Mixing / Production

Recorded on eight-track cassette, cLOUDDEAD's extraordinary debut album is an object lesson in lo-fi production and the creative use of budget equipment.

Abbey Road's famous Studio One has played host to innumerable big-budget orchestral recordings for film, but the final session before its refurbishment in 2001 saw it being used for a new purpose: to record the soundtrack for a video game.

As someone who's been hugely successful both in his native Britain and his adopted home of the USA, producer Peter Collins has a uniquely international perspective on record production.

We hear from more surround producers working at very different ends of the music business to see how they've created working surround systems, and how they make use of 5.1 at the mixing stage.

Software samplers are revolutionising studio recording, but can they replace their hardware counterparts in live performance? Jazz keyboardist Django Bates is in the process of finding out...

The flexibility of the effects assignment in modern MIDI + Audio sequencers (DAWs) can be daunting, so here's some advice on how to sort out the routing and order of your plug-ins for common recording and mixing tasks.

Try these tips and techniques for creating more convincing programmed rhythm parts in your sequencer.

Our series turns to the practicalities of setting up your own surround-capable recording system, and we talk to two radically different surround studios to see how they've coped — one at project- and one at pro-studio level.

Among his many credits as an engineer, producer, programmer and artist, Jon Astley is perhaps best known for his award-winning work remastering classic albums from the likes of The Who, Abba and George Harrison.

Super Furry Animals' recent album Rings Around The World is one of the first to be released in a custom-mixed 5.1 surround version for DVD as well as on stereo CD. Keyboard player Cian Ciárán explains how and why they embarked on this groundbreaking project.

BT revitalised the sound of boy band N'Sync, composed some of the most radical soundtracks to appear in mainstream films, and has a good claim to have invented trance. And he still finds time to talk to SOS...

The 'producers' producer', the 'guitarists' guitarist': Jay Graydon is back, with a new album and a renewed hunger for success. Always the consummate studio craftsman, when he talks technique, it's worth listening...

In recent years, Dublin has become one of Europe's hottest centres for pop production, and Biffco Productions are one of the top hitmaking teams who've made their home there.

You don't need to have Top 40 hits to make a living from your music. Just ask Kent Brainerd, who has made a tidy sum by composing music for company training and presentation videos. Find out how...

Baz Luhrmann's ambitious film Moulin Rouge integrates radically reworked pop classics into a historical romance. As well as co-ordinating this unique musical project, programmer and producer Marius de Vries somehow found time to work on Bjork's acclaimed new album Vespertine.

Stephen Harris is the man behind some huge recent hits by U2, Santana and the Dave Matthews Band. Sam Inglis finds out how he made it big.

Richard Buskin meets a successful American composer who's specialised in a unique kind of music for television...

Gorillaz have made waves as the first 'virtual band' to achieve real chart success. Behind the animated characters, however, lurk real engineers and musicians... Sam Inglis tracks them down to find out how they recorded their debut hit.

For a man who likes to work quickly in the studio, David Axelrod's new album has taken an awfully long time to make — 33 years, to be precise. Meanwhile, his groundbreaking '60s and '70s productions have become a crucial resource for the biggest names in hip-hop.

Paul Farrer's name has been a fixture in SOS for several years, but these days he's best-known as the theme tune composer for top BBC TV quiz show The Weakest Link. Paul White asks the questions...

We explain how to get the best practical results from equalisation by understanding the true frequency ranges of most instruments and voices.