Studio Solutions 66
The Wireless MIDI Keyboard Rig
Playing keyboards is my jam, but schlepping a lot of gear around is definitely not. My main gigging board is a Roland AX-Synth Shoulder Synthesizer — or a keytar, as it’s affectionately known. Besides the keytar’s distinctive look, the appeal of this board is its eminent portability. But there comes a time when you need […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
Guitar Amp Microphone Placement
Recording electric guitars seems like a pretty easy feat of engineering. All you have to do is place a microphone in front of a speaker and call it a day, right? As it turns out, there’s a little more to the equation than that. In a process where fractions of an inch can dramatically change […]
Layering Acoustic Guitar in a Mix
In modern songwriting, the chorus is often king, supplanting the main ideas and melodies of a track in one easy-to-digest arrangement. When a big, presence-filled chorus is needed, layering additional full range instruments like an acoustic guitar is a great option. By learning the technique of properly mixing and tracking an acoustic guitar for the […]
To DI, or not to DI
If you’ve spent some time on any stage or in any studio, you’ve probably seen or used a DI box before. What is it about these magic boxes that seems to make every engineer’s job easier? Let’s take a look behind the curtain to reveal a little bit of information about DI boxes, as well […]
Best-Bang-for-the-Buck Audio Interfaces for Beginners
Ready to set up a home studio and start recording your music? A digital audio interface is a good place to begin building your rig. If you’ve already got a computer, one of these boxes will let you connect instruments and microphones via a USB port, and start capturing audio and MIDI into recording software […]
