes to profit from consumer content Rather than just suing YouTube and its ilk for how their sites are used, the music industry can now profit from them, not to mention reap the promotional benefits. Musical mash-ups, once fought by record labels, are going mainstream Some record companies are moving from suing mash-up […]
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Equalizers are mysterious beasts for beginners. And the advice most commonly offered, “try different things” and “use your ears,” is meaningless when you don’t know what you should be trying, and what your ears should be hearing. John Vestman’s EQ Settings That Will Make Your Mixes Come Alive has just those types of getting-started tips. […]
Read the full post ...Digidesign (makers of Pro Tools software) published an extended special on recording vocals in 2004. The series focuses on using Pro Tools to produce polished vocal tracks, but 2 of the articles deal with plugin effects, and the techniques are much more generally applicable. You can use the advice from these articles with any DAW […]
Read the full post ...Bob Lefsetz has compiled his predictions for the music industry in 2007, covering ground from Rhapsody, to Bono, to the future of the Grammys Sometime in the next twelve to eighteen months CD sales are going to decline so precipitously as to cause the major labels to rethink their digital strategy. With the iTunes Store […]
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