Ever come across instruments that sound narrow, bland, or just plain uninspiring? If you’ve determined that timbre, rhythm or performance isn’t the problem, then what’s left? Why does it still sound flat? If the recording is in mono, that could be your problem, and how many times have you recorded a guitar or voice through a single mic input? There’s no Read more

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A lot of our readers know that a weak beat can be strengthened with a compressor, but what settings are best for what applications? What are the optimal compression settings for a Hip Hop snare, kick, bass, or percussion? In Hip Hop, if you want to compress like the best, you need knowledge of standard compressor settings used by Hip Hop producers. Read more

If you want to produce Hip Hop - in particular, if you want to produce crunk or grime - you’re gonna to have to master synth skills. Crunk music in particular makes widespread use of classic synth timbres, using clean sine, triangle, and square waves for melodic leads, while reserving harsh, overdriven sawtooth sounds for basslines. Grime is slightly Read more

A few months ago, in one of our Reason production tips, we wrote about how to use mixing gear (or the Reason mixer) to transform mono sounds into captivating stereo images. Since then, many of our readers have asked privately how to replicate that effect using a standard software DAW such as Audacity, or Pro Tools without having to route through a Read more

Most aspiring producers envision the story of their career unfolding like Premier’s or Blaze’s. Working in the studio, recording emcees, banging out an accompaniment on an MPC. However, while the respect and prestige of an accomplished music production career is highly motivating, it can overshadow other profitable niches. On such niche is Read more

Slicing tools like Propellerheads Reason’s Dr. Rex player, and FL Studio 8’s Slicex plugin are powerful remixing tools. With either of these tools in your arsenal, your creativity is limitless. Both programs slice up songs or beats into tiny pieces that can be re-triggered. In the Dr. Rex player, as well as in Slicex, each pulse within a beat or song is Read more

What’s the difference between a solid drum beat, and a flimsy drum beat? Many times, the difference is the mix. A good drum mix requires an evenly balanced stereo field & soundstage. Many amateur productions have narrow, almost mono, drum mixes. These narrow drum mixes throw off a song’s overall balance where instrument tracks Read more

Phase inversion is a subtle, yet versatile music production tool capable of many distinguished feats. First, what is phase inversion? Inverting a wave’s phase means swapping the location of its peaks and troughs. This creates cancellation when peaks of one wave coincide with the troughs of the other wave, like in this article’s thumbnail Read more

Have you ever wondered which mics are best for beat boxing? We’ve got the answers. Whatever your price range, there is a perfect microphone for the job. Most up’n'coming producers begin building their studio with an all-purpose large diaphragm condenser, like the Rode NT-2, but when you want your homie to beat box, havin’ a condenser Read more