news
The Last Word on Upgrades: A PERSONAL JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF DARKNESS
You might be relieved to know that this is going to be my last column about dealing with upgrades-at least for a while. It's...
Recording
news
Antares Auto-Tune ATR-1: HARDWARE-BASED PITCH CORRECTOR
Antares introduced the Auto-Tune pitch correcting plug-in for Pro Tools about two years ago, and the masses went mental. Because it (as well as...
news
FIRESIGN THEATRE RETURNS: COMEDY FOR THE NEW MILLENIUM
After a 17-year break, the four original members of the legendary Firesign Theatre comedy troupe returned to the recording studio last year. Their mission:
news
Kevin Davis: QUICK HITS AT AN EARLY AGE
Wunderkind is probably the most appropriate label for Kevin "KD" Davis. Still in his early 20s, Davis is a one-man mix factory. He works...
news
THE COOLIDGE QUARTET: CHAMBER MUSIC ON LOCATION
In January of 1998 I was contacted by the Coolidge String Quartet about making a recording for the Danish record label Olufsen Records. The...
news
The Delicacy of War
Something special occurred in Hollywood during the last half of 1998, something only a handful of people will truly appreciate because most of it...
news
The Music Lab: MICHAEL TERRY’S SCORING EMPORIUIM
Although the benefits of spending one's days surrounded by simple beauty and the charms of our Colonial past can't be discounted, it's still not...
news
FACILITY SPOTLIGHT: THE SOUND LOUNGE
A shift has slowly been taking place in the Manhattan advertising community over the past several years, and increasingly, it involves a trip down...
news
RSI Awareness For Audio Professionals
For many in the audio industry, working with sound and music is a conscious alternative to working in more "main-stream" occupations. But while the...
news
Beyond the Big Three: MASTERING OUTSIDE THE MAJOR MARKETS
For as long as most of us can remember, America's music business has been concentrated in just three cities: Los Angeles, New York and...
news
Special Event: One Night of Timeless Music
New York's gilded midtown entertainment palace, Radio City Music Hall, narrowly escaped the wrecker's ball in the late 1970s during the last days of...
news
…And Nothing But the Gain: THE NEWEST IN UNACCESSORIZED MIC PREAMPS
Nowadays, more and more microphone preamps are coming loaded to the gills with additional processing. You've got compression, EQ, enhancement, limiting,
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing”
A stinging critique of the 1980s even as they happened, Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing" had a lengthy genesis, as related here by engineer...
news
Glen Ballard: THE HEART OF THE SONG
Songwriter/producer Glen Ballard has had a fairy tale career: Over the course of more than two decades in the L.A. music industry, the Mississippi...
news
The Gentlemen’s club: DESMOND CHILD’S VIRTUAL AESTHETIC
Desmond Child certainly has to be considered one of the most influential pop music composers of recent years. He co-wrote much of Slippery When...
Facilities
SPEAKER SETUP AND ACOUSTIC TIPS FOR THE FINANCIALLY CHALLENGED
When Mix asked me to write an article on acoustic fixes for small home studios, I said, "No problem, I've analyzed plenty of small...
news
AKG WMS 60: WIRELESS MICROPHONE SYSTEM
Mating great microphones with robust diversity transmission is the formula for wireless success. The first product in a new series of wireless systems
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Channel D Mac the Scope 2.1: SOFTWARE-BASED TEST INSTRUMENTS
Let's face it, anyone who owns a recording studio-big or small-will eventually need some test equipment. But quality audio test gear costs thousands of
news
IMAGINE THERE’S A BOX SET…
Released in November '98, The John Lennon Anthology is a magnificent piece of work-a four-disc set that captures the depth and breadth of Lennon's...
news
E-Mu Audio Production Studio: DESKTOP MUSIC PRODUCTION SYSTEM
E-mu has delivered a powerful new tool for desktop computer music production called the Audio Production Studio. This PCI-based audio card provides 64
1999
February 1, 1999
February 1, 1999 Technology Snapshot Product Reviews Technology Spotlight: Midas Heritage 3000 Shure KSM32: CARDIOID CONDENSER MICROPHONE Emagic Logic Audio Platinum: INTEGRATED MIDI/DIGITAL AUDIO...
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FACILITY SPOTLIGHT: LIVING IT UP IN A COOL DRY PLACE
When the stock market took a nosedive back in the late '80s, the advertising industry felt the shock. Big-ticket clients suddenly drew in the...
news
B&H TAKES THE PRO AUDIO PLUNGE
Back in the old days there were boundaries you could count on. Roger Maris defined the number of home runs a human could smack...
news
Hollywood VAULTS: Cold Storage For Hot Masters
It's clear from the recent history of the entertainment business that the public's appetite for the past is no less voracious than its craving...
news
Powerhouse Studio: A FLORIDA DRUMMER IN RURAL MASSACHUSETTS
I guess it was The Beatles on Ed Sullivan," says Stuart Covington when asked how he got started in the music business. "I always...
news
John Snyder: FOR THE LOVE OF THE MUSIC
Four-time Grammy-winning producer John Snyder gets to have a lot of fun. When he's not busy producing living legends like Dave Brubeck, George Shearing
news
STAT Of the Month: WHO’S THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL?
Celebrating the 40th anniversary of its chart sections, Billboard magazine recently ran enough Top Ten lists to choke David Letterman. But the list that
news
”SESSIONS AT WEST 54TH”: BEHIND THE SCENES AT PBS’s HOT MUSIC SHOW
Now in its second season, the hip weekly PBS series Sessions at West 54th has become television's most reliable source for high-quality live performances
news
CASUALTIES OF WAR
Whenever a Wal-Mart or Home Depot rolls into a town, it often sweeps away the independently owned and operated retailers who served those communities,
news
THE BEASTIE BOYS: Sounding Human
At the outset of 1986, few among the music industry's trendspotters and prognosticators cared to predict that three white guys from NYC would become...
news
Get Yer Red-Hots!: THE COMMODIFICATION OF PRO AUDIO RETAIL
There is a scene in the film Moscow on the Hudson in which Robin Williams' character, a defecting Russian circus musician, stumbles into a...
news
POWER TOOLS — Neve Flying Faders: THE ”NO SECRETS, NO MARKS, NO FEAR” APPROACH
Now campers, don't try this at home alone. These tips are based my perspective of working on a Neve VR, but should apply to...
news
Biograph:FLETCHER
Fletcher was brought up in Brooklyn and Queens, until he was old enough to run away to the circus, which is how he describes...
news
Earthworks Z30X: MICROPHONES AND LAB 102 PREAMPLIFIER
In 1996, Earthworks came seemingly out of nowhere with the TC30K, an omnidirectional microphone that featured response up to 30 kHz and got rave...
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Memorandum: You’re Surrounded!
Surround audio: Read about it, learn about it, prepare for it, experiment with it, buy a few more speakers. But don't bank on it....
news
Dynaudio Acoustics BM15A: ACTIVE NEAR-FIELD REFERENCE MONITORS
At one time, reviewers often concluded that self-powered near-field monitors costing $1,500 or less rivaled the quality of ones costing twice as much.
news
The Business of Buying: WHEN, HOW AND WHY TO LEASE EQUIPMENT
Leasing business equipment and technology has become a standard way of life for a majority of American companies. An estimated 80% of all U.S....
news
DEVA ON LOCATION: HARD DISK RECORDING FOR FEATURE FILM PRODUCTION
I always try to attend AES conventions, yet every year-even as the exhibits get more elaborate with more manufacturers showing product-I usually feel
news
FOUR DISCS, 26 YEARS: THE MAKING OF BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN’S ”TRACKS”
Bruce Springsteen's impressive career was launched with Greetings From Asbury Park in 1973. He was signed based on demos supervised by the legendary John
Classic-Tracks
Classic Tracks: Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”
In the fall of 1970, Black Sabbath mounted an aural assault on the music world with the release of their second album, Paranoid. Creating...