Audio-Technica’s new remastered versions of their M-Series professional headphones were made available on the market last month. The original M-Series were known for their closed-back design, featuring great sound isolation for tracking and a professional sound that could even handle mixing duties. The new, remastered M-Series feature some nice design improvements, but they are largely the same headphones as their predecessors.
How to Print MIDI to Audio and Why You Should Do It
MIDI is a popular tool for music composition. In a modern music production environment, it is very common to see MIDI tracks and audio tracks living side by side in a DAW (digital audio workstation). Unlike audio tracks, MIDI tracks contain data that must be played through a virtual instrument in order to produce sound. While MIDI allows for easy manipulation of notes, velocities, and more, the downside is it always needs a virtual instrument plugin to make sound. When you’re finished composing or arranging, it’s a good idea to “print” the MIDI track to an audio track. We’ll be using Logic Pro X in this tutorial, but the core concepts are the same for every DAW.
In-Ear Monitors — Balanced Armature Drivers vs. Dynamic Drivers
In-ear monitors use one of two driver technologies — balanced armature and dynamic. In this article, we’ll discuss the technology behind these two designs and the pros and cons of each.
CAD GXL2200 Condenser Microphone Review
The GXL2200 is the second-tier microphone in CAD’s series of GXL condenser microphones. It is a large diaphragm, side-address, cardioid microphone that offers a clear, present, and quality sound.
Weighted vs. Unweighted Keys on a Digital Piano or Keyboard
If you’re in the market for a new digital piano or keyboard, it’s important to know and understand the differences between weighted and unweighted keys. Both varieties have their pros and cons, and this article you’ll learn exactly what those are.
Blue Microphones Snowball USB Microphone Review
The Snowball USB Microphone is part of Blue Microphone’s line of affordable desk devices designed for podcasting, voiceovers, and some recording applications. While the Snowball provides a clarity and professional sound suited for podcasting, it has limitations when it comes to recording music.
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Audio Interface Review
The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 is a portable USB-powered two input/output audio interface from UK-based Focusrite. It’s the perfect unit for a small home studio setup, especially for singer-songwriters who don’t need more than two preamplifier channels at a time. It’s rugged enough to take with you on the road, and the included headphone output means you can work on music any time of the day without disturbing anyone.
AudioQuest DragonFly USB DAC Review
The AudioQuest DragonFly is a portable USB DAC (digital to analog converter) and headphone amplifier for high quality audio on the go. I purchased the DragonFly to accompany my Future Sonics mg6pro in-ear monitors. They’re really sensitive IEMs, and the headphone output on my MacBook Pro is too noisy – especially for keyboard programming work. I couldn’t have asked for more in such an affordable USB DAC. The AudioQuest DragonFly feels solid, sounds great, and takes up very little space.
MainStage for Musical Theatre — Sequencing Harp Glissandi
Harp glissandi are frequently written into musical theatre keyboard books. Most of the time, they’re prerecorded and triggered. There are a few different ways to sequence harp glissandi, but the easiest (and cheapest) way is using Matthew J. Pool’s harp pedal script in Apple MainStage 3. You’ll also need an audio editor like Audacity to chop off excess audio.
MainStage for Musical Theatre — Mapping Sound Effects & Harp Glissandi
When programming keyboard books, you’ll sometimes encounter a sound effect that needs to be mapped to a specific key. The best way to do this in MainStage is to create an EXS24 instrument for your sound effect(s). First, let’s go through some basic terminology.