This is a nice big long post and I’m going to give you some gold in the second half, but first let’s talk about New Year’s Resolutions. Ok, what are some of the usual suspects? “I’ll spend more time making music” “I’ll buy less gear” “I’ll read the manuals for all the gear I already [...]
The difference between exploring and finishing
by Kim Lajoie on September 28, 2012
There are two different mindsets that are required when making music – ‘exploring’ and ‘finishing’. ‘Exploring’ is the more artistic and creative of the two mindsets. It’s when you’re trying things out, discovering new sounds, experimenting with putting different things together and generally creating. It’s when you start at a single point and fan out [...]
Audio perception and ABX testing
by Kim Lajoie on June 26, 2012
Rob Schlette: [I]t’s not uncommon for people to be asking the question, “can you really hear the difference?” This is very good news for music and music lovers. Rob then goes on to describe a particularly thorough method for conducting audio tests. But it doesn’t matter. If you have to squint to hear the difference, [...]
More things you can’t hear
by Kim Lajoie on March 7, 2012
Justin Colletti: Compared to the much of the animal kingdom, human beings have pretty terrible hearing. We have poor powers of echolocation, especially for sounds that come from behind us, we can only hear a relatively narrow bandwith of 20Hz-20kHz, and we’re easily fooled by illusions. [...] As the votes came in, the crowd was [...]
Know yourself – for the sake of others
by Kim Lajoie on March 1, 2012
I recently had an experience where an artist let me down. Put simply, she promised something that she couldn’t deliver, and didn’t give me a chance to find alternatives in time. This is what happened: I asked her if she could do a thing for me,which needed to be done by a certain date, and [...]
Are singers more sensitive than other instrumentalists?
by Kim Lajoie on December 12, 2011
Have you worked with singers? Have you worked with other musicians? Have you found that singers – generally – are more sensitive than other musicians? Have you found that they respond differently to criticism? Perhaps they take it more personally? If you’ve spent any serious time as a producer or engineer working with other musicians, [...]
Visual feedback in plugins
by Kim Lajoie on October 24, 2011
When you’re starting out, it’s useful to use plugins that have numeric values and visual feedback. Big frequency graphs in EQ and transition diagrams on compressors are extremely valuable in helping you understand how these tools work. Bonus points if the tools have animated meters and graphs that dance along with the music. It’s a [...]
What artists need
by Kim Lajoie on July 25, 2011
What do you think artists need? As a producer, this question should be at the top of your mind. Before I go on, have a guess… Do they need time to practice and hone their craft? High quality instruments? A record label to provide funding and expertise? A good rhyming dictionary? Oh, I know – [...]
The vibe of a session
by Kim Lajoie on June 26, 2009
I recently came across this article, with this great paragraph: THE REALITY is that 90% of the time, the artist (and probably the producer) dont want to sit around and watch you turn knobs and swap mics until you get your idea of the most awesome sound. They want to record. Instead of the perception [...]