Inside The Recording Studio

Chris and Jody delve into the complex and often misunderstood world of sampling in music production. We're lifting the curtain on the moral and legal realities of using samples to create new musical works, exploring the creative freedoms, potential pitfalls, and the ethical considerations that every artist and producer should be aware of. 🎵 Sampled Soundscapes: The Artistic Tapestry of Sampling:...

Chris and Jody embark on the thrilling quest to define the finishing touches of a song mix. We'll explore the elusive moment when a mix is considered "finished," unravel the mysteries of mastering-friendly loudness, and uncover the essential checklist before handing off your masterpiece to a mastering engineer. 🎚️ The Finish Line: Decoding Mix Completion: Dive into the nuances of determining when...

Chris and Jody embark on a journey through the intricate world of mixing with buses. Buckle up as we explore the scenic route of signal routing, weaving through the musical landscape to create a harmonious blend of instruments and tones. 🚍 All Aboard the Mix Bus Express: Chris and Jody will guide you through the concept of mix buses and how they act as the conductors of our sonic symphony. Discov...

Chris and Jody delve into the warm waters of Vocal Chains. Those oft talked about elusive orders of microphone to final product with vocals. What mic, what pre, what eq, what compressor, what order and so on, and so on, and so on. Never fear they've come here this week with an example of a lead vocal out of a chorus and discuss the finer points of each stage along the way. Then to make it even bet...

Chris and Jody take in a listener request regarding the impact of a good arrangement on a mix. How does it help a mix when an arrangement is well thought out? What hurts a mix when the arrangement isn't planned out? How to think thru an arrangement so that a mix will practically mix itself. Plus road warrior stories about arrangements.

Chris and Jody take a stroll down mixing memory lane. Talking about revisiting old mixes. The Who, what, where, when and why you would ever, ever, want to do this. There's a portion talking about bringing old formats into the new DAW realm as well. Are there benefits to doing this stuff? Or is it all a giant waste of time? Find out.

Chris and Jody whip up some classic guitar tones from a Stratocaster, a Telecaster and a straight up Strat style guitar with a humbucker. They delve into several pickup settings and run thru come simple chords and riffs to compare each sound and then explain what they’re hearing in each tone setting.   Stratocaster with Fishman Fluence Fender voiced pickups. Telecaster with standard single coil te...

Chris and Jody fulfill a listener request to talk about the ever present All-In-One plugins. You know, those plugins that are meant to be the be all end all of a particular mixing component. Are there pros to these plugins? What are the cons of these plugins? Do we use them?

Chris and Jody get into the nitty gritty with tactics for mixing electric guitars. The prep steps that should be taken. The EQ and compression techniques and when to use them. The FX that may or may not get used. Plus there's an extra bit end that helps to really get guitars to stand out in a song.

Chris and Jody get down and dirty with tactics for mixing lead vocals. The prep steps that should be taken. The EQ and compression techniques. The FX used. Plus there's an extra bit end that helps to really blend a vocal into a song.

Chris and Jody unleash their favorite picks for reverb emulations. What are the 6 hardware boxes that have been made into a great reverb emulation. There's also some bonus emulations for something different from hardware. Listen in to find out the picks we make.

Chris and Jody tear down the concepts on plugin GUIs. Talking about the evolution of plugin interfaces, what makes them good, what makes them bad. How they affect workflow and more.

Chris and Jody return to the well of mix tips with five more tips to keep in mind. What type of things to do before you blow your mix vibe. Should you rely on presets? What to do to breath a little life into tracks. How democratic should you be. When should you start over? All these things get mulled over and more! ** Jody is using a Telefunken M80 into the Apollo on this episode.

Chris and Jody dive into some useful 3rd party tools meant to up your DAW's already powerful capabilities. From pitch correction, to time correction, to noise removal and all types of things in-between. Strap in and come along for the outside your DAW excursion.

Chris and Jody head out on the highway of getting Classic Guitar Tones. What amps come to mind for which genres. Are there a particular effects used for each setup. Which guitars, etc. Jump in the van of guitar history and come along for the ride. Including examples of each.

Chris and Jody court their 5 most common recording myths and lay them out cold with a KO punch. Do you need everything under the sun? How many mics do you need? Do you need the most expensive gear? All this and more is discussed to hopefully end the myths that surround our lives in regards to recording and mixing.

Chris and Jody go round and round, side to side into a deep dive of the TC2290 Digital Delay unit. As per all other deep dives on ItRS it's a history of the unit. Also taking a look at the interface and all the modules and what they do on this incredible sounding hardware delay.

Chris and Jody go for the noise, pink noise that is. What is pink noise? How does it differ from white noise? Is it useful for mixing? Is it a good learning tool? What is the process for using it to mix? All these questions are considered, plus a whole lot more as it relates to pink noise and using it to improve your mixes.

Chris and Jody list out 10 tips & ideas to help you and your mixing. EQs, compression, delays, volume levels, etc. We run the gamut in these 10 tips that should easily improve your efficiency and efficacy. Plus there's a story about a hi-hat and guitar with how they clashed.

Chris and Jody jump into a deep dive of the H3000 from Eventide. The original ultimate harmonizer multi-fx box. A little history, a little interface, a whole lot of fx and where it's leading into the future.

Chris and Jody reflect on all the tools we have available to us to create, produce, mix and master music today. Do we have too many options? Are all of them needed? Is there a healthy balance to the tools we have and how often we use them? Come on in and find out how they deal with the overload that exists today.

Chris and Jody take a look at sample libraries. Hold your horses, this isn't about our favorite libraries, but rather about how to manage and store them in your computer system. What are some best practices and some of the various means that they can be managed when they get to some unwieldy sizes. It's all in the name of keeping them tidy, clean, and future proofed.

Chris and Jody get into an in-depth look at the AMEK Console emulation. A little history of the AMEK console itself, who created it and went it entered the world. How accurate is the AMEK 9099 to its hardware predecessor? Did Plugin Alliance get everything emulated exactly or did they take some liberties? What do we enjoy and find super annoying about this console emulation? Find out now!

Chris and Jody take a peek into their respective plugin folders. Talking about keeping them under control. When to prune them from getting too bloated. Do plugins get installed into multiple locations? Is there a preferable means to keeping them organized? What methods do we use and for which DAWs is that effective? Let's open up the envelope. It's also not unlikely that there will be some nonsens...

Chris and Jody get a little noisy with the art of clipping audio. Where does clipping originate from and why is it sometimes a good thing and often times a bad thing? Are there different kinds of clipping? What is the use of clipping? Do Chris and Jody use clipping? It's all about clipping in this episode.