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Producer and Drummer Francesco Lucidi Hits Hard with AUDIX Microphones
“With AUDIX, I don’t feel like I’m hearing the mic, or even my monitor speakers. I feel like I’m hearing the essence of the...
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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...
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...
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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...
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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...
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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.
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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.
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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...
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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...
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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;...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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 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 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...
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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 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 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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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 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...
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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...
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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 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...
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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...
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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...
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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...