When you upload a track to SoundCloud or Bandcamp, when you play your track to a non-musician friend, when you share your sounds with the world… Ask yourself: is your track a mature and developed musical expression or a first draft? If you’re just starting out or you’re not too serious about your music, your [...]
Yoda was right.
by Kim Lajoie on April 14, 2013
Believe it or not, in my line of work I get to meet a lot of artists. And I hear them say some funny things from time to time. Not ‘haha’ funny, either. And every now and then, I hear someone use a variation of ‘wait and see’. It’s usually followed by something like ‘see [...]
I hope you’re not scared
by Kim Lajoie on April 9, 2013
I’m sitting here at an open mic night. I do it from time to time. There’s often a wide variety of talents. Some people have been writing and playing for a little while and are ready to take the next step. Some people are just looking for a stage and a little validation. Some people [...]
Half of life is showing up
by Kim Lajoie on March 20, 2013
A young audio engineer recently got in touch with me asking for some career advice. As always, I’m happy to help and I invited him to my studio for a chat. After taking over a month to make a booking, we actually got to the date and he didn’t show up. He didn’t send me [...]
Are you backing up? This is how I do it.
by Kim Lajoie on February 27, 2013
Your work. It’d be a terrible shame to lose it.You’ve heard it all before – hardware fails, accidents happen. The question is: what are you doing to protect yourself? How much will you lose if you accidentally rm -rf *, DELTREE *.* or rd /s /q in the wrong place? For me, it’s a day [...]
Who’s still planning to submit a track for the compilation?
by Kim Lajoie on February 26, 2013
Get on it. The month ends on Thursday. That means submissions close on Thursday. Or Friday. Either way, it’s pretty soon. In other news, the submissions have been rolling in. I haven’t heard any of them yet, but don’t take it personally. I’m sure they’re great. In more rambling news, my schedule is opening up [...]
It’s not enough for your raw tracks to sound great
by Kim Lajoie on February 19, 2013
A great mix needs great-sounding raw tracks. Of course. But tracks that sound great on their own won’t necessarily sound great in the mix. That’s because ‘great’ isn’t a particularly useful descriptor. If you have a raw recording and were told to make it sound ‘great’ (with no other guidance), your options would be open. [...]
Breaking workflow (or: If you’re getting stuck, you’re working on the wrong problem…)
by Kim Lajoie on February 6, 2013
This post was originally published on Ilpo’s excellent blog: http://resoundsound.com/breaking-workflow/. You probably get stuck sometimes. I know the feeling. I’ll be looking at a half-finished song and my brain is fixated on the next step. But the solution isn’t coming to me. As you probably know, I tend to be pretty organised in my workflow. Step [...]
Practice doesn’t make perfect
by Kim Lajoie on February 2, 2013
Sure, it’s a catchy saying. But that doesn’t make it true. Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice makes consistency. It’s repetition. Rote-learning, for the pessimistic among us. Practice is a really good way of being able to do that thing you’re practicing on time, every time. On demand. No matter how you’re feeling. Even if you [...]
An easy way to approach acoustic treatment for your studio
by Kim Lajoie on January 17, 2013
When approaching acoustic treatment for a home studio, you should consider two aspects: reflections and resonance. Reflections are caused by hard surfaces and can make a room sound echoey or fluttery. They blur the sound your hear. Reflections are best addressed by using mid-high frequency absorbers in places where the sound will bounce from your [...]