Making a Scene Presents

Making a Scene - The Sentient Studio: How AI Learns Your Sound Over Time There was a time when your digital audio workstation, or DAW, was nothing more than a glorified tape machine. You hit record, moved some faders, and hoped for the best. Every time you opened a new project, it felt like starting from scratch. Your EQ curves, compressor ratios, and reverb settings had to be dialed in again and...

Making a Scene Presents - From Likes to Income: How AI Marketing Translates Fan Engagement into Revenue There’s a funny thing about the internet. It gives artists more visibility than ever before—yet most indie musicians still struggle to turn that attention into real money. Getting thousands of likes on Instagram or a viral TikTok video feels good, but when it comes to paying rent or funding your...

Making a Scene Presents - The Indie Advantage: How AI Levels the Playing Field in the Studio Access to Major-Label Tech, at Home Imagine being in a major label studio in the 1990s: racks of outboard gear, professional engineers, weeks of tracking, mixing, and mastering. For most indie artists, that meant compromise: cheaper rooms, fewer takes, less time, less polish. But today, AI is giving indie...

Making a Scene Presents an interview with Samuel Wilbur Samuel Wilbur returns with a powerful new album, Ivory Tower — a record that feels nothing short of magical. Beyond its cinematic sound and lyrical depth, the album stands out for how Wilbur uses his platform to spotlight some of Minneapolis’s strongest female voices, featuring stunning performances by Meghan Kreidler, Dani Michaele, and Laur...

Making a Scene Presents Gerry Casey's Interview with Tola Lamont and Kurt Michael of Coastland Fair Blending coastal soul with Americana grit, Coastland Fair is the creative union of Tola Lamont and Kurt Michael — two artists whose musical chemistry feels as timeless as the tide. Based on a shared love for organic songwriting and heartfelt storytelling, the duo crafts songs that blur the lines bet...

Making a Scene Presents - Mid/Side Processing in Mixing: The Secret to Width, Clarity, and Control Have you ever listened to a pro mix and thought, “Why does this sound so wide and full, but everything still feels perfectly in place?” That’s not just good EQ or compression — chances are, the engineer used a little Mid/Side processing to get that balance between focus and space. Mid/Side, or M/S, i...

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Billy Branch! Billy Branch is one of the most respected and influential harmonica players of his generation — a true ambassador of Chicago Blues. Discovered by the legendary Willie Dixon, often called the “father of modern Chicago Blues,” Branch was still in college when Dixon took him under his wing. Dixon urged him to complete his degree, which he did, e...

Making a Scene Presents - AI for Session Musicianship: Tightening, Not Replacing There’s this fear floating around studios lately — that artificial intelligence is coming to take the jobs of session musicians, singers, producers, even mixing engineers. The truth? AI isn’t here to replace you. It’s here to help you sound tighter, cleaner, and more confident in the studio. It’s a tool, not a takeove...

Making a Scene Presents - Neutron 5: A Deep Dive Review For Real-World Mixing If you make music at home or in a small studio, you already know the hardest part usually isn’t the songwriting. It’s the mix. Tracks pile up. Levels fight. Vocals hide behind guitars. Drums either feel weak or way too loud. That’s where iZotope’s Neutron 5 steps in. Think of it like a modern, all-in-one mixing toolkit t...

Audius Introduces Artist Coins! Think of an Artist Coin like a digital fan-club pass. You make a coin under your artist name on Audius. Fans can buy it inside Audius. Holding your coin gets them into your inner circle: early listens, coin-only posts, private chats, special drops, and whatever else you decide to offer. It’s all built into the same Audius site where your music lives, so fans don’t h...

Making a Scene Presents - Mix Clarity: The Truth About Masking (And How to Fix It) by a recording engineer who’s spent way too many nights chasing clarity in crowded mixes There’s a moment every indie artist hits when a mix sounds almost perfect… but something feels wrong. The vocals are there, the bass is there, the guitars are crunchy, the kick is thumping — yet somehow, it all sounds like a mud...

Making a Scene Presents - Know Your Fans: How AI Analytics Shows You Who to Market To (and How) Picture this. You’ve just dropped your new single. You check your stats on Spotify, maybe glance at YouTube views, and you’re left wondering—Who’s actually listening to my stuff? Are they in your hometown? Across the country? Maybe on the other side of the world? Most indie musicians have asked these qu...

Making a Scene - Building Your Web3 Artist Brand: How to Present Yourself as a Forward-Thinking Musician If you’re an independent musician trying to stand out today, you’ve probably noticed that the music world is changing faster than ever. Between streaming algorithms, AI, and blockchain, it can feel like the ground keeps shifting under your feet. But here’s the thing—change isn’t the enemy. It’s...

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Jimi Primetime Smith Jimi “Primetime” Smith has lived and breathed the blues his entire life. A veteran guitarist and vocalist, he’s performed with legends like Otis Rush, Albert King, Albert Collins, and Etta James. Though his humble nature often keeps him under the radar, his recent surge of attention is making sure blues fans finally know his name. http...

Making a Scene Presents Gerry Casey's Interview with Preacher Stone Preacher Stone was born from guitarist Marty Hill’s vision of creating a world-class Southern rock band—one that carried the torch lit by legends like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, and The Allman Brothers, but with its own modern grit and swagger. Hill’s idea came to life when he teamed up with powerhouse vocalist Ronnie Riddle,...

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Kaitlin Cassady Kaitlin Cassady is an indie-folk-rock artist rooted in the vibrant Minneapolis, Minnesota music scene. Her sound blends the heartfelt storytelling of Aimee Mann and Carole King with the modern textures of Phoebe Bridgers, Norah Jones, Billie Eilish, and Kacey Musgraves—all tied together with a touch of Brian Wilson’s harmonic sophistication...

Making a Scene Presents Rethinking Crowdfunding for the Indie Musician in a Decentralized Music Industry Why rethink crowdfunding? Let’s begin with a simple question: when you ask fans for money to make an album or go on tour, is that “donation” or “investment”? Traditional tools treat it like donation: you promise perks (a signed CD, a shout-out, backstage passes). But the fan gives you money up...

Making a Scene Presents - A Deep Dive Review of Sonible's Learn:Bundle What is the Sonible learn:bundle? First, what is this bundle anyway? Sonible’s learn:bundle is a set of five intelligent plug-ins meant to help with core mixing tasks. Those tasks are: Equalization (EQ) Compression Reverb Limiting Unmasking (i.e. helping reduce frequency clashes between tracks) Sonible describes them as “assist...

Making a Scene Presents - AI-Generated Videos & Visuals: Turning Your Songs into Scroll-Stopping Content For decades, video production has been one of the biggest hurdles for independent artists. Cameras, crews, editors, colorists, and motion-graphics specialists were luxuries reserved for labels with budgets to burn. For indie musicians, even a simple music video often meant calling in favors, bo...

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Miss Emily Back in the 1990s, twelve-year-old Emily Fennell from Prince Edward County, Ontario was already turning heads at county fairs, winning one singing competition after another. While other contestants played it safe with songs like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” or “I Will Always Love You,” Emily stopped audiences in their tracks with K.D. Lang’s hau...

Making a Scene Presents - AI in Metadata & File Prep: Smarter Exports for Distribution What is metadata, and why should you care about it? Imagine this: you write a song, record it, and then send it out into the world. But who “owns” that song? Who wrote it? Who should get paid when people listen? How will streaming services or radio stations know which song it is, among millions of others? That’s...

Making a Scene Presents - Reverb: The Secret Sauce of Space – History, Types, and How to Use It Like a Pro When you listen to your favorite song, there’s something that makes the sound feel alive — it breathes, it moves, it fills the air. That magical sense of space comes from one of the oldest and most loved tools in audio engineering: reverb. Whether it’s the dreamy echo behind a vocal, the lush...

Making a Scene Presents Gerry Casey's Interview with BillyBoy Miskimmin BillyBoy Miskimmin first made his mark on the Northern Ireland music scene in the 1980s, stunning audiences with his emotional power and jaw-dropping harmonica technique. Performing alongside local legends such as Jim Daly, Jackie Flavelle, and Ronnie Greer, he earned a reputation as a fiery and soulful performer in pubs and c...

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with "The Name Droppers" The Name Droppers are a powerhouse blues-rock band forged from the DNA of true road warriors and seasoned session pros. With decades of collective experience performing alongside some of the biggest names in rock and blues, this Connecticut-based group delivers a sound steeped in authenticity, groove, and soul. http://www.makingascene.o...

Making a Scene Presents - The Indie Artist’s Guide to Token Gating: How to Turn Fans into VIP Insiders What is Token Gating (in simple terms)? Let’s start with the basics. A “token” in this context is usually a digital asset on a blockchain — often an NFT (non-fungible token). Think of that token like a golden ticket. If someone holds that token, they get special privileges: access to a hidden cha...