Studio & Recording

If you have an audio interface of your own, or you’ve taken a look through our hefty selection of external audio interfaces, you’ve probably come across the term, ‘direct monitoring’. This mysterious function is actually pretty useful and can be enabled while you’re making recordings using DAW software. While recording, you can use direct monitoring to hear yourself using a connected set of headphones without being bothered by latency (so a delay between what you play or sing, and what you hear back as it’s being recorded). In this blog, I’ll explain how this works and what kind of direct monitoring is possible.

Effects: what’s out there and what do they actually do to sound? There’s a lot of ‘em, so if you’re already struggling to see the woods for the trees (or the other way around), then put the kettle on and make yourself comfy while we give you a glimpse of what’s possible. In this introductory blog, we’re poking our heads into the magical realm of reverb. Sprinkle it over your project to conjure atmosphere or completely submerge your track so it sounds like it’s calling to you from another world.

If you’re nothing but a humble mortal, it’s best not to even touch the mastering process. While this is a wide belief, is it actually a myth? The potential offered by most DAWs and a host of plug-ins certainly makes a DIY mastering job much easier, so why not give it a go? These 5 tips will not only ease your first few unsteady mastering steps but give you better results.

As an artist, you naturally want to share your music with the entire world, and platforms like YouTube, Facebook and even Instagram prove that you can interest and appeal to countless music fans. In this blog, you can find out just how much it costs to produce a music video, as guest-blogger and singer-songwriter Kevin explains that no budget is too small.

Whether you’re a singer-songwriter, keyboard player in a band, composer, or sound technician, sooner or later you might want to record the sound of a genuine acoustic piano. And I’m not talking about any pre-recorded Steinway or Yamaha C7 samples either, because no matter how good these sound, it wouldn’t be your own unique sound. So how do you record a piano, which microphones do you need and where do you even put them? Read on to find the answers to these questions and more!

The range of effects you could use in a studio are pretty much unlimited, but there are a couple that are genuinely essential. Compression is one of these effects, whether it’s software-based compression or a hefty chunk of ‘real’ hardware. But what exactly is compression? And how do you actually use it? This blog will try to answer these questions and more.

If you love making music and you’d like to record your sound on a budget that doesn’t allow for a top-notch audio interface, high-quality microphone and other professional bits of gear, I’ve got great news for you: making recordings doesn’t have to cost beginners a small fortune. In this blog, you can learn how to record audio to your computer, smartphone or tablet on the cheap!

An electronic drum kit is the ideal tool for almost every drummer: no more heated arguments with the neighbours about the noise; practically all the sounds you could wish for and you can practice whenever you want. But let me remind you that you can do much more than simply hone your drumming here, as digital drums are also a great recording tool. As a matter of fact, ease of recording is one of the biggest advantages compared to an acoustic kit. In this blog, I’ll show you how it works and offer you three easy ways to record an electronic drum kit.

The EQ, short for equaliser, is the most important tool in any mixing engineer’s kit (aside from the level fader, of course). If you’re new to DAWs or mixers, you might be wondering what an EQ even is and how it’s used. And what’s the difference between a parametric and a graphic equaliser? In this blog, I’ll explain everything and even include explanations of important terms like curve and low cut/high pass.

If you’ve recorded audio via a DAW or digital recorder before, you’ve probably come across terms like sample rate and bit depth. These are the most important factors when it comes to determining the detail in which sound is recorded. The sample rate determines the frequency range of the recording, while the bit depth controls the dynamic range. Read on to find out what settings you should use to get the best sound for your productions.

So, you’ve bought a new microphone only to find out that it won’t work unless you supply it with phantom power. Condenser microphones in particular often require this. Fortunately, most mixers, audio interfaces and recorders have a built-in phantom power supply, the control for which is indicated by ‘Phantom’, ‘P48’ or ‘48V’. In this blog, I’ll tell you what to look out for when you want to use phantom power.

While the verb ‘to produce’ is used to describe the various, wide-ranging processes that are part of making music, it doesn’t exactly clearly explain the differences between a producer and an executive producer. Since few people actually know what a producer does, this blog aims to give you a little insight into their tasks and responsibilities.