Mixing / Production

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.

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.

In music-for-picture work, there's never enough time to do what you'd ideally like to. We look at what it's like producing music under pressure.

Ian McMillan's band recording presents some challenging drum parts this month, and there are also tips for better mixing of bass, guitars, and backing vocals.

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...

An ambient dance track gets the Mix Rescue treatment this time, as SOS reader Mark Edwards finds out that less is definitely more.

What happens when the Director whose work you're scoring isn't satisfied, or demands changes due to events beyond your control? We find out, and also look at writing music for film trailers.

Everyone knows how much a classy vocal sound can add to any recording, but achieving this in the studio can seem something of a black art, so this month we demystify the recording, processing, and mixing techniques required to produce professional results.

Despite having a generally well-balanced mix, James Michael felt that his track wasn't sounding quite right, so he contacted Mix Rescue for some mastering pointers. Check out the 'before' and 'after' mixes while you pick up some useful tips.

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.

I've seen it suggested that compressing the stereo bus is the key to getting a mix to come together and sound 'like a record'. Is this really the case?

We look at the completed orchestrations for the film project introduced last month, and begin to consider the problem of what to do when a director demands revisions to your work...

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.

A new business model for mastering houses allows you to submit tracks via the Web and pay on-line. Last month, we embarked on a unique test of these services. This month: the results are in...

We overhaul Bristol band Taxi's mix sound in search of punchier drums, meatier guitars, and a more polished lead vocal.

So, you've been commissioned to write the score for something. What should you do next? We provide some suggestions, with real-world scoring examples for you to download and try.

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.

Success! You've been invited to pitch for a job. Surely that Hollywood career now beckons? Well, no... This is just a pitch — there are others competing for the job. We look at how to maximise your chances of winning the commission...

Kick drum and lead vocal present tough processing challenges in this installment's remix.

A new business model based around the Internet promises to make professional mastering more convenient — and much more affordable. But is on-line mastering a real alternative or a false economy? We put the UK's leading services to the test.

Recording engineers have been adding artificial reverberation to recordings for many years, and have developed a variety of different ways of doing this. Home recordists now have access to modern versions of all these tools, so let's look at how they compare to each other, and how best to use each.