V. MUSIC PRODUCTION

A. THE UNDERSCORE – INTERACTIVE VS. FILM MUSIC

Until recently, you simply could not compare game music to film music. Every aspect involved in their production, from budgets to performance, made it an impractical comparison. Today, these two mediahave a working relationship. Games are created to support movies and movies are made from successful game franchises. Film composers are now writing for games, and some game composers have made the transition to film. Hollywood orchestras and orchestrators are now commonly used for game music scores. Why make Read more

I. FAR BEYOND BLEEPS AND LOOPS

The new console era is upon us. It has been met by developers everywhere with great anticipation, promise, …and yet, reluctance. Programmers have spent a large portion of the past decade squeezing every last bit of potential from our Play Station’s, Xbox’s and Read more

Compression

When I first started reading about compressors I was hopelessly lost. The terminology was technical in an almost mean-spirited way and I couldn’t make heads or tails of what was being written. To keep things simple, I think of compression as a way of evening out the loud and soft parts of any vocal or instrument so that its behavior is a bit more predictable. In other words, compression brings up the really soft spots and tames the really loud spots so that you’re not constantly reaching for the volume fader on your mixing board (or virtual mixing board on your DAW). In its simplest form, a compressor, whether a hardware unit or a plug-in, will squeeze the Read more

Mixing music can be an incredibly inspired process. It is my conviction that it is best to get all of the managerial work out of the way to help facilitate a far more inventive and exciting mixing experience. Use these steps as a guide, make them your own, and I promise you that your final mix will be far more productive. Read more

You know your songs are great (and so does your girl/boyfriend, family, pets etc), and you finally decided to record an album in a real studio. That’s great! But what actually happens when you get there?

When you finally do pick the perfect studio, one that you feel comfortable at, there is a certain routine that must be followed in order to get the best performance and the best recording for your budget. Read more