Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Skewed Critical Focus
The ease with which people can offer opinions online and then call themselves a music critic means that ... well, there are a lot...
Recording
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Be Ready to Record—Wherever and Whenever
You never know when a song idea or a guitar riff is going to pop into your head, so it helps if you have...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Track Organization Quiz
There are as many ways to approach mix as there are engineers, ranging from the hyper-methodical, 'must-color-code-now' to the free-wheeling, 'I'll-figure-out-what-I-did-later." Which one are...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Cassettes? Really?
Mike Levine, who was there for the emergence of the Portastudio back in the day, is mystified by the resurgence in popularity of the...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: 500 Series As a Gateway to Analog
After years of mixing in-the-box, Mike Levine discovered a range of 500 Series units; he now employs a hybrid approach to his mixes that...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Tear It Down and Build It Up
Mike Levine can't get to his third-floor studio for a few more weeks, so he moved some of it downstairs, all the time thinking...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Loops By Subscription
The software subscription model has made its way into pro audio, and Mike Levine finds that the new wave of loop sites provide great...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: iZotope and NI—One Plus One Equals…?
A new alliance between two powerhouses in pro audio and music production has some intriguing possibilities for creators, including the incorporation of AI into...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Console Yourself
Mike Levine is beginning to rethink his mix workflow by looking at console emulation plug-ins rather than mix-and-match dynamics and processing.
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Real Drums Change Everything
While producing an instrumental track for one of his bands, Mike Levine suddenly found that he had access to a live, remote drummer—a good...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Hardware Shines at NAMM
Mike Levine ended up spending time with the revival in hardware products at the recent virtual NAMM show, reminding him a bit of a...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Happy Feet
Mike Levine checks in virtually for NAMM Believe in Music Week and sets out to sate his appetite for new products and expert panel...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Pro Tools 2020.11 Boosts Performance, Adds Features
Mike Levine is loving the host of new features and the reduced strain on his CPU load in the latest Pro Tools update.
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: The Good Kind of Drama
Injecting some storytelling drama into a song can take place anywhere along the way, from songwriting through the mix, and Mike Levine considers it...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: A Place for Everything
Mike Levine admits his own messy tendencies when it comes to studio odds and ends, which is why he reminds us of a few...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Analog Emulation—How Much Is Too Much?
Mike Levine likes adding some analog flavor to his mixes, often through modeling and emulation plug-ins. Still, he wonders if he sometimes goes too...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: AI and Presets
While presets are designed to help you "get close," they carry a certain stigma among pros who want to dial in their own taste;...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Dispatch “From” the AES Showcase
Mike Levine has been attending the virtual AES Show for the past week or so and finds that while the number of exhibitors might...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Virtually There
The 2020 virtual AES Show begins this week and runs through the month of October; Mike Levine took a peek inside to see what...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: The No-Flow Zone
Athletes and creatives call it "being in the zone," while to neuroscientists it is known as "being in the flow." It's that state where...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Authoritarians and Music Don’t Mix
Censorship of the arts can take many forms, and as Mike Levine found out with a little research, it is by no means a...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: A Nice Surprise in Subscription Support
While Mike Levine has pointed out his own drawbacks to adopting subscription software plans, Plugin Alliance has introduced a model where your plug-ins are...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: 4U Recording Helps Uplift Memphis Music
Songwriter/producer David Porter has been quietly leading an effort to re-energize the Memphis music industry through the organization MIME and the capabilities of a...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Practice Safe Session
Recording sessions, with musicians, producers and engineers in a room, will happen again. The question is when, and how.
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: Must the Show Go On?
January 2021 is only six months away, and NAMM, as of today, is planning on a January show in Anaheim. Mike Levine asks, Is...
Blog
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...
Blog
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...
Blog
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...
Blog
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.
Blog
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...
Blog
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...
Blog
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...
Blog
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...
Blog
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...
Blog
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...
Blog
Mix Blog Studio: The 7 Phases of Gear Lust
Do you suffer from gear lust? Many recording musicians do. I happen to have a particularly severe case. For example, I have lately found...
Blog
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,...
Blog
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...
Blog
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...
Blog
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...
Blog
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...
Blog
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.