As hard drive sizes rise into the hundreds of Gigabytes, it's crucial to consider the benefits that partitioning can bring.
Recording in a converted attic, Tom Fox was having serious problems with his acoustics while recording drums, so the SOS team drove over to Yorkshire to sort things out.
We take a practical look at the pros and cons of coincident and spaced stereo miking techniques.
We provide some tips for making your masters sound as loud as commercial tracks, without sacrificing too much sonic quality along the way.
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.
We look at how Windows' multi-user accounts can be used as a potential alternative to setting up different versions of Windows on multiple partitions.
All of the main MIDI + Audio sequencers now have a bewildering array of compression and limiting plug-ins built in, but many home musicians are unclear about what all those controls and options do. And with so many varieties of each plug-in available, which one should you choose for the job in hand?
Pulse-width modulation is a vital tool in achieving lush-sounding synthesized string pads — so what if your synth doesn't have it? Fear not, for PWM can itself be synthesized. Here's how...
A patchbay can make your studio much quicker to use, but can also be a nightmare to set up, so here's advice on which to choose and how to connect it up for the best results. Plus, tips on building and fitting racks for your gear.
It's been 12 months since we first evaluated Windows XP as a music platform, and it now seems to be the OS of choice for most manufacturers. So should musicians who have been holding back now take the plunge and upgrade?
Jack Wall is a leading light in the video game soundtrack industry, where his credits include the latest chapter in the best-selling Myst series of computer games.
There are many reasons why the digital delivery of media hasn't replaced traditional physical methods, but could one reason be that files just aren't very collectable?
Analogue synths can't synthesize every sound, but the attempts made to replicate the sound of orchestral strings were so successful that so-called string machines became much-loved instruments in their own right. We begin a voyage into the world of synthesized strings...
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.
The SOS team visit the sleepy Herefordshire town of Bromyard to help violinist Mike Burnham with his folk recordings.
Cheap, writable optical media have revolutionised the way PC users store audio and back up their data. However, setting up your CD-R/W drives and persuading them to work at their best can be more complicated than it seems...
When trying to copy a real piano with an analogue synth, if one patch doesn't quite do it, two just might...
No home studio is immune from issues of impedance, yet the subject can seem very confusing. In this workshop we explain what the recording musician needs to know about impedance, and show you how to avoid lifeless guitar sounds, digital glitches, and fried amps!
We transform the humble and inexpensive games joystick into a simple but effective MIDI controller, and find a word processor that will have minimum impact on the clean music partition of your PC.
While using keyboard shortcuts in a sequencer is nothing new, this month we explain how Cubase SX/SL takes the idea further, and look at Hans Zimmer's unique solution for accessing Key Commands in Cubase.