Decision-making is a critical skill in general and certainly in the world of audio engineering, especially when it comes to mixing. Every choice, from selecting the right EQ settings to determining the level of reverb, shapes the final product. But what drives these decisions? Understanding the psychology behind decision-making can empower mixing engineers to make…
Oh, the elusive phenomenon of ear fatigue. While not technically a clinical diagnosis, it’s an ailment that nearly everyone has experienced after being subjected to adequate sound levels for enough time. As musicians, producers and audio engineers, it’s important to understand more about the qualitative and quantitative aspects of ear fatigue (and how to avoid…
Mix preparation is an often overlooked yet incredibly important part of the mixing and music production process. In fact, it’s so critical that I wrote an entire ebook on it as part of my Mixing With Series (you can check out ‘Vol 1: Preparing The Mix’ here). Here are the 7 key steps to prepare…
Mixing is a creative art form, and while sometimes creativity is stifled by over-organization, I strongly believe that following a consistent workflow will allow us even more opportunities to be creative in our mixing endeavours. So then, what are the step-by-step actions we should take when mixing, generally speaking? They are as follows: We’ll go…
Musical woodpiling is the concept of stocking up musical ideas for future songs. Sometimes sessions are devoted to woodpiling, while other times musical woodpiling happens when we hit a roadblock in our creative process. The term comes from the stockpiling of wood for future consumption in a furnace. If our musical creations are our metaphorical fireplace, we…
“Take notes!” This is pretty standard advice in the academic world. Whether it’s in a school classroom or in a self-taught setting, taking notes helps us to internalize what we learn. I talk about taking notes in a music journal in this article. But music is not made with the words we write about it….
The ’33-minute rule’ is something I have been using on and off in my work since college (2014). It has allowed me to better focus my efforts to get my music written and mixed. And, as of late, it has greatly improved my ability to effectively get blog posts written! I honestly cannot remember where I…
It’s human nature to imagine and wait for a future when everything is how it’s supposed to be. A perfect opportunity to make your dreams come true. A perfect time for making music. There’s no such thing. There’s no such thing as a perfect time to start, a perfect path to take, or perfect execution….
Keeping a music journal is an excellent tool for musicians. I talk about some of the benefits of keeping a music journal here, but I never really touched on how to keep a journal and what to journal about. This article will discuss how to keep a music journal while on your musical journey, including…
Keeping a music journal has been one of the best habits I’ve developed to improve my craft as a musician, composer, and producer. In my journal, I include: Writing a music journal is proving to be an invaluable asset in my creative process. Hell, I probably would never have started blogging about music if I…
I suppose this can be considered a motivational post. Who doesn’t want a little motivation when it comes to their passion? I was originally thinking I’d title this article “The Top X Reasons You Should Never Quit Making Music,” but I don’t even know the reasons why you do make music. What I do know, however, are the reasons why I make…
