I’ve been listening to audio podcasts and watching videos that people have recorded recently.  With the high growth of social media and more people realizing the importance of audio and video content to supplement their blogs and books, I’ve started finding that many people rush into podcasting and don’t’ fully understand how to get a great sound.
If you want to really step up your podcast, video blog, or next live streaming event, here are some things to consider when setting up.  There’s a saying in the audio industry:
TV without picture …

I am beginning a new series of blog posts regarding the new music industry.  In it I will layout some definitions, myths, and truths as they pertain to the music industry, record industry, radio industry, and more.  These industries are notorious for confusing the musicians, fans, and businesses that work in them.  Let’s try to get some things cleared up.
First, the music industry is not the record industry. Let’s get that straight. The music industry is comprised of musicians; the record industry is made up of corporations and business people.
Secondly, CD …

We all know that artists in today’s music industry are in general not making loads of cash. The question is, “why?”
The surface answer would be that the labels are taking all of the money for themselves. How much are they taking? How much does the artist get? It varies from artist and label, but typically it’s to the tune of pennies per album sold to the artist and the rest is divided up between the label, management, producer, etc. That huge advance that the artist …

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 …