“…things have changed and it might be very beneficial for you to look at the options that are available now. You really can create a pro level recording at home on your computer…”
– Stewart Meredith, Engineer/Session Musician
While the acoustic guitar remains one of the most simple instruments by design, it also remains one of the hardest to get a great sound on in the studio. It's really not brain surgery, but knowing some of the basic laws of physics doesn't hurt. Unfortunately, I skipped school that day and didn't … Read More
I usually wait until the deadline draws near before I write this column. But, I just flipped the page on my daily desk calendar and was inspired to write it now by what I saw: "Keep your mind focused on what you want and act accordingly. You will achieve success." Words to live by. As a matter of … Read More
I'm always amazed by how many people working in home studios think you need a $750,000 console, a 48-track digital machine, an arsenal of $2,000 microphones, and tons of outboard gear to make your tapes sound "professional." It's just not true. What you need is some basic knowledge about the … Read More
Welcome to the third installment of the Virtual Studio! In the first two issues we covered the hardware needed to put together a PC based studio. What I'm going to get into now is the software side of the equation. There is so much software out now that deals with recording and/or editing that … Read More
Welcome to the first installment of my column on setting up and getting the most out of a home recording studio. We've left the world of tape machines and mixing consoles behind and put the entire studio inside an ordinary computer. My goal for this little slice of cyberspace is to provide, on … Read More
This is the Sixth instalment of the Virtual Studio and as I mentioned last time I'm going to go into detail about a couple aspects that are specific to digital recording. How the digital domain changes our use of EQ and compression. This is something I have heard very little discussion about and … Read More
The voice is the signature of a band. The songs will change, the musical style may even vary, but: They know the band by the singer's sound. That's not to say there aren't other instruments that can have their own signature sounds in a band. That will make the group even stronger. But the majority … Read More
Welcome once again to the Virtual Studio. This is the fourth instalment in the series and I'm going to back up just a bit to cover a few items in more detail. We discussed soundcards previously and based on some of the email I've received there are a couple points I would like to make as well as … Read More
Most people think mixing is complicated. It's really not. Most pros (myself included) like the fact that there's an air of mystery surrounding what we do. It makes us look smarter. It also allows us to charge more money. But, let's face it. It's not rocket science. It's really just the … Read More
Getting a record deal gets harder every year. The days of record impresarios like Phil Spector discovering a group, taking them into the studio and making them famous overnight are long gone. These days, the music business is sometimes more about the business than it is about the music. … Read More