Dallas Simpson & Swimming: The Binaural Gig

Gnarls Barkley & The Atlanta Sound

Ben Allen

Their combination of Southern soul and hip-hop gave Gnarls Barkley one of the biggest hits of the year, thanks in part to the mixing wizardry of Ben Allen.

Steve Hodge

Mixing R&B

After 17 years mixing almost everything that came out of Jam & Lewis's Flyte Tyme Studios, there's very little Steve Hodge doesn't know about making R&B records work.

Scissor Sisters: Recording Ta-Dah

Babydaddy • Dan Grech-Marguerat

The Scissor Sisters' first album, recorded in a Manhattan apartment, sold 3.5 million copies worldwide. The follow-up sees them expanding their horizons, while keeping their DIY ethos very much intact.

John Cale

Artist/Producer

As a solo artist, producer and member of the Velvet Underground, John Cale has had a hand in some of the most influential records ever made.

Stephen Duffy

Writing & Producing With Robbie Williams

Despite his best efforts, Stephen Duffy's solo work never quite made him a superstar — but it did get him one of the best co-writing gigs around.

Jim Abbiss

Producing Kasabian & Arctic Monkeys

Jim Abbiss decided to go back to basics and make records the way he wanted to make them. The result? The fastest-selling debut album in history...

Uwe Schmidt: Recording Yellow Fever!

Yellow Magic Orchestra goes Latino

Yellow Magic Orchestra helped pioneer the use of electronic instruments and sampling. Now Uwe Schmidt, aka Señor Coconut, has used the same techniques to render their greatest hits as Latin dances, with contributions from all three original YMO members.

Donald Fagen

Recording Morph The Cat

Morph The Cat, Donald Fagen's third solo album in 24 years, sees Fagen and engineer Elliott Scheiner continue their quest for the best possible sound quality — which, it seems, comes only from analogue recording.

Jim Moray

Folk Music For The 21st Century

The idea of bringing folk music up to date is not a new one, but few people have taken it quite as far as Jim Moray. His material may be traditional, but his approach to music technology is as modern as it gets.

Recording David Gilmour's On An Island

Andy Jackson

David Gilmour's chart-topping solo album was recorded on his own Astoria houseboat, a floating slice of studio heaven. Engineer Andy Jackson describes the making of the album.

Producing Eminem & Fiona Apple

Mike Elizondo

Mike Elizondo has gone from being Dr Dre's right-hand man, co-writing some of the biggest hip-hop hits of recent years, to being an innovative producer in his own right.

Roger Nichols: Across The Board

The Current State Of Affairs

What can we, as engineers or musicians, do to prevent our recorded legacy being lost?

Joe Boyd

Record Producer

When British traditional music got a dose of rock & roll excitement, it was an American who sat in the producer's chair. Oh, and Joe Boyd also discovered a little-known band called the Pink Floyd...

Recording 24: The Game

Richard Aitken of Nimrod Productions

In the past, tie-in video games have had to use samples to recreate real orchestral soundtracks from the original TV series or film. With 24: The Game, however, it was the other way around.

The Matrix

Writing & Producing in LA

The success of Avril Lavigne's debut album Let Go catapulted The Matrix to the front rank of songwriters and producers. Since then, they've moved in ever wider musical circles, culminating in their work with nu-metal pioneers Korn.

Cool & Dre

Producing Hip-Hop

Miami is now a hip-hop centre to rival New York and LA, and Cool & Dre are two of its most active beatmakers, songwriters and producers.

Recording & Mixing Kanye West

Craig Bauer

Craig Bauer has been part of Kanye West's career from the beginning, and as a mix engineer on the smash hit Late Registration album, he had to marry West's artistic perfectionism with his own technical standards.

Producing The Darkness's One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back

Roy Thomas Baker

Recording the One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back album, Roy Thomas Baker and the Darkness used 400 reels of tape, up to 1000 tracks per song and a year in the studio — not to mention custom-made panpipes. Find out more...

From 4AD To Nine Inch Nails

John Fryer

The likes of Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins and Nine Inch Nails all owe a sonic debt to engineer/producer John Fryer, who explains his approach to production.

Composing For Films

Harry Gregson-Williams

Harry Gregson-Williams's drive to explore original ideas and sounds has made him one of Hollywood's leading composers, scoring everything from romantic comedies to spy thrillers and historical dramas.

Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: Mike Poole | Angel Dance

Inside Track

Thirty years after Led Zeppelin ended, Robert Plant has reached a second career high. His latest hit album was tracked and mixed by Mike Poole, using a mouth-watering selection of vintage equipment.

Nashville Guitars

Recording Today's Country Guitar Sounds

With country guitars, what you hear on the record is what was played in the studio. We asked Nashville's leading engineers how they capture those tones.

Mike Vernon: Producing British Blues

Interview | Producer

Mike Vernon produced some of the greatest blues records of all time. A full decade after retiring, he's back in the studio with some of the British blues scene's brightest lights.

Happy Birthday Sound On Sound!

Milestones

Some of the friends we've made over the years share their congratulations on our 25th birthday!

Labrinth | Producing Tinie Tempah

Interview | Music Production

The man behind the biggest UK single of the year — ‘Pass Out’ by Tinie Tempah — is 21-year-old musical prodigy and maverick Labrinth.

Oval (aka Markus Popp): Recording Oh And O

Electronica Production

One of electronica’s most adventurous spirits, Markus Popp has returned with an album that sounds surprisingly... musical. But is everything as it seems?

Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: Mike Strange Jr

Inside Track | Eminem

Eminem’s Recovery has been one of the biggest hit albums of the year, spawning two number one singles — all recorded and mixed by Eminem’s long-term engineer, Mike Strange.

Proper Noise

Jon Burton: Mixing & Recording The Prodigy Live

As the Prodigy’s chief live sound engineer, Jon Burton gets to unleash untold kilowatts of bass power on an unsuspecting world. He has also made multitrack recordings of every show on their 26-month world tour.

Silver Apples

Early electronica !

Silver Apples jammed with Jimi Hendrix, counted John Lennon as a fan, and produced extraordinary electronic music — with nothing but a drum kit and a pile of electrical junk.

Paul Worley | Producing Lady Antebellum

Devo | Mark Mothersbaugh

Four Decades Of De-evolution

Pioneers of everything from circuit-bending to multimedia art, Devo have always belonged to the future.

MGMT

Andrew VanWyngarden & Ben Goldwasser: Recording Congratulations

MGMT could have followed up their smash hit debut album with more of the same. Instead, they headed straight into left field, with help from a legend of British psychedelia.

Faust: Hans Joachim Irmler

40 Years Of Krautrock

In 1969, Faust used their massive record company advance to build a unique studio and a collection of weird, custom-made effects units. The same experimental spirit lives on in their new album, Faust Is Last.

Plan B

Producing The Defamation Of Strickland Banks

Plan B entered the public eye as a rapper, but it’s as a soul singer that he has conquered the charts. He and his production team revisit the tortuous story behind The Defamation Of Strickland Banks.

Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: David R Ferguson

Inside Track: Johnny Cash | American VI: Ain’t No Grave

Sometimes the simplest-sounding music takes the most work to get right, and so it was with Johnny Cash’s posthumous hit album American VI: Ain’t No Grave. Engineer and mixer David R Ferguson was on hand at every stage of Rick Rubin’s production.

Porcupine Tree

Steven Wilson: Recording & Marketing Porcupine Tree

Every new Porcupine Tree album sells over a quarter of a million copies. And with founder Steven Wilson in control of everything from songwriting to shrink-wrapping, there’s no middle man to take a cut. Read his valuable advice for SOS readers wishing to do likewise...

Phil Thornalley: Torn

From Rock Producer To Pop Songwriter

Phil Thornalley learned his trade as a rock engineer and producer in the ’80s. Then he co-wrote a little-known song called ‘Torn’...

Ray Davies

Five Decades In The Studio

Legendary songwriter and Kinks frontman Ray Davies got his first taste of recording in 1964, and he’s never looked back.

The Stargate Writing & Production Team

Mikkel Eriksen

From humble beginnings in provincial Norway, the Stargate team have gone on to become one of America’s leading hit factories. Songwriter and producer Mikkel Eriksen explains how their hard work and talent brought success.

Dave Stewart: Creating A New Album From Archive Material

Time Trial: Bringing Multitracks and MIDI into the 21st Century

Dave Stewart’s career has spanned several generations of music technology (from National Health band in the 1970s to hits with partner Barbara Gaskin. For his latest project, he faced the challenge of bringing his old multitracks and MIDI sequences into the computer age.