The last 10 years have shown a shift in the music industry in many aspects.  How we consume our music, the formats that we aquire, the way money is earned, and so much more.  Another aspect I’ve noticed is the general age of artists and the way they are marketed. Justin Beiber, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, and so many more that pop up here and there.  Some to stay, others to fade into the musical folds of time.
At the time of this writing, I am 27 years old.  I’m …

Most of us have at some point seen an episode of the Fox TV reality show American Idol.  If you haven’t seen an episode, you’ve probably heard a song on the radio by one of the contestants that were on the show.
While many of them are really good, there are many other artists out there that are just as good and sometimes better that are playing shows and putting in tons of hard work and lots of hours travelling, playing, and working at their career.  Does that discount the talent …

If you’re a musician today preparing to record an album, you have a question to ask yourself.
Do I take my budget and go to a real recording studio or use the cash to buy my own recording gear and have my friends help?
Recording studios are closing more and more often these days.  The reason?  Artists don’t have the money to spend $125 per hour and make a full-length album.  But they do have enough money to buy enough gear for a 16 channel rig.
So is the “bang for your buck” tradeoff worth …

To start, I’ve never been to the annual GearFest event put on by Sweetwater Sound in northern Indiana.  It’s quite a large production, with four tents of gear and instruments, and indoor workshops covering evertything from “How to Choose a Drumkit” to “Grammy Award Winning Recording Tips”.  They have an “All Stars Producers Forum” and “Pro Tools Master” workshops.  It’s quite the gauntlet of available information.  then there’s the Musicican’s Flea Market where you can buy and sell your own gear.
So far, I’ve found this event to be rather hit or miss. …

Sweetwater Sound recently held a Pro Tools demonstration of the new Eleven Rack.  The event was graciously hosted by the Chicago Recording Company, a beautiful and full-featured recording and post-production studio on the east side of Chicago.
I started out learning how to engineer on Acid (in my barracks room while in the Army), then Pro Tools, Logic, and now am chief engineer at a studio in northern Indiana using Cubase 5.  I got very quick with Pro Tools, but then when it came time to purchase interfacing, Logic became more …