How-To Guides 5
A Guide to Finding Your Perfect Snare Drum
The centerpiece of your drum kit, the most addictive thing to collect in all of drumming — the punchy, fat or attacking snare drum. It’s no secret that the snare drum is one of the sexiest pieces of modern drum kits, and with so many different materials, colors and sizes, it’s easy to get lost […]
1965 Gibson LG-0 Vintage Acoustic Guitar
Hello. My name is Patrick and I’m a guitar addict. My most recent acquisition is a vintage 1965 Gibson LG-0 acoustic guitar. This model was Gibson’s student level guitar when it was released in 1958 since it lacks some features and has laminated back and sides. The guitar isn’t in mint condition. It has a […]
The Trials and Tribulations of DIY Sound Treatment
My band and I have been rehearsing in the same building since 2014. It’s one of those “warehouse-turned-band-practice-space-compound” type of deals that you come across in big cities like Chicago — except it never turned fully “practice space.” In its original form, our building was a cold storage facility in the Stockyards industrial district of […]
Side-chain Compression
Sometimes mixes can feel a little cluttered, especially when the song features a dense instrumentation. As audio engineers, we have to find creative ways to manage the density of the projects that we are working on. The side chain input on a compressor can be a useful tool for managing this musical density. Typically, a […]
Double-Tracking Electric Guitars
Ever since digital recording surpassed analog as the norm, musicians have been exploiting the format to its fullest capabilities, not only to streamline workflows, but to also create new and interesting sounds. The ability to copy and paste regions in your DAW has really helped producers and mixers push creative boundaries in the last few […]
True Peak Limiting
At first glance, limiting seems like a straightforward concept. Audio that peaks at -0.1 dB is audio that peaks at -0.1 dB, right? Well, unfortunately for people who are mastering their own tracks, it’s not quite that simple. But with a little knowledge of true peaks vs. sample peaks, and of how to set your […]
A Lesson in Preparing Drums for Studio Recording
Here at zZounds we’ve covered what it takes to prepare for your next recording session. But we need to get specific on the real backbone of the band’s recording session, the drums. The percussive rhythms coming from behind the lead singer are extremely important in not only keeping time, but emoting the overall feel and […]
How Skyhook Uses Studio Gear to Livestream on Twitch
Livestreaming on websites like Twitch, YouTube and Facebook have transformed the way creative content is taken in by viewers all over the internet. Creators can now engage directly with fans through live chat and publish the content that best fits their demographic instantly. Sam Crescenzo is a creator on the popular livestream hosting website Twitch.tv, […]
A Guide to ’65 Reissue Fender Amps
Arguably the most popular amps that Fender released came at the end of the ever-so-talked-about “pre-CBS” era. The most revolutionary thing about these amps is that they had reverb on-board instead of having to put an out-board reverb unit between the guitar’s output and the amplifier’s input. You see these “Blackface” amps, (named for the […]
