tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54535866012517780972012-02-17T02:41:51.273+13:00Patch the left brain into the right brain and get that music in your head into the computer.Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.comBlogger201100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-91698203620517146642011-12-15T13:05:00.000+13:002011-12-15T13:10:15.022+13:00

Uploaded with Skitch! This list is made up of those plug-ins and digital apps I used the most this year and/or made me the most excited. Most are available for both PC and Mac, and only a few are still stuck in 32-bit mode - hopefully that will change soon. 10) Izotope Ozone 5. Link This is the Mastering app of choice for most semi-pro engineer/producers and a great update to the ubiquitous

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-41715760983455025222011-06-17T19:39:00.000+12:002011-06-17T19:39:56.668+12:00

Unfortunately they keep making me work so finishing things is difficult. Also - I'm working on my Masters just to fill up every other spare second I have. But if you really need something to think about for now, think about this; All music is based around tension and release. Boring songs have no tension or never get to the release. Article coming soon....

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-63360989738910663602010-11-22T23:09:00.000+13:002010-11-22T23:09:37.662+13:00

Before I get started I just want to reinforce something I've mentioned in earlier posts - sometimes a reduction in parameters actually generates more creativity. Being aware of a set of limitations, or guidelines, can actually allow you much more creative control over your final mix.This could mean limiting the amount of effects that you allow yourself to use, or a more obvious one is to only use

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-2574791192556729132010-06-08T23:23:00.000+12:002010-06-13T17:50:37.561+12:00

This is a handy tip for those moments when you've gone to see a loud band and forgotten to take earplugs, and one that I've used numerous times to "reset" my ears after a gig. I was shown this trick about 20 years ago by a friend and have been using it since then, but in preparing this blog I've also found lots of supporting evidence on the web that reinforces the basic concept. It has definitely

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-72078696141292585772010-05-16T22:40:00.000+12:002010-05-17T01:14:58.682+12:00

Well, I got through my solo gig in one piece and with reasonable success, but some things became immediately apparent that I will definitely change for next time.My Setup:17" Apple MacBook Pro (mine's an older one) running MainStage 2PreSonus Firestudio audio interface. It uses a FireWire connection, so has lower latency than most USB-based interfaces.Fender guitar and for vocals a Shure Green

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-34826908028520842582010-04-21T20:21:00.000+12:002010-04-22T00:07:25.763+12:00

I have a solo gig coming up and have decided that being yet another singer-songwriter is boring as hell. Especially as I haven't been blessed with one of those voices that could make singing the shopping list sound awesome.So I need to use everything in my power to add value and variety to the gig - hence the MainStage experiment.I wanted to be able to go from simple vocal and guitar to full-on

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-54470436554538300852009-10-02T10:43:00.000+13:002009-10-26T01:37:53.635+13:00

Okay, I mentioned this as one of my tips in a previous post, but there's confusion and many heated debates out there about the ideal level to record into your digital audio workstation.I'm just summing up the information readily available elsewhere (if you are willing to wade through endless online debates and the numerous in-depth articles), for people who just want to know right here and now

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-72876492155505173232009-09-30T21:40:00.003+13:002009-09-30T23:13:40.915+13:00

It's pretty common to have to transfer a song written in Logic into Pro Tools for a client to mix (or remix). Here's how to do it as fast as possible with the least amount of hassle.Audio Files OnlyIf all you need to supply is audio files for transferring to Pro Tools (usually the most common requirement), it's a very easy 5 steps (MIDI files are trickier - we'll get to those later).All files

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-31569072186426879722009-09-23T00:51:00.001+12:002009-09-27T11:47:44.459+13:00

Click on the photo to enlarge.A little while back I wrote a blog article about cool things to do with multi-band compressors One of the things I discussed was how to use the crossovers built into one of these plug-ins to separate the lows and high frequencies of, for example, a Bass track, so that distortion could be added to the top-end of the Bass without robbing the fat bottom end.Well now

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-88476122205284556512009-08-23T16:31:00.000+12:002009-08-23T18:04:22.996+12:00

1. When recording to digital - keep your levels a bit more conservative. Aim for -18dBFS when recording at 24-bit. And at 16-bit? Best to just stick to 24-bit. Don't worry about levels looking low on the meters, and don't worry about "having less bits available". You're still getting 21 bits, which is about the maximum you can actually encode from the analogue side anyway. You're not losing

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-84578939525927400622009-08-23T12:57:00.000+12:002009-08-23T13:17:58.282+12:00

I've had to put my own stuff on the back-burner for a bit since work's been so busy.It's that time of the year when the tutors are rostered on for spending a week in the studio with the Diploma Audio students recording two songs for each of the Diploma Music bands. It's fun, but even regular admin work has to be done after 6pm each night, never mind any classes that have to be prepared, marking

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-50141595992668274082009-05-18T20:21:00.000+12:002009-09-21T19:39:59.258+12:00

I just spent the weekend at a songwriting workshop by Jason Blume. It was awesome.This is the second one I've participated in, and to be honest because I'd helped organise my workplace to host the workshop, I got to go for free.I'd always been a bit hesitant about going along to workshops and training seminars about songwriting, because I always figured "I don't want somebody to give me rules

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-3937735961502962562009-04-10T12:29:00.000+12:002009-04-29T09:29:34.177+12:00

What many people don't realise is that conveniently bundled into each multi-band compressor is a multi-band crossover that splits the overall spectrum into two or more frequency bands - 4 or 5 bands are quite common nowadays.This gives us the ability to do some cool tricks in our digital audio workstation of choice. For example, having a duplicated instrument track with different crossover bands

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-62880105750895216272009-04-09T09:20:00.000+12:002009-04-29T01:33:03.368+12:00

For those who aren't in the know about Impulse or Convolution reverbs, they take a "snapshot" of the ambience of a room or other space (or even audio equipment) that can then be used within a specialised reverb plug-in. (eg Space Designer, Altiverb, Waves IR1, TL Space, Voxengo Pristine Space, SIR, Nebula)This gives a scarily accurate reproduction of the space, but it does have it's down sides as

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-71028834620210082252009-04-04T12:52:00.001+13:002009-04-04T14:07:53.741+13:00

Any regular denizen of discussion groups and help forums - especially of a technical nature or having anything to do with software apps etc, will be familiar with this statement.RTFM! Read the F****** Manual.Set of Logic Studio Manuals (Photo by Uninen)Usually it's applied in the context of, why are you here asking this stupid question - haven't you even bothered to read the manual? Loser!

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-19087665967801888252009-02-28T15:30:00.000+13:002009-02-28T17:17:24.588+13:00

Creativity flourishes under arduous conditionsIt's no secret that some of the most amazing ideas come out at the most stressful or restrictive times and places. History is full of amazing art and writings that came from the most desperate and depressing times.Even the most procrastinistic (is that even a word?) amongst us has probably found inspiration when having to do a dull or dreary task. "I

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-73046100978486423902009-02-09T20:19:00.000+13:002009-02-09T20:42:37.037+13:00

I don't know how many times I visit friends' places or go to parties and their stereo speakers are out of phase. Even worse - they don't even seem notice how horrible they sound.They're probably so used to it that they think that's what the system's MEANT to sound like.As an audio engineer, I can usually tell straight away and it drives me crazy. Usually so crazy I can't even even pay attention

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-26177712569480011382009-02-07T22:03:00.000+13:002009-02-16T21:54:11.056+13:00

Everybody has their own favourites, and here's mine right at the moment. (It may change next week!)Melodyne Plug-InBecause I write and produce completed demos so fast (up to a song a week for a quite a while), I'm often generating vocals from one pass. Or starting my song idea from a sung vocal.So Melodyne is awesome for tweaking what I already have, or changing to a different key. Or generating

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-38390988943668553382009-02-04T09:21:00.000+13:002009-02-07T17:16:33.163+13:00

In it's purest sense, you can write a song with nothing but your own brain. If you can hear the music in your head and craft the lyrics, you're away laughing.The tricky bit is getting those ideas into a form that other people can appreciate.So I've built up a basic recording system at home, refined over the years, so I can get my ideas down as quickly and easily as possible, and with enough

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453586601251778097.post-73986542267103714272009-02-04T09:11:00.000+13:002009-02-09T21:36:41.138+13:00

I've been so busy writing songs in the last couple of years that I haven't had time to update my blog - in fact I closed down my last blog since I wasn't using it and it got ridiculously out of date.I was writing a song a week for quite a while, and although I had quite a few hiccups due to my "real" job cropping up and demanding my time, I've managed to average out to between two or three weeks

Zedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874050513047183140noreply@blogger.com0