Studio Sense
Rediscovering My “Flying Fingers”
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...
Studio Sense
Studio Sense
Five Tracking Solutions (in order of importance)
If an ounce of prevention is preferred over a pound of cure, then it begs the question, “How do we prevent tracking sessions from...
Blog
Building Dangerland, Part 4: Studio Construction—Almost There
Still lacking lighting, furniture, etc., I configured a temporary setup with gear stacked on folding tables and old cases and, while it looks a...
Blog
Building Dangerland, Part 3: Digging In—Floating My Control Room
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...
Studio Sense
Recording Guitars With Neil Dorfsman: On Mics & Phase Alignment
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...
Blog
Building Dangerland, Part 2: Mixing In A Jail Cell
If someone had told me that I would agree to spending the next six months of my studio life working out of an 8'...
Blog
Building Dangerland, Part 1: Leaving The Carport
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...
Studio Sense
Bizarro World
No matter your political persuasion, you must admit that the recent election cycle has been crazy and has taken some sort of toll...
Studio Sense
Samsung/Harman Deal: Good News for Android in Pro Audio?
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...
Studio Sense
Scam Alert!
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,...
Studio Sense
Dear American High School Student
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...
Studio Sense
Headphone Freakout Solutions
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...
Studio Sense
Audio For President
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...
Studio Sense
LDCs, IFBs, Jimmie Johnson and the Pursuit of Excellence
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...
Studio Sense
Cutting The Clutter: My Year-Long Rig Reduction Regime
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...
Studio Sense
In-Ear Monitors vs. Things In Your Ears
For years I have regretted my pierced tragus. The tragus is that little flap of skin that covers the opening in to your ear...
Studio Sense
The Care and Feeding of Songwriters: Why “Art for Art’s Sake” Could Have An Unfortunate Future
In a recent Decibel Geek podcast, superstar pop songwriter Desmond Child (whose songs are on well over 300 million albums sold) shared some stats...
Studio Sense
CCM and Indie Rock: Mainstream Media Reports
Here's two recent and insightful articles on our industry as reported by mainstream outlets. Each is illustrative of the current music production...
Studio Sense
Review Previews: First Impressions with ADAM and Sennheiser
In my job as Reviews Editor, I listen to a lot of different studio monitoring systems in my workspace. When this ADAM AX...
Studio Sense
PAR Advice: An affordable mic for singer/songwriters
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...
Studio Sense
Reviewing Monoprice
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...
Studio Sense
Touchscreen Mixing Looks Good In Print
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...
Studio Sense
There’s More: Touchscreen Mixing Arrives
Additional insights and observations shared by some of the interviewees in the Pro Sound News March, 2015 cover story, "Touchscreen Mixing Arrives."
Studio Sense
RadioShack Goes The Way of American Leisure
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...
Studio Sense
Android Meets Pro Audio At NAMM 2015
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,...
Studio Sense
PAR for the Course: First Impressions on the Mackie DL32R
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.
Studio Sense
Studio Sense: Pro Audio Review – The Future Is Now!
PAR has recently launched “PAR-Tube,” our new video initiative that commences our move into the future. The digital revolution has just begun...
Studio Sense
It Takes Two Kinds
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,...
Studio Sense
Tubes = Tone: Is It Time For Some Guitar Amp TLC?
Attention recording engineers: Are you looking to inspire guitarists and capture noteworthy tones?
Studio Sense
Final Master Delivery for Our Post-Physical Media World
"Today I delivered 26 files, spread across six discs (or folders), to my client for their four song project. Hmm, I remember when that...
Studio Sense
The Art (and the Risk) of the Rough
Admittedly, the beginning of a recording project is the best part; all the optimism, all the teamwork, and all the focus on the big...
Studio Sense
Music Production Biz in ’12
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...
Studio Sense
Positively On Location
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...
Studio Sense
2012 Sounds Good To Me!
The good news is that the economy is likely going to be slightly better off in 2012. Barring some unlikely lack of cooperation by...
Studio Sense
The AKG C214: It’s Not Simply 200 Less (Rather It’s Something Entirely Different)
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...
Studio Sense
Top Ten Things I Gave Thanks For This Thanksgiving
In no particular order … Pitch correction: Whether AutoTune or the powerful pitch corrector in my preferred Digital Performer DAW, I’d rather highlight and...
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