Music Production
Among music producers, beatmakers, and musicians, Arturia has a solid reputation for delivering products that ignite new ideas, open new performance possibilities, and solve common technical challenges. This company’s latest offerings expand the AudioFuse line of audio interfaces and KeyLab-Series hybrid synthesizers to include exciting enhancements for all sorts of productions. Whether you’re a touring artist or a studio dweller, there’s something to see in these new goodies from Arturia.
The
Finding solid headphones for general-purpose listening isn’t too difficult, but homing in on purpose-built cans that are optimal for drummers, vocalists, and audio engineers is a challenge on its own level. With the staggering number of headphones on the market, it can be difficult to filter your options and remain confident that you’re getting closer to a good choice. Wireless, wired, in-ear, on-ear, over-ear, open-back, closed-back, etc.… there are so many types and models to sort through. So, maybe instead of scrolling through hundreds of
Recognizing the needs of small studios, production suites, and compact touring setups, Korg has released two new desktop analog synthesizers, the Volca Nubass and the Minilogue XD Module. Both boast an assortment of powerful functions in a space-saving form factor, making them ideal for use with DAWs, sequencers, and
When I first started engineering and producing music, I was, strictly speaking, a complete and utter mess. I would often lose project files, samples, preset libraries—I couldn’t keep track of anything. Sometimes I’d find what I was looking for by sheer luck, other times it would be gone forever.
After several frustrating years of data loss, I decided to get serious about organizing all my music production audio and files, and regularly backing up my projects. And, what do you know? My productivity increased, my system ran more smoothly, and I
Not long ago, you needed a computer to provide sufficient processing power, graphics prowess, and connectivity to meet the demands of digital pro audio production tasks. Thanks to the robust performance, captivating display, and long battery life of Apple’s current iPad Pro, producing anything from polished podcasts to complex multi-track sessions on a tablet is now a reality within reach. The iPad Pro can supercharge your mobile recording
Just in time for NAMM 2019, Akai Professional—the famous manufacturer of the MPC—has made a big push into the world of computer-free music production. The Force bills itself as a stand-alone music production and DJ performance system, and that's just what it is: You can launch clips, play notes and chords, arpeggiate patterns, mix it all to your needs, easily trigger global effects, build entire live shows, and
If you make beats or create electronic music, you've probably heard of FL Studio, the music production DAW from Image-Line. For years, it has been a go-to tool for producers and songwriters operating on anything from compact laptops to tricked-out desktops. However, there has never been a hardware controller designed specifically for FL Studio… until now! The new Akai Pro Fire, created in cooperation with Image-Line, is the
Say you’re a musician traveling on the road, or a producer—somebody who likes to make music from a laptop-based studio. You camp out at a hotel and program what you need to program, or mix what you need to mix. Eventually, you’ll run into problems.
The files you’re working on will require more space than your laptop allows. Or, you’ll run a lot of samples and virtual instruments, both of which tend to run more smoothly on an external drive. Even if you can fit all your projects on a laptop, you can’t forget about backup—the threat of losing
Part 1 of Little Things That Make the Song Big laid out some important considerations about song structure, section lengths, choice of instrumentation, and how they change the impact of songs. In Part 2, the focus will be on instrument- and pitch-specific alterations, tempo, groove, and mixing tips. Moving forward, always remind yourself that these elements form a somewhat fragile musical ecosystem. Though identifiable as
Every songwriter, producer, musician, and composer wants their music to be effective, though the intended effect of a composition will naturally vary from song to song, genre to genre, and creator to creator. Some songwriters seek to communicate the complex emotion of an intense life experience, while others just want to get people moving and shaking on the dance floor. One musician may quest to stun the listener with masterful precision, while another pursues the loose and raw feel of a jam session. Whatever the goal, the ultimate impact of a
When people record live concerts and studio productions, multi-track recording is ideal. It grants you the power to fix and mix the performances in ways that would not be possible if only a stereo mix was recorded. However, multi-track creates a large amount of data in a hurry. Your recorder’s drive needs to be able to handle the burden imposed by writing and reading a multitude of large, uncompressed audio files simultaneously. There are several important factors to consider when shopping for a suitable drive: speed, durability, compatible
Have you ever wondered where the music from your favorite TV shows and movies comes from? Well, there’s a good chance it came from a production music library. Production music libraries are catalogues of readily available music that allow producers and music supervisors to select pieces to be used to score their films, television shows, advertisements, and web content. Today’s libraries typically feature a broad range of musical styles and genres, which are categorized specifically by mood and feel, to streamline the process of matching music