In over 10 years producing music, a vast majority of the producers I’ve worked with have no formal music training. One of the awesome things about producing electronic music is that it’s accessible, even if you don’t have much (or any) formal education. It’s common for producers to not play an instrument, or know much about music theory, or how to read sheet music. You can still make electronic music while having burning questions like, “what is a time signature,” or “what is a measure in music?” Mostly, this is fine. But it can hinder communication when you’re working with others. These see ..read more

Ever noticed that many plugins let you switch certain parameters from BPM to Hz? Or – even stranger – how Hz is used for timing when it is typically associated with pitch and tone? This can seem weird for electronic music producers, where the genres are very BPM-focused. In this article, we will explore the relationship between BPM and Hz. We’ll show how to quickly and easily convert values from BPM to Hz. We’ll go deeper. Explaining what this value means, and how and when you would actually use this calculation. As a music producer or audio engineer, understanding the various technical aspe ..read more

Looking for a way to push your mixes to professional quality that won’t eat up all your studio time? Mixing with pink noise may be the answer! You’ve probably heard about white noise – that static sound that puts people to sleep. You probably use it as a riser in build ups. It’s cousin, pink noise, is actually a powerful tool that can help you get balanced mixes, fast. In this article, we’ll explain what pink noise is and give a step-by-step process for how you can apply it to your mixes. This method will give you confidence that your mix is properly balanced. This can be especially helpful ..read more

Does music production feel like a never-ending maze of jargon or minefield of competing terms? We’ve explored Digital vs Analog and Mono vs Stereo. Today, we’ll demystify Gain vs Volume.   Learn by doing – twisting knobs to see what changes. Or, listen to other producers, using context clues to decode their vocabulary.   Some terms seem to mean the same exact thing. It’s understandable why producers would use two terms interchangeably!   There’s maybe no worse offender than Gain and Volume.   Here, we’ll explain the difference between Gain and Volume. We’ll reveal the sou ..read more

Among Skrillex’s many accomplishments, one of the most interesting is that in 15 years, he has only put out one studio album, 2014’s Recess. It almost seems impossible that an artist with 8 Grammy awards could have just one studio album, but all of that changes January 6, 2023. Skrillex will release his second studio album, 9 years after Recess, titled Rumble. This Skrillex Rumble tutorial is to help anyone inspired from the new release or just some of his older tracks recreate some of Skrillex’s signature sounds and techniques. Rumble will be released on 1/6 via Atlanti ..read more

Vocals. They sit front and center in your mix, carry the track, and hook your listeners. The ultimate moment many musicians dream of is fans singing along to their song. In some ways a killer vocal sound is the holy grail of music production. Obviously, how you process a vocal matters a lot, so you want the best Vocal EQ possible. EQing vocals is an art unto itself. They are notoriously tricky to cut without thinning, or boost without muddying. But using the right EQ can tame harshness in your vocals without sacrificing the body. It can define the character of your vocals, and ultimatel ..read more

The hard truth is that working on your music production chops will only take you so far. To get clean, professional sounding (and to be a well-rounded music producer), you’ll eventually need to learn mixing and mastering. Whether you’re a professional at work, or a beginner just starting your journey in a home studio, building a collection of the best mixing and mastering books will be helpful. Table of Contents Best Mixing and Mastering Books Title Best For Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio Beginners building a professional-quality home studio on a budget The Mixing Engineer’s ..read more