How-To Guides 5
Bustin’ Out the Korg Volca Keys
The Volca Keys was one of the first synths released in Korg’s Volca series in 2013, and it’s also one of the most versatile. The Volca series offers a few options for monophonic sounds and drums/rhythm, but the Volca Keys is the only polyphonic, analog synth in the lineup (at the time of this writing). […]
TS vs. TRS vs. TRRS Cables
Do you know the difference between TS, TRS, and TRRS? The connector plugs and jacks found on your headphones and audio cables have come a long way from their roots on the telephone switchboards of the early 20th century. Most mobile devices with a headphone jack use the TRRS standard — read on for tips […]
How to Make Your MIDI Drums Sound Human
Programming drums in a DAW MIDI channel is a convenient and easy way to plot out the skeleton of a composition you intend to record without busting out the big, loud drums. With the amount of drum plug-ins and modules available today, you can have pretty realistic-sounding drums on your track in a matter of […]
Rethinking Your Home Music Studio
In light of the ongoing global pandemic, the vast majority of us now find ourselves forgoing any trip to a practice space, club or record studio. That doesn’t mean our musical escape ends at home, however. The largest struggle we’re facing creatively is how to deal with our current situation at home constructively. Now is […]
Stream Your DJ Sets to the World
Like everyone else, I have been going a bit stir crazy at home, and I always enjoy a fun project. I wanted to find the best way to stream my DJ sets using various setups, and needed a solution to use outside my home studio space. So I improvised and I found a setup that […]
A Journey to MIDI Guitar Land: Part III
Do you know when I had the most fun using a MIDI guitar controller? When I forgot I had a guitar in my hand. It feels liberating to say this but: using the guitar merely as this vessel to do other far more interesting things with it was beyond revelatory. In this post, I’ll share […]
Enhance Your Guitar Tone with Preamp Overdrive
Getting the tone that’s in your head sometimes involves more than just twirling the knobs on your amp. Learn how to utilize hardware or software preamps, and you’ll open up a rainbow of tonal possibilities for your tracks. Join me as I attempt to augment a standard rhythm guitar tone with a software preamp model […]
Using Pitch Riding to Improve Your Mixing
In our era of master tempo and the “sync” button, mixing can become very stagnant and boring. These features easily become crutches and they aren’t always correct. You may find yourself in a situation where you need to know how to manually beat-match and, most importantly, mix songs unassisted. So while computers and CDJs/media players […]
Hybrid Mixers: Analog Mixers Meet Digital Tech
Not quite digital mixers, but with capabilities beyond the basics of analog mixers, hybrid mixers employ both analog and digital signal paths, with features like USB inputs/outputs, digital effects processing, or built-in digital recorders. Mixers that combine analog and digital tech have existed for decades. But more recently, manufacturers have been touting the “hybrid mixer” […]
