Recording

Heavy rockers Nickelback have enjoyed amazing success with their multi-platinum album Silver Side Up. Frontman Chad Kroeger is not only their main songwriter, but also plays an active role in production and looks after an expanding business empire.

Engineer Richard Chappell has been at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios for over 15 years — and he's spent seven of them working on Gabriel's latest solo album.

Most home studio owners now rely heavily on digital audio recording and processing, but you could be sacrificing the quality of your recordings if your system isn't clocked correctly.

Few project studio owners have the space to record a real drum kit to its best advantage. However, drum parts that are completely sample-based can lack a sense of organic authenticity, and can make an otherwise good recording sound like a demo. Fortunately, there are several ways you can tackle this problem for more lively results.

A new Massive Attack album is always an event, and this year's 100th Window was perhaps the most eagerly anticipated yet. Like its predecessor Mezzanine, it was co-produced and co-written by Neil Davidge.

What exactly is a modular synth? How slow is a slow release? How can I wire my 32:8:2 analogue desk to a 16-track recorder? How can I compensate for a lack of phase-reversal and EQ bypass controls on my mixer? Why do some bass notes have more 'punch' than others? Is there a problem with inputs on the Roland VS2480? Should I buy a DI box or a channel strip? Should EQ or compression be applied first? What is the advantage of recording with a higher resolution, as opposed to a higher sampling rate? Can I run V-Producer via OMS?

Rob Jackson's latest project is a band called The Low Country, with a sparse, American sound that calls to mind the likes of Lucinda Williams and Low.

Sheryl Crow's rise to the top has seen her use — and lose — the talents of a lot of people behind the glass, from world-famous producers to unknown songwriters.

How can I create the fat bass sound I hear on commercial productions? What are the differences between S/PDIF and AES-EBU? Are there any problems powering UK electrical equipment with Vancouver voltages? Can you recommend some omni mics for chamber recording? How can I build a suitable enclosure to reduce the noise of my computer? Is it possible to create a fake stereo track from a mono source? How can I make my MIDI controller's knobs work? How can I mix a track on a multitimbral synth?

SOS reader Declan Flynn has been pursuing a career in the industry for a long time, since he became fascinated with electronic music as a teenager and bought his first synth and drum machine.

Recording a band is tough enough in the studio, but working on location adds another whole level of complexity. So here's how to overcome the inevitable setup gremlins and fix some of the most common problems at the mixdown stage.

Many people love the idea of laptop recording, but few have put it into practice like 1 Giant Leap. Their acclaimed album and DVD project was recorded on an Apple Powerbook during a six-month journey round the world — with a little help from some friends...

The drum kit can be one of the most time-consuming and frustrating of instruments to record, so it's worth taking a structured approach.

Well-known jazz musician John Scofield has spent the last five years updating his sound with the help of modern technology and new collaborators - including innovative guitarist Avi Bortnick.

The SOS team visit the sleepy Herefordshire town of Bromyard to help violinist Mike Burnham with his folk recordings.

One of the secrets of overdubbing is setting up good cue monitoring for the performer. There are, however, a number of different approaches and it is important to choose the most appropriate for the task at hand.

With the cult triple album 69 Love Songs, Stephin Merritt established himself as one of the most remarkable songwriters around. The Future Bible Heroes' new album sees his trademark lyrical cleverness paired with Chris Ewen's distinctive, organic electronica.

Can I use my drum pads to trigger drum machine sounds? • Are red indicators in audio software significant? • What is 'zero level'? • Can you advise me on vocal recording and microphones? • Why have my faders stopped working? • Does normalising have any adverse effect on audio? • Can I obtain better orchestral sounds on a budget?

Like many other musicians, the impact of modern computer-recording technology brought a huge step forward in the quality Ron could achieve with his home studio setup...

There are now many different ways to record electric guitars, from miked-up valve amps to physical modelling preamps. So how do you decide which to use?

Pioneering electro-pop duo Soft Cell are back with a new album, seeking to combine the best of old and new production techniques.