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 …

Being an audio engineer, I am fortunate to live somewhat close (2 hours) to one of the greatest audio gear companies in the country.  Sweetwater in Fort Wayne, Indiana has been my go-to resource for everything from XLR cables to studio monitors, and boom stands to digital interfaces.  My sales engineer has been great in assisting me with purchases, helping me meet my needs and ensuring I’m getting the best price possible.  Not only do they sell new and used audio gear, instruments, and more, but they also have professional …

Recently I was listening to a podcast in which Tom Silverman of Tommy Boy Entertainment was talking about the music industry and album sales. He touched on the idea of “buying songs vs. buying artists.”
When you go to the record store (wait, what’s that?  I thought those were mythical places that people only dreamed of) or iTunes, what music are you buying?  Are you buying the stuff that you’ve loved your entire life, or songs that you have heard ten times a day for the last three weeks?  Are you …

We’re all aware that music, like any other art form, evolves.  It has trends.  These trends change, fade away, and eventually return.  Some for the better, others for worse.
I was born in the early 80′s, which means I was witness to a huge swing in the music pendulum come the early 90′s.  In the 80′s, we had Twisted Sister, Metallica, Bruce Springsteen, Guns N’ Roses,   10,000 Maniacs, AC/DC, and plenty more.  And it was cool…in its time. If I had to describe the late part of the decade in …