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So how can you get that Fender sound without the price-tag? Sounds impossible doesn’t it, can you really get a ’65 Fender Twin Reverb for under $200? I have a few amps in my studio, my main rig is a Vox AC30C2 which has always been (and still is) my . . . Read more

What’s the problem with recording drums in a small room? Small rooms aren’t great for recording drums in. They don’t allow the drums to “breathe” i.e. you have early reflections arriving too quickly which in turn means your cymbal and drum hits can be muddy or muffled and lack sustain. There’s . . . Read more

Checking your mix on headphones alone is not ideal. I don’t know about you but I generally check my mixes on 4 different sources: my studio speakers, my studio reference headphones, my Apple earbuds and the speakers in my car. Each one of these highlights different aspects of the mix . . . Read more

Let’s say you’ve recorded a podcast episode and the volume of your guest’s voice is just way to quiet. The track fader will only give you so much gain. So what other ways are there to increase the volume of a quiet track in Reaper? There’s two ways I can . . . Read more

There are some essential steps you need to take to ensure that your podcast is a success. You want you and you listener to be clear and easy to understand. Your episodes should free of background noise (where possible) and your episodes should all be roughly the same overall volume. . . . Read more

Here’s a quick list of my favourite gear, tools and software that I use on a weekly basis and couldn’t live without. Hardware ART Pro MPA II I’ve long been a fan of ART gear, in fact my first tube guitar combo amp was an ART DST-830 Rulesbreaker which I . . . Read more

There are some truly fantastic mix-worthy free plug-ins these days. if you’re just starting out, you probably don’t have a spare $100 here and there, let alone $300 plus for some of the industry standard bundles. I know I’m not alone in my appreciation for plug-in effect developers who offer their products . . . Read more

Happy Halloween!!! I hope whatever project you’re working on does not turn into a giant pumpkin! In the spirit of the occasion, here’s a really cool way to create some eerie haunting vocals. Send your vocals to a parallel track. Load up a virtual guitar amp plugin with a built . . . Read more

Using ReaFir in Reaper to create a noise floor profile can reduce constant background sounds such as whistles, whines, buzz, traffic noise, fan noise, hiss and hum. It’s a simple tool that can make a night and day difference to a noisy track. Find a spot in the offending track . . . Read more

Recording an acoustic piano is not something many home studio engineers will find themselves doing. For a start, few of us will have a great sounding grand piano casually placed in the middle of studio, let alone room enough to fit one in there. Recording a piano for the first . . . Read more