Mixing / Production

Are the acoustics of your studio letting down your music? Improving the sound of your room needn't cost much and pays dividends in better recordings and more transportable mixes. Read on for the SOS guide.

To accompany this month's Acoustics article, open this page and download this MP3 of a Bass Staircase test sequence, then audition it on your own monitors.

Eleven mix engineers tried their hand at Kanye West's 'Stronger' before Manny Marroquin finally turned it into a record. He was rewarded with one of the biggest hits of 2007.

Classical interpretations of guitar music might not be new — but when the guitar music in question consists of 64 minutes of deafening feedback, it takes a lot of interpreting!

The rescue mission this month is to bring coherence and polish to the disparate elements of Solivern's interesting instrumental composition...

Here are links to the audio files from December 2007's MIX RESCUE article, for those readers who buy the magazine from the newsagent and don't wish to type in all the long URLs.

This month we look at monitor placement, tighten stereo imaging and tackle what was probably the world's smallest vocal booth!

The challenge: to remix 10 Depeche Mode albums in surround — while recreating the signature sounds created by the band and some of the worlds greatest producers. As Mute Records Head Engineer Kevin Paul explains, it was never going to be easy!

The role of the mix engineer is becoming ever more creative. Jack Joseph Puig explains how his imaginative approach helped shape Fergies smash hit Big Girls Dont Cry.

A very short piece of music can earn a very large amount of money if its the soundtrack to a TV ad, but competition for these spots is fierce. The founders of Massive Music, specialists in sourcing music for the advertising industry, explain what it takes to succeed.

This month we tackle one reader's first ever attempt at mixing his own music.

Here are links to the audio files from November 2007's MIX RESCUE article, for those readers who buy the magazine from the newsagent and don't wish to type in all the long URLs.

I use Cubase SX v1 and I want to set up a reverb that the vocalist can hear during recording, but that doesn't get recorded...

We help install the equipment won by one of the lucky winners of the SOS and Digital Village prize draw held at Sounds Expo 2007.

Former Savage Garden singer Darren Hayes has turned his back on major labels and hit factory songwriters to pursue his love of electronica — with help from producer Justin Shave, a vintage Fairlight and a unique computer-based instrument.

If you record music on a computer, you have a huge amount of irreplaceable data that needs to be backed up. However, traditional data protection strategies have been expensive or tedious to operate. The solution? RAID on...

If you're stuck in a creative rut with sample libraries, why not look for inspiration in your own home?

When they hired Joe Chiccarelli to record their latest album, the White Stripes set him a stiff challenge: to create a modern, punchy, heavily edited sound, without leaning on modern digital tools.

Here are links to the audio files from October 2007's MIX RESCUE article, for those readers who buy the magazine from the newsagent and don't wish to type in all the long URLs.

We get weeding this month, to thin out a busy mix without sacrificing the big sound.

Richard Hawley has achieved his high profile in the 21st century by harking back to an age before the Beatles. Hawley and engineer Colin Elliot document the recording of his new album Lady’s Bridge.