Comment / Opinion

Brush up on your listening skills as we examine the production of recent hits from Aitch, Lizzo, Taylor Swift, Sam Smith and a classic mix from Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta.

It wasn't until life dragged me by the scruff of the neck out of bed at an unfathomably early hour that I began to learn the value of being up before everyone else.

Acquiring the skill to mix a piece of music takes time and practice, and like playing an instrument, you’re never done...

Brush up on your listening skills as we examine the production of some recent hits from Avicii, Dave, Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello, Fantastic Negrito and a classic mix from Procol Harum.

Verticality has been such a revelation that I now no longer own a beanbag!

I've had a couple of sample-based instruments to review lately, and both have weighed in at over 50 gigabytes each. Given my...

To help you brush up on your listening skills, we examine the production of some recent hits from Logic, Ed Sheeran, Lil Nas X and Paul Hardcastle's No.1 sampling classic '19'.

Don't get me wrong, I still love my tube amp. But the quality–of–life improvements that this device has brought to the table (or stage) is undeniable.

As the 'smart home' revolution takes off, will we ever see the 'smart studio'?

Brush up on your listening skills with our analysis of recent hits from Lauren Daigle, Stormzy, Meduza (featuring Goodboys), Tom Walker and a 1966 classic from The Beach Boys.

Fretless bass: the instrument that dare not speak its name. It had its 15 minutes of fame in the '80s, when almost every bass player who'd caught a glorious moment of Jaco Pastorius in Weather Report or in Joni Mitchell's band had a go at fretless...

To help you brush up on your listening skills, we examine the production of some recent hits from Dean Lewis, Jonas Brothers, Childish Gambino and a classic mix from Tom Jones.

"Teaching this stuff has empowered me to really learn to master the studio so that I can teach it better."

As regular readers may have gathered, I'm not very good at relaxing holidays, so I always take a basic laptop-based studio setup with me...

If I were ever asked to participate in the TV programme Room 101, I could find plenty of things to rant about...

To help you brush up on your listening skills, we examine the production of some recent hits from Lewis Capaldi, Brandi Carlile, and Mark Ronson feat. Miley Cyrus. Our classic mix is Bobbie Gentry's 1967 country music hit.

“Garage band sessions, where the drums have been mixed on a single microphone, embody honesty and humanity.”

In keeping with his South Yorkshire roots, this month's column returns to one of our Editor In Chief's favourite themes, which might best be described as fiscal restraint — or perhaps audio austerity...

"I love the fact that recording and production has become so cheap."

To help you brush up on your listening skills, we examine the production of some recent hits from Panic! At The Disco, Mabel, Dan + Shay, Kacey Musgraves plus a classic Carpenters mix.

Over 10 years ago I started a leader column by saying: "The cold reality is that the musical hardware and software available...