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Mix Blog Live: The Real Numbers
Steve La Cerra looks at a couple of surveys taken during the pandemic and is crushed to learn of the value the average consumer...
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Mix Blog Studio: Give Yourself a Break
Frustration has a way of creeping in when you go back into a track to make a small "improvement," only to find yourself hours...
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Mix Blog Live: Meet Me at the Drive-In
The hunger for live music is real, and with very few outlets outside of looking at a screen, artists and fans are turning to...
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Mix Blog Studio: My Review Process
When a reviewer sits down to evaluate a new piece of technology, where does the process begin, and how does one give an objective...
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Mix Blog Live: A Slice and a Coke
When the 2020 concert season was canceled, it left a lot of supporting businesses throughout the country in a tight spot, including some favorite...
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Mix Blog Studio: Balancing Act
Ever wonder what your mix "looks like," across the frequency spectrum, compared to similar songs or similar styles? Ever wonder if you're slightly off...
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Mix Blog Live: Hello, Boston!
This Friday’s live streaming concert by local favorites Dropkick Murphys, in a baseball stadium with no fans, will raise money for Boston-area nonprofits.
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Mix Blog Studio: Headphone Helpers
With the whole family at home—all day, every day—Mike Levine has found himself putting on headphones more often as part of his mixing work.
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Mix Blog Live: Rise Up, New York!
The city of New York sure knows how to rally in times of adversity, from supporting front-line workers to helping the poor when they...
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Mix Blog Studio: The Spigot Turns Off
The pandemic and the adoption of social distancing measures has hit the music industry hard, and the uncertainties about when, how and even if...
Editor's Note
Dolby Atmos Music Special Issue: It’s Time for a Brand New Experience
Immersive music is coming to the recording industry, no question about it.
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Mix Blog Live: The Quietest of Moments
You know that moment at a concert when the band is killing it, the emotions and movement winding along in sync, and the entire...
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Mix Blog Studio: Getting the Band Back Together (Sort of)
Live streaming a performance from home is one thing, but recording a song for digital release while each band member in his or her...
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Mix Blog Live: Zooming High(er)-Quality Audio
Besides spending many weekends on the road at front of house, Steve La Cerra is an audio educator; over the the last month he...
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Mix Blog Studio: Live-Streaming Music—A Case Study
With everyone at home, touring has been postponed and staples such as record-release parties either canceled or delayed. So Mike Levine's daughter-in-law and his...
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Mix Blog Live: A Concert in Your Living Room?
The coronavirus COVID-19 has essentially shut down the 2020 summer touring season—and cost Steve La Cerra his usual weekend gig. So are stay-at-home, "intimate"...
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Mix Blog Studio: Time on Your Hands? Record!
Now that he has plenty of enforced time at home, Mike Levine is coping by heading into his studio more often, taking care of...
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‘When the Going Gets Weird, the Weird Turn Pro’
In his Editor's Note for the April issue, Mix Editor Tom Kenny looks around the coronavirus landscape and wonders who is going to help...
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Mix Blog Live: Coronavirus Fallout
“All New York City Public Schools are closed.” When I hear those words, it usually means there’s a significant snowfall in the area and...
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Mix Blog Studio: Write It Down!
There's a simple feature in every DAW that just might the most useful one in the whole set... as long as you take the...
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Mix Blog Live: What’s With the Tape on the C#?
Frustration with a show’s backline provider led to a couple trips back to the warehouse, an angry phone call and, ultimately, resolution. A normal...
Editor's Note
Where Tradition Meets the Modern
About halfway through writing this month’s cover story on the revamp of the Newman Scoring Stage at Fox Studios, it dawned on me that...
Recording
Mix Blog Studio: Green Stories From the Music Biz
Small bits of eco-friendly practices are popping up all over the audio industry, from solar panels at studios to recycled plastic for acoustic treatment...
Live Sound
Mix Blog Live: Rack Toms for Everyone
When a Rack Tom channel on a rented digital console started showing up across multiple scribble strips during soundcheck, Steve La Cerra did everything...
Editor's Note
A Different Time, a Different Place
With no traffic, Montauk is only a little more than a two-hour drive from New York City, two-forty-five if you take the Long Island...
Live Sound
Mix Blog Live: TLC for an XK-1c
Steve La Cerra knows that after years on the road, gear can take a beating. So when possible, he likes to take out some...
Recording
Mix Blog Studio: Home Sweet Home
The Billie Eilish-Finneas sweep at the Grammys put the spotlight back on home-based, bedroom studios, proving that a good song is a good song,...
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Mix Blog Live: Lessons From The Professor
Steve La Cerra mourns the loss of one of his real heroes, the drummer Neil Peart, who lived life with passion and grace, not...
Recording
Mix Blog Studio: Shake, Rattle and Roll
Mike Levine went to see an Oscar-nominated film in a Dolby Cinema and loved the experience... except for the trailers, which felt more like...
Live Sound
Mix Blog Live: Resurrecting an Audio Dinosaur, The Final Chapter
The Ampex 351 was working, but relatively noisy, so Steve La Cerra started replacing tubes; he found that not all tubes are created equal.
Editor's Note
Hearing the Music in ‘Found Sounds’
My introduction to writing about sound for film and television, and most of the emphasis over the years, has been through post-production.
Recording
Mix Blog Studio: Together or Separately?
With two simultaneous recording projects in the works, Mike Levine finds himself working in two very different manners, both of which work just fine...
Live Sound
Mix Blog Live: Music for the Holiday Mood
Having a tough time staying in the holiday spirit? Here’s some music to lighten your mood, in no particular order… The Christmas Song, The...
Recording
Mix Blog Studio: Murphy’s Law, Home Studio Edition
Mike Levine has had more than a few niggling, frustrating things happen in his home studio lately, which led him to find out more...
Live Sound
Mix Blog Live: The Zombie Zone
What do you do when you show up to a gig and the mix position is, uh, less than desirable, and a bunch of...
Recording
Mix Blog Studio: What’s With Avid Updates?
Updating a DAW's software, and hardware, is a big deal, and Mike Levine is not a fan of the perceived push to move users...
Live Sound
Mix Blog Live: A Legal Mess
The recent kerfuffle surrounding Taylor Swift singing her songs at the AMAs goes beyond a simple one-night performance, and the rights aren't as simple...
Recording
Mix Blog Studio: Finding Beauty in the Dirt
Thoughts on parallel compression got Mike Levine thinking about applying parallel saturation to dirty up his guitar tracks in a mix.
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Mix Blog Live: Why Does An Advance Have to Be So Difficult?
Voice on the phone: Is this Steve? Me: Yes. Hey I’m Curly Joe (not his real name). I’m doing sound for you on (date...
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Mix Blog Live: Resurrecting an Audio Dinosaur, Episode 4
Has it really been three months since we last visited the Ampex 351 Audio Dinosaur? I estimate that I’ve logged 200,000 miles since the...
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Mix Blog Studio: The Benefits of Actually Being There
It wasn’t that long ago, maybe 10 years or so, when there was talk bout trade shows being on their way out. People speculated...