As the home studio has evolved, so too has the MIDI controller to fit the needs of the musician and the software that has become a part of the studio arsenal. Controllers now have moved well beyond acting as a keyboard for module synths and enhance any musician’s DAW and SoftSynth, enabling one to retain a tactile experience in an environment that seems to require more and longer use of the computer keyboard and mouse. Read more.
From the category archives:
Echoes talks with producer/engineer/studio owner Drew Raison for insights on how to make your home recordings sound better. Drew says, “When you’re working in a home studio, I recommend you keep it simple. Minimal equalization and minimal compression at the time of recording, because you can add that later. You can’t always undo, so try not to make unfortunate decisions at the time of recording. 
When my co-producer came in for day one of the session, I was surprised to see him carrying a gallon container of hot coffee in one hand and a bag full of bagels and donuts in the other. His explanation was simple but memorable: “When you’re producing a session, the $50 you spend on food for the musicians and engineer will be the best $50 you spend on the entire project.” 
Ear fatigue is one of those ambiguous conditions that can occur while recording – and more likely during mix down – that you may not even recognize is happening until after the fact. You’re in the studio, you think you’ve nailed the mix, you’ve been adjusting things right and left, up and down, tweaking everything until it seems to sound just right. Then the next day, you pull up the mix and think, “What the heck were we doing?” 
What is dithering?
When it comes to hip hop, few pieces of gear are more iconic than the Akai MPC series drum machine, sampler, and sequencer. Easily recognizable by its matrix of trigger pads, the MPC (Music Production Center or MIDI Production Center) has been used by some of hip hop’s greatest producers and by innovative music makers in countless other genres. 
When recording in your home studio, it’s possible to create depth when mixing audio tracks. By adjusting the order of the various signals from front to back, you can create depth in your audio mix and make it more transparent. During mixing you can simulate various distances and achieve a placement of the instruments in space. In this way the instruments can be effectively separated in space. 
As a vocalist preparing for a performance or studio date, “the obvious thing to do is rest,” recommends Daniel Ebbers, Associate Professor of Voice at the Conservatory of Music. “But there are environmental things, like being in a place where the decibel level is much higher than you think it is. To compete with the sound, you have to strain your voice to be heard or understood. Many times, people are unaware that they’re in such an environment, but when you’re a singer, you have to be aware of these environmental conditions.” 
Depending on the genre of music, if you’re doing a live performance, or you’re recording the entire band or ensemble simultaneously, sometimes you can get away without a click – especially if you have a really solid drummer. But 80% of the time in a studio recording – especially if we’re just cutting drums and bass – we’re playing to a click. 
