Blog
Converse Puts a Pedal in Your Sole
Converse sneakers were invented in 1908 and have been beloved by musicians ever since. Now, more than a century later, the company still can’t...
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Ponderings: Joe Iwan, FOH for Lacuna Coil
In Pro Sound News’ July 2016 “Live Sound Showcase” featuring legendary Italian gothic metal band Lacuna Coil, FOH engineer Joe Iwan shares insight on...
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Bringing A Standing Desk to Church
In the June, 2016 issue of Pro Sound News, my editorial delved into the world of standing desks and their application in the studio...
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Recording Goes to the (Place) Mat
McDonalds Netherlands has something new on its menu: McTrax, an interactive placemat that doubles as a recording controller. If they don’t get ketchup smeared...
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Retro PSN: Welcome 2 Prince
With the death of Prince in late April, 2016, the music world lost a genius who was equally adept on stage, in the studio...
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Seth Mosley: Producer with a Podcast
All music producers record artists, but Grammy, SESAC, Billboard and Dove Award-winning producer/songwriter Seth Mosley doesn't stop there. He also records engineers, songwriters, label...
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The Cutting Edge of Corporate AV, Circa 1938
I was wandering around a junk shop a few weeks ago when I came across this behemoth. ‘What the heck is that?’ I...
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Reading Roadie
Writing fiction about our complex and talent-focused industry is not for the faint-hearted. That seasoned music journalist Howard Massey has taken on that task...
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5 Producer Tips from Dave Stewart’s Autobiography
Best-known as one-half of Eurythmics, producer Dave Stewart shares great insights on recording and creativity in his autobiography—here’s just a handful of them
Mr. Bonzai's Music Smarts
Paul Kantner “Plane Talk” 1989
With the news that Jefferson Airplane-founder Paul Kantner, 74, died in late January of a heart attack, pro audio raconteur Mr. Bonzai pulled this...
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Trump Rallies Against Microphone
Pro Sound News covers the biggest concert tours on earth, but there’s another kind of tour that we rarely cover: The endless string...
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Fallen Brothers 2015: Series Comes To A Close
For almost a decade, Mical Caterina has produced “Fallen Brothers” videos every year to pay tribute to production professionals who passed away over the...
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Retro PSN: David Bowie Plays Nothing But Net
With the passing of David Bowie from cancer at age 69 this week, everyone's naturally thinking back to his heyday of the Ziggy...
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Reinventing NYC’s Penn Station Will Affect Audio Pros
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced a plan to redevelop New York City’s abysmal Pennsylvania Station, the most heavily used and arguably...
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A Heavy Record, Made of Concrete
German scientists have developed Ultra High Performance Concrete, a new building material that can do some amazing things—so they made a record out of...
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Dave Cobb: Unafraid To Move
Dave Cobb has built a name for himself in Nashville, and now he's landed a Grammy nomination for Producer of the Year, as well...
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Guest Post: Five Hard Truths
Founded in 2005, The Hit House has built an enviable track record providing custom music for movie trailers, TV commercials, videogame marketing efforts and...
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The Beatles’ Studio Goes On The Road
The Beatles were nothing if not ambitious, and it seems that every time someone looks to shed new light on the Fab Four’s history,...
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Bob Moses On Bob Moses
Between a rising debut album and near-incessant touring, Canadian dance music duo Bob Moses has made a name for itself, catching a ...
Studio Sense
Audio For President
I can no longer sit idly by as this nation’s politics are domineered by outsiders, rogues, technocrats and ideologues. It is obviously clear what...
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Spacelab9 Lands At New York Comic Con
The annual New York Comic Con might not seem like a place you’d find an audio-oriented company, but for Spacelab9, NYCC was a perfect...
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Book Review: Stomp On This! The Guitar Pedal Effects Guidebook
Stomp boxes have seen a resurgence in recent times, and no wonder: Everybody likes cool sounds and pedals provide a wonderfully tactile way to...
Studio Sense
LDCs, IFBs, Jimmie Johnson and the Pursuit of Excellence
For Rob Tavaglione, recording a phone interview with top NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson was a routine audio session—until he heard what the six-time championship...
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Inside Recording Clutch’s Psychic Warfare
Kings of heavy rock since the early Nineties, Clutch went into the studio in early 2015 with producer/engineer Machine (Lamb of God, Every Time...
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View from the Top: Matt Ward, Chief Executive Officer, Plugin Alliance
Overseeing Plugin Alliance is Matt Ward, who brought a lifetime’s experience to the table when he joined the company in January 2014.
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The Sound Company at Ground Zero on 9/11
When the Twin Towers came down on September 11, 2001, one sound company was particularly affected: RSA Audio of Edgewood, NY, which had been...
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White Noise Wackiness
If system engineers use white and pink noise to tune a concert PA, and audiophiles vehemently insist that everything sounds better on vinyl, how...
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School Days, Then And Now
Stanley Clarke's "School Days" may be a jazz fusion classic from the mid-1970s, but if you go hear him live in concert today, be...
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More On Recording ‘Ricki and The Flash’ Live
When Meryl Streep and Rick Springfield began filming Ricki and the Flash, starring as aging rockers, the film’s music wrangler, Neil Citron, was appointed...
Studio Sense
Cutting The Clutter: My Year-Long Rig Reduction Regime
We audio engineers are notorious for having, collecting and bragging about our rig—our ever-growing and oh-so-precious kit. Producers smile confidently for the...
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Is Recording’s Next Generation at the Library?
Faced with changing demographics, shrinking budgets and yes, dwindling book-circulation numbers, many quick-thinking libraries have begun reinventing themselves by adding Maker Spaces:...
Studio Sense
In-Ear Monitors vs. Things In Your Ears
For years I have regretted my pierced tragus. The tragus is that little flap of skin that covers the opening in to your ear...
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VIDEO: The Battle to Capture Battles
Battles has always been an interesting band, staking out a musical space somewhere between the conformity of modern electronic loop-based music and the improvisational...
Studio Sense
The Care and Feeding of Songwriters: Why “Art for Art’s Sake” Could Have An Unfortunate Future
In a recent Decibel Geek podcast, superstar pop songwriter Desmond Child (whose songs are on well over 300 million albums sold) shared some stats...
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Sneak Peek: AKG’s N90Q By Quincy Jones Headphones
Focused as we are on Pro Audio, we don’t usually wade into the waters of commercial audio products, but when AKG invited us...
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Something Is Rockin’ In The State Of Denmark [Online Extra]
The July, 2015 issue of Pro Sound News features a Live Sound Showcase on the current Volbeat world tour; what follows is a longer,...
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It’s Out With The Big Iron For Veneto West [Online Extra]
The July, 2015 issue of Pro Sound News profiles recording studio Veneto West; what follows is additional exploration into the facility and mindset...
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Fanarchy Vs. The Usual Way
It’s easy to get stuck in "the same old way of doing things," just because that’s how we’ve always done them. If we’re lucky,...
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Seen on the Scene: Sweetwater GearFest 2015
Every year for two days, Sweetwater GearFest turns Fort Wayne, Indiana, into the center of the musical instrument and pro audio world. People travel...
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Book Review: The Insider’s Guide to Home Recording
With an authoritative title like The Insider's Guide to Home Recording: Record Music and Get Paid, an engineering book had better be able to...
Studio Sense
CCM and Indie Rock: Mainstream Media Reports
Here's two recent and insightful articles on our industry as reported by mainstream outlets. Each is illustrative of the current music production...
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VIDEO: Building A Shipping Container Studio
Matt Dever is an Australian sound engineer who specializes in recording entire tours for instant 2-CD sets released at the end of each show;...