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The Professional Musician’s Code of Conduct
Image is everything in the music business. And I'm not just talking about artists. It's important for everyone — artists, songwriters, musicians, composers, lyricists, producers, etc. Before a publisher, record label, music supervisor, blogger, playlist curator, or...
Preparing Your Mixes For Mastering
Today, more and more self-recording musicians and studios are catching on to the value of using an independent mastering engineer to master their finished mixes. At a minimum, an independent mastering engineer provides an additional, objective set of “ears” in a...
45-degree Angle When Recording Acoustic Guitar
I often recommend that people use a "45-degree angle" on the neck microphone as a starting point for recording acoustic guitar. Just describing it in words can be a little confusing, so I put together this quick video to illustrate what I mean. I also explain...
Re-learning The Art of Listening
When I was a kid, listening to music was a ritual. Whenever I got the chance, I would take a vinyl record out of its sleeve (yeah, I know, I’m showing my age!), place it on the turntable, and listen to it from start to finish, usually with my eyes closed, and often...
Slow Down To Speed Up
We live in a face-paced society where everyone seems to want everything RIGHT NOW, if not yesterday. "Lose 30 pounds in 30 days!" "Get 10,000 fans in 1 week!" "Make a Million dollars in 15 minutes!...while you sleep!...Guaranteed!" (OK, maybe that last one is a little...
UPDATED: Cakewalk Lives!!!
UPDATE, 2018-02-23: Cakewalk SONAR has been rescued from Gibson, and will continue to live on! See the article here. On November 17th, 2017, musical instrument conglomerate Gibson shocked the music-making community by announcing the total shutdown of one of their...
Who’s On First?
Nancy and I have just returned from the annual TAXI Road Rally music convention in L.A. (our FOURTEENTH Road Rally in a row – can you tell we like them??? 🙂 ). At each year’s Rally, we do a ton of mentoring and teaching. For example, at this year’s Rally, I did...
Getting Out of a Double-Booking Gracefully
One of the things that makes booking gigs overwhelming to some people is that there are a LOT of variables. That means there’s a lot to learn, a lot to “handle,” and a lot of points in the process where something can potentially go wrong. That’s why, for teaching...
Time To Get Out Of Your Silo: We Need Human Contact!
The Summer NAMM trade show and convention just ended here in Nashville this past weekend. If you're not familiar with NAMM, on the whole, it's a big gathering of music gear manufacturers showing off their latest goodies to dealers and potential consumers. But more...
QUICK TIP: What to Write About in Your Newsletter
"Um...I'm not touring. So, I don't have anything to say." "You want me to send one HOW often?! What on earth would I write about?!" "I'm not an artist. So, I don't need a newsletter. Right?" Whenever I start talking to my clients or students about sending a...
7 Dead Giveaways That Your Production Is A “Home Recording”
In my job as a producer, recording/mixing/mastering engineer and “teacher of all things music production,” I get to hear a lot of recordings made by other people. Many of them are recordings made for commercial use, as either artist/band releases, or for film and TV...
Goodbye, Glass Ceiling…?
There has been a lot of talk in our society lately about gender equality and the roles of women and men. As a music producer and engineer, is has been a fascinating experience watching those roles evolve in my industry over the past 35 years. Way Back When When I...
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