How-To Guides 7
Sabian Stratus Dry: A Focused Voice in a Familiar Family
The modern drummer yearns for a cymbal that speaks clearly and leaves room for the rest of the kit to shine in the mix. This has led to dry-voiced cymbals having a moment, or perhaps a series of moments over the last few years with drummers across various genres. Sabian’s Stratus Dry line aims directly […]
What Does Compression Do to a Bass Signal?
What is compression? Why do we need it? Those are questions asked by nearly every musician at one time or another. It’s a process that is seen as a necessary evil or even a fully-blown mystery until one understands what exactly is going on. Compression isn’t magic, and it’s not punishment for an unwieldy bass […]
What Does the “Music Ducking” Button on My PA Speaker Do?
If you’ve got a portable PA speaker or all-in-one PA system with a mic input and a music playback channel, you may have a button or switch on the back labeled something like Ducking, Music Ducking, Mic Priority, Voice Priority, Talkover, or Voiceover. So, what does that button do? The automatic music ducking/mic priority feature […]
Extending Your Extended-Range Guitar
Do you want an 8-string guitar but currently only have a 7-string? While zZounds’ Play as You Pay installment plans are helpful, buying a new axe isn’t always a feasible option. In this guide, I’ll go over a method to extend your 7-string even lower into the 8-string range and the tools you’ll need to […]
A Neve in Your Bedroom? Re-Amping Drum Tracks with JHS Channel Strips
When we think of a vintage console, the word “color” comes to mind. The way each channel strip on a console processes the audio being pushed through it is affected by what’s available on that specific console, including the EQ, the transformers, etc. These days, you don’t need a physical unit to get that warm, […]
Room to Breathe: The Role of Reverb in Drum Mixing
Not everyone has access to incredible studio live rooms with 20-foot ceilings and tuned acoustics. But when it comes to home studio recording of drums, the first real red flag for an amateur recording will likely be how the drums sit in the mix. Veteran mix engineers know that reverb above all else can be […]
Lauten Audio’s Kick Mic and the Case for Purpose-Built Drum Mics
For home producers who track real drums in less-than-ideal rooms, kick capture is often the part of a session that eats time and patience: a boom that will not sit, attack that disappears under room modes, and a long chain of EQ and gating to try to fix it. The Lauten Audio Kick Mic addresses […]
Using the Zoom F6 Recorder
Zoom handheld recorders like the H6studio and H4essential are great tools for recording audio outside of the studio. But what if you need a recorder with more features to use for on-location audio, for example in a video shoot? In this post we’ll take a look at the Zoom F6 “professional multi-track field recorder” and […]
Universal Audio Volt 876: Eight Channels of Real Hardware Tone for the Home Studio
Universal Audio’s Volt 876 turns your home studio rack into a small tracking room without turning it into a project. It’s not trying to be a flagship console, and it’s not pretending to be an Apollo. What it is is an eight-preamp, multichannel USB recording front end that gives you actual hardware color, fast workflow, […]
