Inside The Recording Studio

Is updating your recording computer's operating system a smart move, or are you about to turn a working studio into a troubleshooting nightmare? This week on Inside the Recording Studio, Chris and Jody tackle one of the most important decisions facing anyone who relies on a computer to record music: when should you update your operating system? New operating systems can be tempting. But when your...

Headphones vs. Studio Monitors: Which One Gives You a Better Mix? Your mix sounds incredible in your studio, but what happens when you listen somewhere else? This week on Inside the Recording Studio, Chris and Jody tackle one of the biggest debates in audio production: headphones vs. studio monitors. Which gives you a more accurate picture of your mix? Which helps you make better decisions? And do...

Congratulations, you've developed a signature sound. Or maybe you've just figured out how to make every mix sound the same. That's the uncomfortable little question Chris & Jody drag into the studio this week. Should mix engineers have a recognizable signature sound, or should they be sonic chameleons who change their approach depending on what's sitting in front of them? Because "that's my so...

Part 2 of: What do Guitar Hero, blockbuster video game soundtracks, and a stack of epic TV scores all have in common? The unmistakable sound of Steve Ouimette. In this episode of Inside the Recording Studio, Chris and Jody sit down with the guitarist and producer whose riffs have been quietly shaping your playlists, your binge-watching marathons, and maybe even your late-night gaming sessions. Ste...

What do Guitar Hero, blockbuster video game soundtracks, and a stack of epic TV scores all have in common? The unmistakable sound of Steve Ouimette. In this episode of Inside the Recording Studio, Chris and Jody sit down with the guitarist and producer whose riffs have been quietly shaping your playlists, your binge-watching marathons, and maybe even your late-night gaming sessions. Steve takes us...

Congratulations, your mix sounds great. Now would you like an obscure setting called a pan law to quietly mess with it? Chris & Jody are digging into one of those recording topics that sounds suspiciously like something invented to make audio harder than necessary: pan laws. They exist. They matter. Sometimes. And if you have no idea what yours is set to, welcome to the club. So why do pan law...

You absolutely need another compressor plugin. The other six are probably lonely. At least, that is the kind of logic Chris & Jody put under the microscope in this episode of Inside the Recording Studio. Because somewhere along the way, building a studio can quietly turn into collecting home studio gear like you are preparing for a recording emergency that may never happen. One guitar needs a...

Apparently guitars have been hogging the distortion for far too long, so Chris & Jody have decided it's time to redistribute the dirt. Welcome to another episode of Inside the Recording Studio, where clean audio is perfectly acceptable right up until somebody decides it needs hot sauce. This time, Chris & Jody are talking distortion. Yes, guitar distortion is invited. Obviously. But stoppi...

MainStage is more than an Apple app with a familiar logo, and Chris & Jody are digging into why it can be a serious tool for live performance and studio work. This week on Inside the Recording Studio, Chris & Jody get their hands dirty with MainStage and look at what makes it such a useful sidekick for musicians. Whether you are building a touring rig or working from a bedroom setup, MainS...

Some conversations deserve more than one episode, and this is one of them. Chris and Jody return with the second half of their conversation with Christopher Allis, diving even deeper into the experiences that have shaped his life as a professional drummer. If Part One explored the road that led him to a career in music, Part Two digs into what keeps that career moving. Through stories from memorab...

Every great recording starts long before the record button is pressed. This week on Inside the Recording Studio, Chris and Jody welcome drummer Christopher Allis for an honest conversation about what it really takes to build a career as a working musician. From his earliest gigs through performing with some of the coolest artists on the circuit, Christopher walks us through the experiences that sh...

Everyone talks about side chaining like it's some secret club. Good news. There isn't a password. This week Chris and Jody tackle one of the most talked about mixing techniques in music production and prove it isn't nearly as scary as the internet sometimes makes it sound. Side chaining can make a muddy mix breathe, help your kick and bass stop fighting, and even add movement that makes a track fe...

Think your latest mix is perfect? Cool. Now compare it to a commercial release. That's exactly what Chris and Jody tackle in this week's episode of Inside the Recording Studio, where they explain why reference mixes are one of the best reality checks available to anyone making music. Spoiler alert: using reference tracks isn't cheating. It's something professionals do every day because ears get ti...

The phrase “There are no rules, just use your ears” sounds freeing until it leaves you with no map, no clues, and a mix that quietly hates you. This week on Inside the Recording Studio, Chris & Jody take aim at one of the most repeated lines in music productionadvice: “There are no rules.” It gets tossed around in forums, videos, and studio chats like it solves everything. But for beginners tr...

Question: What if everything you've believed about studio gear isn't actually true? Answer: That's exactly what Chris and Jody explore this week. Question: What's getting examined? Answer: • Studio myths. • Oxygen-free cables. • Premium USB cable claims. • The never-ending DAW debate. • The difference between audio fact from fiction. Now for the fun part. Every recording community has stories that...

If you've ever been asked to "send the stems" and found yourself wondering whether that really meant stems or multitracks, this episode could save you from an awkward conversation and maybe even your next recording opportunity. In this week's episode of Inside the Recording Studio, Chris and Jody tackle one of the most misunderstood topics in modern music production: stems vs multitracks. The two...

Your microphone might be amazing, your preamp might be expensive, and your performance space might be spotless. None of that matters if the person wearing the headphones wants to rip them off after thirty seconds. This week on Inside the Recording Studio, Chris and Jody tackle the surprisingly important world of headphone monitor mixes, proving that a happy performer usually starts with hearing th...

Think loops are cheating? Chris & Jody are ready to challenge that idea head-on. This week on Inside the Recording Studio, Chris & Jody dive into one of the most debated topics in modern music production: loops. From drum grooves and vocal chops to synth hooks and textured sound beds, loops have become a major part of how music gets made today. Yet despite how common they are, plenty of pr...

Ever wondered what happens when a veteran FOH engineer walks into a quiet studio and meets Chris & Jody? Spoiler: chaos and wisdom collide. This week’s Inside the Recording Studio episode features Raymond Gronvall, a live sound wizard who can tame a riotous stage while still making your vocals sparkle in the booth. Raymond shares what it’s like to mix a sold-out crowd with amps cranked to elev...

Imagine getting stranded on a desert island with a laptop, a DAW, and exactly five plugins before the universe says, “Good luck, audio nerd.” That’s the ridiculous challenge Chris & Jody tackle this week on Inside the Recording Studio, and things get surprisingly serious surprisingly fast. Because once you remove the safety blanket of 947 unused plugins, producers suddenly have to admit which...

So you want to build a recording rig. Great. Now try not to spend your rent money on cables, mystery boxes, and a power supply that hums like an angry refrigerator. This week on Inside the Recording Studio, Chris and Jody jump into the wonderful, confusing, mildly dangerous world of building a home or mobile recording setup. If you have ever stared at an audio interface, three cables, two adapters...

Some EQs are forgettable. The API 550A is not one of them. This thing has been shaping records for decades, and somehow it still walks into a modern studio like it owns the place. This week on Inside the Recording Studio, Chris & Jody get their hands on the legend, at least in spirit, and break down the API 550A without turning the episode into a dusty museum tour. Yes, there is history. Yes,...

Guitarists, please step away from the soldering iron for one second. Chris and Jody are diving into the eternal pickup cage match: passive pickups vs active pickups. This episode of Inside the Recording Studio is for the tone chasers, the pedalboard tweakers, the pickup loyalists, and the people who absolutely swear they can hear the difference between two nearly identical humbuckers from across t...

Not enough inputs? Welcome to the club. The jackets are backordered. This week, Ignacio sends in a listener question about preamp usage in small studio setups, and Chris & Jody happily dive into the glorious mess of getting pro sound from limited home studio gear. Because yes, it would be lovely to have endless preamps, endless channels, and a perfectly wired room where nothing hums, hisses, o...