Audio Gear

“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.”

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.

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.

“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.”

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.

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.

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.

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!”

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

Writing and recording is a way of healing for me, and many.

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.

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.