Audio Gear
Are you searching for that sound? Obsessed with tone? In the posts below, fellow audiophiles and gearheads share lessons learned about their favorite mod patches, software, setups and equipment.

Modernize Your Sound & Mindset with Music Producer Nick Phelps
“A lot of people don’t understand that you can’t just pull out an old Casio keyboard and start making a beat and think that’s gonna compete,” says sync music producer Nick Phelps. “I wanna give people a fighting chance in the sync world. I wanna give people permission to stand out in their own way.”
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Javier Romero Intends to Give a Damn A chat with the force behind Strange Magic about new release Melatonin Doomsday Blues
Strange Magic’s Javier Romero shares his solo project’s evolution, how his new album holds up to pandemic realities, and how he keeps track of hundreds of “mumble jams” to feed his songwriting.
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Pyragraph LIVE: Alejandro Montoya Marin
Filmmaker Alejandro Montoya Marin is in the finishing stages of producing his second feature, Millennium Bugs. It was supposed to screen at SXSW, and Antonio was slated to participate on a panel about independent filmmaking — but a nasty pathogen has thwarted his plans.
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Jeremy & The Clones Debut Sun Studio Track Florida musicians debut new song and talk booking tours, their photo shoot and recording at Sun Studio
“It was kind of surreal and didn’t sink in how crazy and legendary the room was when we were there. It almost doesn’t feel like OMG I was in the same room as Elvis and Johnny Cash; there is some kind of vibe in the room that I can’t describe.”
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Dear Rich: Using MIDI Music from a Video Game Cartridge
Dear Rich: I want to know if it is considered sampling when you record sound coming from a synthesizer that is playing electronic note data stored on a memory chip. Technically when you play an NES game (’80s video game system), the music that is playing is not pre-recorded. It is actually played “live” from musical note data on the game cartridge (gameplay triggers a MIDI pattern) in the console into the internal synthesizer.
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Fast Heart Mart Out with New Book on US Music Tour
As long as I’ve been a fan, Martin has said the same thing: “If you choose a path to fall back on, you will.” Martin is balls to the wall.
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9 Tips (Plus Bonus Tip) For More Dynamic Music
Moments of discovery come when you are tuned-in and not thinking about your own performance. This can come naturally after playing with a band over time, but it’s also easy to become worn out from the repetition of playing the same songs over and over again.
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Dear Little Bobby: Enough Effects Already
When my band would get together for practice and our guitar player would use more than one pedal we would point and laugh and say things like, “Get a load of him! He thinks he’s in Oktober People!”
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19 Things to Know Before Your First Recording Session
Guest Blogger Larry Crane, founder and editor of Tape Op Magazine: Don’t try to work longer hours than you can really be productive during. I work 10-hour days. I’ve worked 14-hour days. Guess how much work we really got done in 14 hours? 10 hours’ worth.
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Dear Little Bobby: Playing for Pennies
I’m a musician trying to decide how much I can afford to spend on instruments, renting a practice space, going on tour, and the rest. Sometimes it gives me anxiety and causes stress between me and my partner. How much is too much to spend on my art?
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Why I Won’t Tour Anymore Hutch Harris of The Thermals says he is too old for this shit
Hutch Harris of The Thermals: Part of being an artist is being constantly unsatisfied. It’s what keeps us going. It is through art that we are able to process sadness and search for happiness.
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Why Can’t I Hear How Awful I Sound? Reckoning with tone
How many solos, lead lines, or any number of other frequencies vanished into the ether because of shitty mixes, bad pedals, or somebody who doesn’t know the difference between gain and volume?
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How to Make Music Videos, Podcasts and More in 1,000,000 Easy Steps Spoiler: It's actually not easy at all
We’ll see how far I make it into gearheadery, but this I can tell you: An important part of deciding to get more hands-on with media production is simply accepting the inescapable fact that there’s no quick-and-easy way to do this kind of creative work.
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Music Makers: Lilah Rose
Writing and recording is a way of healing for me, and many.
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The Virtual Vision: How Virtual Reality Is Changing Art and Our Worlds
VR is now being used for gaming, as a way to tell stories, view movies, train athletes, pilots, doctors, interact with others, design architecture, plan transportation projects, even for therapy.
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Music Makers: Cactus Tractor on the Tiny Desk Concert Contest, Acoustic Prog Rock, and Metrical Earworms
I really wish I could whistle reasonably well on cue, since what is now arguably our most famous song features me doing so at about three or four points during the song.
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