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Recording Advice

Transient Shapers for An Explosive Drum Sound

While all elements in a recording conjure up to create a great sounding track, drums are a particularly important instrument for non lo-fi, punchy rock music, which requires particularly explosive kicks, snares and toms. Great drummers playing great drums in great sounding rooms, and vintage compressors like the UREI 1176…Click on the title for more

Transient Shapers for An Explosive Drum Sound

Recording Tips: Acoustic Guitar as a Resonant Microphone

To make the music production process more creative and interesting, it's always good to try and record your tracks in ways that are not entirely ordinary. One way to add a new, intriguing layer to any loud instruments (like amped electric guitars or drums or even horns) is to use…Click on the title for more

Recording Tips: Acoustic Guitar as a Resonant Microphone

DIY recording tips: Micing The Snare

No other drum sound conveys as much character to a rock song as the snare (although the kick is a close second). Recording a snare drum is not hard, but getting the right sound is a challenge that might take longer than expected. Here are some tips that can help…Click on the title for more

DIY recording tips: Micing The Snare

Recording Tips: Fixing Proximity Effects, Sibilance and Plosives when recording vocals

Slow, sparse songs allow the vocals to become the central focus of the recording, and that’s when the choice of microphone and mic preamp can make a big difference. Not many can afford a Neumann U47 (pictured) through a Neve channel, but even with a limited microphone/preamp arsenal, a lot…Click on the title for more

Recording Tips: Fixing Proximity Effects, Sibilance and Plosives when recording vocals

Secrets of Mixing: Resolving Midrange Conflicts

When people ask me what the secret of mixing is, I answer: “Use as few (well recorded) tracks playing at once as possible, and you are golden.” Yes, because mixing is a job that gets exponentially more difficult the more tracks you are dealing with. This is due to the…Click on the title for more

Secrets of Mixing: Resolving Midrange Conflicts

Production Tips: Recording the banjo

The banjo - this bizarre mutation of a guitar and a snare drum - can be a difficult instrument to record. The main challenge is to find a balance between the very attacky but thumpy sound audible near the center of the head, and the rest of the instrument’s sonic…Click on the title for more

Production Tips: Recording the banjo

Bands in the Studio: Recording Parquet Courts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPpihD340yE Jonathan Schenke's Gear: Deltalab Effectron "We have an AMS DMX Delay that is incredible... it’s the Martin Hannett/Joy Division delay, and completely unlike anything else I’ve heard." Jonathan Schenke, sound engineer and music lover, recorded the debut album of Brooklyn indie rock buzz band Parquet Courts, entitled 'Light Up Gold'…Click on the title for more

Bands in the Studio: Recording Parquet Courts

Bedroom Monitoring Basics

DIY musicians, who choose NOT to work on their music exclusively in the headphones, often make easily addressable mistakes when setting up their recording equipment: The most common blunder that I see in DIY project studios is monitors placed on a table and facing the recorder’s nipples (or belly). Near…Click on the title for more

Bedroom Monitoring Basics

Recording Drums: Tips and Tricks

We asked 3 top NYC producers to share their opinions about performing and recording drums in the studio - you can find their precious advice here.Click on the title for more

Recording Drums: Tips and Tricks

Improve Your Recordings: Drums Tips and Secrets

There are a gazillion articles out there about how to record drums, but I’ve always thought that the best possible advice in this regard is not how to record but… what to record. Yes, mic positioning is challenging when recording a drum kit, but even the most sophisticated and flawless…Click on the title for more

Improve Your Recordings: Drums Tips and Secrets

A History of Audio Plug Ins: Invasion of the “Sound Snatchers”

Do you remember the movie “The Crow”? The one where Brandon Lee, after dying (for real) while the film was being shot, was replaced by a computer generated, perfectly realistic image of himself? Something similar happened in the recording field, where old stars of that scene like valves, tape machines,…Click on the title for more

A History of Audio Plug Ins: Invasion of the “Sound Snatchers”

Slide Guitar Tone Secrets: Pick the Right Material

When playing slide guitar, different materials used on your strings will create slightly different tones. If you are after a smooth slide with long, clean sustain, you should try a cut-off bottleneck, which was Ry Cooder’s choice. If you are aiming at something less atmospheric and with more “bite,” go…Click on the title for more

Slide Guitar Tone Secrets: Pick the Right Material