Mixing / Production

Last year's best-selling UK single came not from Westlife or All Saints, but a pre-school kids'TV series. Sam Inglis asks its composer and producer how they turned the theme into a hit.

Sam Inglis meets the production crew behind one of the year's biggest garage tracks.

Wedding Present frontman David Gedge and engineer/producer Steve Albini are both brutally loud guitar-based alternative music — so what would happen when they collaborated on an album influenced more by Serge Gainsbourg than the Stooges? Tom Flint investigates...

Elizabeth Parker is one of Britain's best-known composers of music for television, and is renowned in the business for her ability to complete projects to the tightest of deadlines. Sam Inglis visits her unique personal studio to find out how she does it...

One of Britain's leading experts in orchestral arrangement, David Sinclair Whitaker has worked on everything from the original version of 'My Way' to hits by S Club 7. Mike Senior finds him still going strong after more than 35 years in the music business...

Sam Inglis catches up with man behind one of the year 2000's biggest dance hits, and hears about a tangled web of remixes, bootlegs and licensing deals; not to mention the most bizarre synthesizer on the market today...

Paul White further explores the secrets of successful compression, and explains how to use advanced techniques for mastering your mixes.

Paul White looks at different gain-control elements and their effect on audio.

In the final part of his short series on pushing back the boundaries of effects processing, Paul White explores many different applications of audio filters, as well as exploring the possibilities of granular synthesis.

Can an Englishman's home be both his castle and his studio — or is it better to keep business and pleasure apart? Jay Kay of Jamiroquai clearly feels that building his own facility has paid off. Sue Sillitoe heads for his Chillington studio in Buckinghamshire to find out more...

The studio business has seen huge changes in the last 10 years, and the equipment, techniques and fashions that were cutting-edge in the early '90s are often redundant now. Mike Senior meets a producer and engineer who, having made it to the top then decided to take a five-year break and is now back with a vengeance.

David Gray's album White Ladder has become one of the most successful UK chart albums of 2000, a breakthrough spearheaded by top five chart single 'Babylon'. Engineer/programmer and co-producer Lestyn Polson tells Tom Flint the story behind the song.

Newcastle-based engineer Dave Maughan, like many SOS readers, runs a small commercial studio based in his own house — where he recorded one of the year's most acclaimed albums. Sam Inglis hears his story.

Since UK garage emerged from the underground last year, record companies have been scrambling to sign up the stars of the latest Big Thing. Foremost among these is Mark Hill, who, as well as being one half of Artful Dodger, has also produced Craig David's hit single and debut album Born To Do It.

Morcheeba's last album Big Calm was a commercial and artistic breakthrough, and expectations were running high for their new album, Fragments Of Freedom. The first single from the album, 'Rome Wasn't Built In A Day', was an intriguing taster. Producer Pete Norris told Tom Flint how it was written and recorded.

Paul White explores how you can give your mixes more stereo depth and width — not only using the more commonly recognised methods, but also with a few lesser-known tricks of the trade...

After poor sales of an album that dealt with death, Mr E and his Eels returned with a beautiful-sounding, poignant, and often funny record about life, recorded mainly in the basement of E's house. Matt Bell talks to E and his collaborators about how the album was made.

Most record producers would greet the discovery that their work has been bootlegged with dismay. For German dance producer Ramon Zenker, however, it proved to be the key to a smash hit. Sam Inglis finds out more...

Last month, Paul D. Lehrman described how he became involved in a project to create a performable edition of George Antheil's prophetic but never performed, Ballet Mechanique, in its original version with 16 synchronised player pianos and a human ensemble. With the process of sequencing the 1240-measure work complete, he was now faced with the task of preparing the first ever live performance of the piece...

I have recorded an album of my own work and I am hoping to make an impression with it. My problem is that the album is...

I need to upgrade my 16‑channel Mackie 1604VLZ mixer to 32 channels, but there is a cash problem. The price...