ZedBrookes

Category: Uncategorized

  • Value and Success in the Music Industry

    There was a humorous Cracked article “6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person” by David Wong doing the rounds not long ago about the need to define your value to others in order to make you a more worthwhile person. I recommend you read it – it’s a timely reminder even if…

  • Thunderbolt arrives for the UAD Apollo – huzzah!

    A large box for a small card. That image of the card is pretty close to “actual size” Further to my recent review of the UAD Apollo, I finally received my Apollo Thunderbolt interface card today. (More on what Thunderbolt is on Intel’s site and on Apple’s site) There’s a lot of chippage going on…

  • 8 Top Logic Pro 9 Features

    Bounce Track in Place Here’s 8 of my top features in Logic pro 9. If you have any others – feel free to comment!Click on the pictures for larger versions.   8 Bounce-in-place, for either track or region. Bounces down either your audio instrument MIDI regions or your audio regions – with or without plugins…

  • Zed’s Digital Audio Top 10 of 2011

    Uploaded with Skitch! This list is made up of those plug-ins and digital apps I used the most this year and/or made me the most excited. Most are available for both PC and Mac, and only a few are still stuck in 32-bit mode – hopefully that will change soon. 10) Izotope Ozone 5. Link…

  • The Lucky 13 Song Mixing Tips

    Before I get started I just want to reinforce something I’ve mentioned in earlier posts – sometimes a reduction in parameters actually generates more creativity. Being aware of a set of limitations, or guidelines, can actually allow you much more creative control over your final mix.This could mean limiting the amount of effects that you…

  • The Apogee Gio and Mainstage Experiment

    I have a solo gig coming up and have decided that being yet another singer-songwriter is boring as hell. Especially as I haven’t been blessed with one of those voices that could make singing the shopping list sound awesome. So I need to use everything in my power to add value and variety to the…

  • Digital Recording Levels – a rule of thumb

    Okay, I mentioned this as one of my tips in a previous post, but there’s confusion and many heated debates out there about the ideal level to record into your digital audio workstation. I’m just summing up the information readily available elsewhere (if you are willing to wade through endless online debates and the numerous…

  • 12 Tips for improving the quality of your recordings

    1. When recording to digital – keep your levels a bit more conservative. Aim for -18dBFS when recording at 24-bit. And at 16-bit? Best to just stick to 24-bit. Don’t worry about levels looking low on the meters, and don’t worry about “having less bits available”. You’re still getting 21 bits, which is about the…

  • Songwriting – can it be taught?

    I just spent the weekend at a songwriting workshop by Jason Blume. It was awesome. This is the second one I’ve participated in, and to be honest because I’d helped organise my workplace to host the workshop, I got to go for free. I’d always been a bit hesitant about going along to workshops and…

  • Five Tips for increasing your Creativity

    Creativity flourishes under arduous conditions It’s no secret that some of the most amazing ideas come out at the most stressful or restrictive times and places. History is full of amazing art and writings that came from the most desperate and depressing times. Even the most procrastinistic (is that even a word?) amongst us has…