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With the AES Convention in New York City this week, I’m excited to hit the show with the intention of checking out how I’m going to replace my Command 8 now that I’ve rediscovered fader mixing. It will be...
If an ounce of prevention is preferred over a pound of cure, then it begs the question, “How do we prevent tracking sessions from going bad?” Or, more specifically, where should we engineers focus our proactivity to achieve the...
Still lacking lighting, furniture, etc., I configured a temporary setup with gear stacked on folding tables and old cases and, while it looks a bit make-shift, it sounds fantastic. I’m now mixing in Dangerland—yep, the studio is called Dangerland!...
Based on a long list of factors—with cost being at the top of the list, but also including building code restrictions, spouse-imposed limitations (“We’re not building freaking Ocean Way in our backyard!”) and a few other factors, I’ve settled...
Multi-Grammy Award-winning producer, engineer and mixer Neil Dorfsman has worked with the best of the best—Sting, Paul McCartney, Tears For Fears, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Def Leppard and Dire Straits, among others. With that track record, he’s obviously captured...
If someone had told me that I would agree to spending the next six months of my studio life working out of an 8' x 20' Mobile Mini steel trailer with barred windows designed to be a construction site...
Twenty-three years ago, I converted my freestanding two-car garage into a studio. The Carport, as I called it—there was another studio in town called The Garage—became my home-based workspace. I anticipated being there for five to 10 years before...
No matter your political persuasion, you must admit that the recent election cycle has been crazy and has taken some sort of toll on all of us. I know many people, from both sides of the aisle,...
So I’m wondering if a Samsung-owned Harman could finally be the heavyweight catalyst we theorized back in 2014: a pro-audio conglomerate powered by a large-enough force in tablet/smartphone manufacturing to prod Google’s Android core audio engineers to finally make...
If you’re a small pro audio-oriented business owner—studio owner, audio engineer, live sound provider, all of the above—you’ve surely warded off attempted scams, phishing, spoofs and/or hacks in recent times. Anyone who has sold expensive audio equipment via Craigslist...
Audio engineering does provide some challenging and lucrative opportunity, but frankly those positions are under heavy competition. With today’s audio educators doing a fantastic job of providing employers with well-trained and able-minded interns, the modern employer is cherry picking...
As an engineer or producer, you’re surely used to seeing weird looks on the faces of the talent—maybe it’s just looking through the glass?—but sometimes, frankly, it’s almost too much to bear. You’ve been there: You ...
I can no longer sit idly by as this nation’s politics are domineered by outsiders, rogues, technocrats and ideologues. It is obviously clear what this great nation needs and I intend to provide it with my new third party...
For Rob Tavaglione, recording a phone interview with top NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson was a routine audio session—until he heard what the six-time championship cup winner had to say and realized he could apply Johnson's words of racing wisdom...
We audio engineers are notorious for having, collecting and bragging about our rig—our ever-growing and oh-so-precious kit. Producers smile confidently for the camera against a chaotic backdrop of racks, stacks and jacks that somehow indicate the...
For years I have regretted my pierced tragus. The tragus is that little flap of skin that covers the opening in to your ear canal. The actual piercing is remarkably painless (not a lot of nerve endings there). Trying...
In a recent Decibel Geek podcast, superstar pop songwriter Desmond Child (whose songs are on well over 300 million albums sold) shared some stats that echo sentiments bouncing around our industry as of late: Sustainable income as a professional...
Here's two recent and insightful articles on our industry as reported by mainstream outlets. Each is illustrative of the current music production marketplace, including theories as to why current CCM genres and DIY recording trends are...
In my job as Reviews Editor, I listen to a lot of different studio monitoring systems in my workspace. When this ADAM AX Series three-way system arrived for review, I was reminded of how lovely, detailed and...
As it happens from time to time, I get requests for advice from fellow engineers. Sure, there's questions about compressors or methodologies, but the most common is the good ol' “what mic should I buy?” question. ...
If you’re on Facebook and are public about your musical habit, you’ve likely seen ads from Monoprice. They sell their own branded musical instruments—products ranging from band/orchestral to rock band gear and associated portable PA—and, most...
Above the slogan "People who don't have time make time to read the Wall Street Journal" is will.i.am: "producer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and Wall Street Journal reader," among many other titles, accomplishments and accolades. From the photo, some of us...
Additional insights and observations shared by some of the interviewees in the Pro Sound News March, 2015 cover story, "Touchscreen Mixing Arrives."
Personal, not-for-profit projects require blocks of free time—to think, to experiment, to create. And electronic projects—whether one, 150-in-one or literally thousands over a lifetime—require time as well as a ready source of both components and inspiration....
This evening, I’m only one day into NAMM 2015 and I’ve already seen “Android” on literally dozens of manufacturer booths, banners and promotional materials, often mentioned alongside iOS in near-equal billing (though still out of alphabetical order).
From an applications standpoint, the DL32R covers the broadest range of audio tasks in the simplest way of any single product I’ve reviewed, ever.
PAR has recently launched “PAR-Tube,” our new video initiative that commences our move into the future. The digital revolution has just begun and modern life has barely started to change. That change will spell the end...
Surely you've heard the saying, “There are two kinds of people in this world,” as it has been creatively applied to most any discipline, topic or argument one can think of. Does such divisiveness have a place in serious...
Attention recording engineers: Are you looking to inspire guitarists and capture noteworthy tones?
"Today I delivered 26 files, spread across six discs (or folders), to my client for their four song project. Hmm, I remember when that would've been a single 1/4” reel ..."
Admittedly, the beginning of a recording project is the best part; all the optimism, all the teamwork, and all the focus on the big picture is energizing, challenging and fun. Conversely, the end of a recording project is almost always...
A new breed of engineer/hit-maker has emerged, one who tracks drums in a bedroom with questionable results, yet can "expertly" use drum replacement software; that records basses and guitars via DI and virtual "amps" to get their tones, racks and...
Sometimes audio engineering can seem like a pretty lousy job. If you've ever spent days away from sunlight, alone in a small room, dealing with repetitive and mundane tasks (quantizing drums, editing dialogue, tuning giant vocal stacks), then you...
The good news is that the economy is likely going to be slightly better off in 2012. Barring some unlikely lack of cooperation by Europe's super-powers on their debt reform, the US economy is likely looking at about 2.5%...
I know what you're thinking (a la Nigel Tufnel): “Well, it's 200 less, isn't it?” Sure, the C214 offers fewer features than its esteemed older brother, the AKG C414, but the C214 is only $649 list, which is more like...
In no particular order … Pitch correction: Whether AutoTune or the powerful pitch corrector in my preferred Digital Performer DAW, I’d rather highlight and drag a few (OK, a bunch) of notes around and then iron out the wrinkles,...