Jake Weston

It is worth a debate about what the best orchestral instrument is out there. A large number of people out there are seeing a resurgence in the use of different violins. The violins are often hand made these days, and the truth is that many of these items end up getting refurbished quickly so people can enjoy them.
The best gear of the year is a tuba that you can make a long term investment in. The best instrument manufacturers understand this reality.

Key Takeaways:

• Digital technology now allows music producers to have entire orchestras at their fingertips.
• The trick, however, is that the orchestrated sounds are as realistic as possible for the song.
• The Spitfire Audio Symphony Orchestra is a top pick because of its array of sounds, and close emulation to reality.

“Within Spitfire Audio Symphony Orchestra, you get three main sections for Strings, Brass and Woodwind – no Percussion – and our orchestral correspondent Dave Gale was impressed by all three.”

Read more: http://www.musictech.net/2017/12/gear-of-the-year-2017-the-best-orchestral-instrument/

Knowing how to properly mix and master music is something that has become commonly overlooked for many in the new music production game, as technology and digital equipment have become a mainstay. The new Mastering the Mix plugin provides an innovative and user friendly interface for producers who are looking to properly mix their music and have a reference point, but before using, it is crucial to understand to what extent they are useful, and where best to draw the line.

Key Takeaways:

• The newest tool lets music producers compare their mixes to the recent references.
• Allows for up to 20 references to be uploaded and analyzed at a given time.
• The mirror mode lets producers sync back their most recent tracks with their references to make sure everything is refined.

“Reference from Mastering The Mix follows on from previous metering plug-in, Levels, offering a comprehensive A/B toolkit and some unique features for a better insight into the differences between tracks.”

Read more: http://www.musictech.net/2017/12/mastering-the-mix-reference-review/

Just as when recording or sampling a real-world amplifier, one needs to take care in selecting the proper microphone placement, settings, and other parameters, so too must one be equally careful when working with simulated amplifiers. In order to get the most out of your amp sims, there are a few major points you should keep in mind. Consider adding a limiter, focusing the pre-sim signal with an equalizer, or oversampling the amplifier, which can add more depth and body to the sound.

Key Takeaways:

• With a real-world amplifier, we all know that there is a significant amount of work that needs to go into setting up the mic configuration to get the best results.
• Working with a digital amp isn't any different – it's not just a plug-and-play operation.
• There are, however, a few key steps and best practices that you can apply to ensure that your amp sim results are top notch.

“You can’t necessarily get good amp sim (simulation) tone by inserting a plug-in, dialing up a preset, and hoping for the best — it takes some signal processing before and after the amp sim to bring out its best.”

Read more: https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/5-five-ways-optimize-amp-sims/

Endless time struggling to resolve your sound problems is a thing of the past. Intelligent automatic equalizer, also dubbed as Gullfoss, does the fine tuning by becoming another set of ears and doing the complicated math involved with sound for you so you don't have to. Troubleshooting your sound with Gullfoss is not just for professionals either as it is easy to use and can be utilized by any level of sound experts out there.

Key Takeaways:

• Company Sound Theory has created an automated smart equalizer that smoothens out sounds as they are mixed.
• The plugin, called GULLFOSS is just the latest in technological music production.
• The software is extremely user friendly and allows anybody to equalize their tracks immediately.

“GULLFOSS works by automatically adjusting its settings in real-time according to the audible features of the input signal, providing quick and precise fixes for issues that would otherwise be unsolvable or require a lot of time and experience to resolve.”

Read more: https://ask.audio/articles/soundtheory-releases-gullfoss-intelligent-automatic-eq-plugin

Not all of us can be so lucky as to have a professional-level studio at home, but we can all do the best with what we have. Most importantly, we can pick a room that is most amenable to recording, and then work to make it have as favorable of acoustic properties as possible. This includes adding sound-dampening materials to the various surfaces to prevent echo, making strategic use of furnishings, and being careful in our microphone placement.

Key Takeaways:

• Everyone would love to have access to a pro studio at home – but for the vast majority of us, that's simply not possible.
• However, there are plenty of things that we can do in order to ensure that our environment is optimized given our resources.
• In particular, one should take care as to the treatment of the walls and placement of furniture and other items, which can create huge impacts on acoustic parameters.

“Studio acoustics is a large and rather complicated subject but you don’t need to be an expert to do a good job of your mixing or mastering.”

Read more: https://www.prosoundweb.com/channels/recording/in_the_studio_improving_your_listening_environment/