Signal flow is one of the most important concepts to understand in music production and audio more generally. It’s the basis of how all audio systems work. Whether you’re just starting out or you want to deepen your knowledge of signal flow, you’ve come to the right place. What is audio signal flow? Signal flow…
Subgroups are an important routing tool in our mixers, allowing us to simplify the mixing process and get more out of fewer processors and effects. Whether you’re mixing a record, recording, or mixing live, using subgroups can help enhance your workflow and get you better results. If you’re unsure about what subgroups are or want…
Inserts are important parts of mixers that are sometimes taken for granted in modern digital audio workstations. If you’re unsure of what mixer inserts are or you want to gather more information on inserts and their importance in audio engineering, you’ve come to the right place! What is an insert in audio engineering? An insert,…
Auxiliary tracks are invaluable tools in mixing, recording, live sound, and any other job that utilizes an audio mixer. If you’re at all confused about aux tracks, sends and returns, or you’d like more information to help you make the most of your aux tracks, you’ve come to the right place! What is an auxiliary…
The terms bus or bussing are commonly used in the world of audio, whether we’re working with live sound, broadcasting, recording or mixing. When learning about audio engineering, it’s important to understand the terminology and how it applies to our work. If you’re wondering about audio buses, you’ve come to the right place to learn…
Auxes, buses, sends, returns, VCAs, groups, subgroups, and many more terms make up the wide lexicon of audio technology. When learning about music and audio production, the glossary of terms can be overwhelming, and what’s worse is that many terms are used interchangeably. Let’s consider these related terms and their definitions to help you keep…
Synthesizers can be awesome, powerful instruments in the right hands. On the contrary, they can be a stale ornament to any studio if they are not understood fully. Thus, we created this blog post to help you better understand what a synthesizer patch is, where they come from, and what you need them for. What…
So you’ve picked up some awesome effects pedals for your rig and want to get the most out of them. Understanding signal flow and placing pedals in the proper order will lead to optimal performance. So how should we order our guitar (or bass) pedals for optimal signal flow? Though there are no hard rules…
For guitarists that love to play with pedals, buffer pedals may seem unexciting and, in some cases, useless. However, these pedals could make or break a pedalboard, depending on a few factors, of course. Are buffer pedals necessary, and where do they go in a signal chain? Buffer pedals are often unnecessary when connecting a…
Audio latency is one of the most frustrating issues to deal with when tracking digital audio. Head a delay in monitoring is incredibly distracting for the performer and can be terribly annoying for the audio engineer to fix. Let’s talk about the methods of fixing microphone audio latency. How to fix microphone latency: In this…
Microphone feedback is one of the most unpleasant sounds we’ll encounter in the world of audio. Though mic feedback is most often heard in live sound reinforcement situations, it can easily happen on your computer, too. Here are step-by-step instructions to stop a microphone feedback loop in a computer: In this article, we’ll get into…
When studying microphones and audio, the topic of unbalanced and balanced audio is sure to come up. Unbalanced and balanced audio are the two common ways to send audio from one audio device to another (for example, a microphone to a mic preamplifier). Do microphones output balanced or unbalanced audio? The vast majority of professional…
