You are currently browsing the monthly archive for June, 2007.
For a full band mix, restringing your electric guitar probably won’t, by itself, much affect the overall sound of your recording. Especially if the guitar’s a little crunchy. Ditto for changing the snare drum head. Or tweaking the piano’s tuning. But taken together, small changes like these add up, and can really bring a mix […]
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Music sales widgets are the Flash based “mp3 players with built-in music store” we see appearing across the web. SNOCAP is arguably the best known vendor, thanks to high profile deals with EMI and Myspace. But there are at least half a dozen other companies offering similar tools. Why use one of these widgets to […]
Read the full post ...This collection of home recording studio pictures might give you some ideas for your own space. Or cause drool-inducing envy.
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Some recent articles you may have missed: … I daresay most indie artists experience a visceral glee while reading these words in Rolling Stone: Just a few years ago, many [music] industry executives thought their problems could be solved by bigger hits. “There wasn’t anything a good hit couldn’t fix for these guys,” says a […]
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I spend a lot of time, in and out of the studio, with my ears covered, plugged, or otherwise shielded from loud sounds. I do it to protect my hearing, of course, but I wasn’t always as diligent as I am now. The motivation behind my (possible over)use of earplugs was my discovery a few […]
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Double-tracking a vocal is a tried and true technique for adding character to (or covering flaws in) a vocal track. Here are two threads from homerecording.com on doubling vocals: [Thread 1], [Thread 2]: Double tracking really depends on the vocalist being in control of his/her performance. Some people are good at it and some people […]
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Home Studio Bootcamp in this month’s EQ magazine has some great tips on improving your home studio’s acoustics (or at least making the best of the existing sound.) … for the truly broke, a rug on the floor, a bookcase on the wall, or even a strategically placed sofa between the source and the walls […]
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Over the last few months Andrew Dubber, on his site New Music Strategies, has compiled a list of things you must know about music online. He deals with changing realities in the music industry, and the strategies indie labels (though the advice applies to the major labels too) and artists will need to succeed in […]
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Characteristics of Musical Keys: Composers through history have associated various moods and colours with each of the 24 major and minor keys in Western music. From the link “This document contains a selection of information from the Internet about the emotion or mood associated with musical keys. It is not complete nor does it include […]
Read the full post ...I changed the web site to a 3-column layout today, and added a “live preview” feature to the comment form. If you see anything that looks out of place, I’d appreciate a heads-up. You can leave a comment, or email des at hometracked.
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Butch Vig discusses mixing Smells Like Teen Spirit, and Cobain with his “vocal cords … starting to come right out of his throat.”
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Generally it’s best to avoid the use of heavy reverb on bass and kick drum tracks, since the extra reverberant low frequencies can quickly lead to a muddy sound. (Remember: Excessive bass causes amateur sounding tracks.) But when used sparingly, a tight short reverb effect can add body and punch to a dull kick drum. […]
Read the full post ...Some instruments, guitars especially, sound great when double-tracked and separated in the stereo image. Hard-panned electric guitars are a standard in modern rock mixes, and engineers have used the technique on acoustic guitars too for decades. Double-tracking is straightforward: Record a part twice, both takes as similar as possible, and pan one take hard left […]
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