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Proper way to wear Grado headphones? I recently bought the Grado Prestige Series RS2i after having only used in-ear Shure's. I love the sound, really love them, but find that after about an hour they start to hurt my ears, probably because they are pressing them. Is this normal for on-the-ear headphones? Is there a ch...	You can try flexing the headband out a bit to loosen its grip on your head, you can try replacing the earpads with a different material, or you can simply get used to it over time.
What should I look for in good headphones? I'm in the search of the best headphones to fit my needs. I hope somebody will help me because I try and I try but I haven't found the exact real headphones I want. I want to use them to mostly listen to a tablet or an iphone at office. I have already tried several headphones...	all time classic , pretty balanced (real) sound (noyhing exaggerated) and not fatiguing , mainly for studio use , close format for the sound not to escape or come in and nice head fit .
What's the limit on acceptable free use of Creative Commons music? I've been reading through a lot of copyright related posts, but have yet to see the exact answer I'm looking for: I'm shooting and cutting an aerial videography reel for a local contracting company. It will be posted on their website as used to display...	Non-commercial prohibits ALL commercial use, so if it has an NC tag on it, you can't use it.
How to create a podcast soundboard? I have been fairly successful setting up my own DIY podcast from my home. I use XLR mics, a 8-channel mixer, and record with Audacity. The next step is adding additional sound elements to the podcast without having to fiddle around with lots of things on the computer. I do have a ...	A solution that might work for you would be to use a combination of hardware controller with software to generate the sound effects.
How can I reduce noise with many cables? I have a home studio with 10 microphones cabled up. These cables all connect from the audio interface to the microphones, and follow generally the same path. I have heard that parallel cables add noise to each other. Is this really a problem? How can I avoid this, given that...	I've never heard that parellel cables add noise simply by virtue of them being parallel, (although I'm not as electrically inclined as I could be).
How do I know what latency I will get? Say I have an external sound card, like M-Audio M-Track, and I have connected it to my PC. Knowing the RAM value for my pc, how can I calculate what latency i will get, in terms of milliseconds? What factors does it depend on ? <Q> The best bet is to try it. <S> It depends on t...	The most important factor in latency reduction is ASIO drivers which should be supported by your external sound card.
How to make visualisation syncronized with ableton live I need to make visualization which will be played live using Ableton.What software do you recommend to use, and how to synchronize music with visualization? I know a little bit of Processing.org, just basics but I assume there is some simpler software, that doesn...	If you'd rather create visuals yourself as performer, synced with your music, and you don't want to use video, you can use an audiovisual tool like AudioCubes by Percussa, which can sync to Ableton Live's tempo, and which can accept MIDI CC messages for colour mixing (which you can send from within Ableton Live MIDI cl...
What should I look for when buying a subwoofer? I've got a pair of studio monitors which I'm very happy with, and am considering matching them with a sub. Since I can only hear the sub in the store, and without the benefit of hearing how they'd sound with my current monitors, what can I do to make sure that they will ...	Guess you should look around through different subwoofers on the internet and read their reviews,once you have the subwoofer you want you can learn about where you need to place your subwoofer .
How do I use Audacity to make two tracks match volume? I have an Audacity project with two mono audio tracks. The first (on top) has been recorded at a high volume, and the second (on bottom) at a much lower volume. Forgive me if I'm not using the right terms, as I don't do much audio editing at all. To my ears, track...	In your case you should move the slider of the top track (the one which is louder) to the - side, and the lower track slider should go to the + side.
How do I remove mouse click noise I am using a mac and I am using screenflow software to do a screencast about how my web application works. During the demo I click on a lot of buttons and links. In my screencast I have this click noise which is very distracting. I know using screenflow I can edit the noise. But that ...	And of course, as others have mentioned, just try to use the quietest mouse that you can. I have a somewhat different solution: record your audio separately from your screencast, and use a video edit program to put them together.
Should I ever use a bit depth less than 24 bits? Pro Tools gives me the option of 16 bit or 24 bit. Is there a reason I shouldn't just always use 24-bit sessions to get the highest quality sound? <Q> Let me generally explain the use of bit resolutions. <S> That is the quality improvement you get, so the precision in...	24 bits is giving you a higher dynamic range: you can store audio information until a level of -144dB FS instead of -96dB FS in 16 bits.
I have two computers with audio output, and I'd like to monitor both, simultaneously, with one set of speakers. What do I need? I have two computers with audio output, and I'd like to monitor both, simultaneously, with one set of speakers. What do I need? I know I could feed the line-out of one computer into the line...	You can often make your own passive "mixer" similar to a Y-cable. What you need is a simple mixer. The problem with a Y adapter is that the audio signal is fed into both devices -and- the speakers, which attenuates the signal, and could potentially cause damage -- if both sources are active, they add together .
What does panning do in a stereo system I use pan a lot, but would now like to understand what it does. My question is spurred on by being told in a mix (a rock band for example) everything needs to live in its own space. Well, surely it can't actually have it's own space since they're only 2 speakers - by this defini...	I have found a very nice explanation here , but below are the main thoughts: Panning - adjusts the portion of a channel's signal that is sent to each output channel.
What are good alternatives to studio foam for a home studio? I have built a vocal booth for my own studio and plan to line it with acoustic studio foam (a.k.a., "egg-crate foam"). However, acoustic foam is very expensive ( http://www.amazon.com/Acoustic-Foam-1-1-24-18/dp/B0002ZPLPC/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1381863674&sr=...	Silicone and fiberglass are worthy materials for being installed as insulation for acoustic panels .
How do I get a mix with two heavy bass elements to not sound muddy? I often struggle with mixes where I've got two very bassy sounds, usually a very 'big' kick sample and either a hip-hop-style sub bass or a rhythm sample involving low-pitched drums. What's the best way to remove the muddiness, and get a much cleaner ...	You will have to experiment to see whether emphasizing the bass or the kick, or whatever instruments you have works best. Another option is to arrange your instruments to accommodate each other better.
Is source bit depth/sampling rate relevant for mp3 conversion? Will an MP3 file, encoded from a 16-bit, 44.1 kHz source sound better or worse than an MP3 file, encoded with identical settings, but from a 24-bit, 96 kHz source? Or will there be no audible difference? I'm asking because obviously there is much more raw ...	both the source bit depth and sampling rate are relevant for mp3 conversion, theoretically.
Free Music for DAW Practice I'm wondering if there are sites there with Creative Commons (or similar) music that is not already mixed down as an MP3, but rather with all the individual files (instruments, vocals, etc.) intact to download so that I can download them and mix it myself as well as add effects and do other ...	Shaking Through let's you download unprocessed tracks and/or stems.
Is there an equivalent to Audacity's noise reduction effect in other DAW? I have tried with Ardour, Rosegarden and Traverso, so far all these DAW are better than Audacity but for one thing: they lack this functionality that lets me select a piece of noise as a sample and use it to automagically filter out the noise in ...	The ReaFir plugin that comes with Reaper is pretty excellent.
Where can I find good before and after sound samples for learning eq, compression, mixing? Where can I find good before and after sound samples for learning eqing, compression, mixing or even mastering? Would be great if there are detailed explanations to each mixing action. <Q> You can make your own. <S> Take any s...	There are a ton of great instructional videos on YouTube!
How to make feedback in Ableton Live? I'm making a short film where one of the actors accidentally turns the fader on the mixing board all the way up thus making an immense feedback. We don't want to do this in reality because of the damage to both our ears and the PA. system. So I've tried to make feedback in Ableton ...	Use something else very underpowered, like a portable CD/radio thing with attached microphone
Rules of thumb for EQing? I often create tracks that consist of lots of layered (electronic) sounds. This gives me a hard time EQing the tracks so that the mix still feels right. Instead of forming a solid wall of sound, It often ends up being smudgy. Or I apply too much EQ to some instruments until those simply so...	You should start with each EQ band at zero db (neutral), and adjust volume to a comfortable level first using the mixer faders or volume control.
How to find royalty-free music Possible Duplicate: Where can I find free sound effects? Where to find free music In looking at various royalty-free music websites, I'm realizing that describing what one is after is not easy and therefore finding it even more so. You may select a category and listen to samples but...	Here are a few sites to get you started: http://www.seabreezecomputers.com/tips/freemusic.htm
Stereo panning, headphones and speakers difference Should stereo panning be done differently while using headphones or speakers? <Q> With headphones you will get complete separation of left and right channels. <S> You will only hear the left channel in the left ear and the right channel in the right ear, assuming you...	When mixing for headphones versus speakers, there isn't a lot of difference in the panning until you get near the extremes of left or right panning.
Sequencing with VSTs - does 64bit matter? I'm wanting to get into digital music production and so I need to get a 'DAW' package. I don't want to get into a debate the pros and cons of different packages, but I'd narrowed down my selection to Cubase and Ableton Live and was favouring Live until I found out that it isn't...	To answer your question about EastWest plug-ins, 64-bit is likely to get you better performances as you will avoid streaming samples from disk and be able to sample the complete kit from memory.
FireWire on MacBook Air - Help! I've got an M-Audio FireWire Solo and just bought a new Macbook Air so I could run Pro Tools. Didn't think to notice whether the Air would have a Firewire port (it does not). So now I've got a brand new interface and a brand new computer and can't do anything.... What is the best option...	If you can live with a little latency and can't return the Macbook Air, I suggest a plain USB interface.
What kind of mixer should I get for DJing? I do some DJing on the side, and have been working with what I have, which is my computer with 3.5mm out to my home theater receiver via an RCA cable, etc... It's very hackish, and I've been told I need to get a mixer if I want to continue to do this and actually have any kind...	First off, if you're already mixing tracks in your computer and you just need to combine your computer's output with a microphone, pretty much any mixer, DJ oriented or otherwise, will do.
Is a MIDI-enabled keyboard and a Windows machine enough by itself to record piano music well? (Apologies in advance if this is a vague question but it's probably my lack of understanding.) One of my keyboards is a Yamaha S90 ES. The piano voices on this KB are very nice out of the box. Ideally I'd like to capture my...	In short, yes, our keyboard and computer are enough, so long as you have some recording software!
Makers of best-in-class DAW plugins for recording/mixing? I'm not too concerned about a particular kind of plugin or what formats, but trying to find out who are the companies in the market that are making the good stuff. On the high end On the cheap end Unique/creative functionality In each of the major catego...	As for reverbs, Altiverb, Waves Trueverb/Rverb, Sonnox reverb, are amongst some of the favorites
How can I clean up my laptop's sound card input? My Windows XP laptop has a sound card that's integrated with the motherboard. I've tried doing some recording directly into Audacity using my headset microphone, but I always get an unacceptable level of noise when I record that way. Using the Roland EDIROL R-09HR I hav...	Updating your sound card drivers if you can might help a little, but the main problem is that the sound card is not protected from the electromagnetic effects of the rest of the computer (plus it's probably not a great card, onboard ones rarely are).
What are the disadvantages of a powered speakers setup over passive setup? Im looking to build a mobile DJ Sound System. I want to use powered speakers and do away with speakers and amp setup. I'm looking to accommodate at least 300 people. This is the equipment I was thinking of getting: 1 X American Audio PXW18P 8...	Also, generally, higher quality combined speakers will be more expensive than similar quality from a separate amp and speaker combo.
Better playback in Sibelius How can I get 'better' sounding playback when composing in Sibelius? Poor (or clearly synthesised) playback puts many people I know off using Sibelius. Or is this something that varies depending on the operating system, and version of Sibelius? <Q> I realize this question is old, but it's s...	The ones I am familiar with and I can surely recommend because of their versatility (covering all instruments of the General MIDI standard) are HALion Sonic , the quite more complex
How do I make my guitar sound as smooth as possible? I am doing a guitar track that I want to put a reverse reverb effect on. In order to do this I record the guitar, put heavy reverb on it, bounce, reverse, put heavy reverb on that, then bounce and reverse again. The problem is that the track is a guitar sliding up a...	Reducing the dry recording in the reverb effect is a good suggestion.
Automatic Mix software to replace a DJ Since there are a lot of audio fans here, do you know a good software to replace a DJ in a private office party? The direction is tired of hiring a (bad) DJ year after year when what people really want is to hear songs they like with minimal mixing between the tracks. Here is wha...	If you don't own or don't plan to use any additional DJ hardware (mixer, turntable, DJ controller or video projector), then VirtualDJ Home will meet all your requirements.
USB/Midi controller on Ubuntu Linux? My question is directed at those having experience with both Linux and midi controllers. DEVICE IN QUESTION This seems to be the cheapest midi/usb controller that has: 1) 88 keys 2) fully/semi weighted keys 3) midi/usb M Audio Keystation USB/MIDI Controller Here is an image ...	I have the M-Audio Keyrig49 and it works perfectly on Debian/Ubuntu/Mint.
Is there any free tool to generate a tone with gradually increasing pitch? I need to generate a tone with a gradually increasing pitch with a very slow ratio. That is, I need a sine/square/sawtooth tone (amplitude doesn't matter) starting from 20Hz and gradually, linearly (or exponentially) increasing to 16kHz over 10 ...	output.wav synth 600 sine 20-16k
Is there a music genre or type of sound to help drown out background noise for the purpose of concentration? I would like to be able to play something in a pair of headphones that works to drown out the background chatter of, for instance, sitting in a cafe. Is there a type of sound, or genre of music with a certain...	Electronic Dance Music does a good job of masking because it is usually loud.
Absorbing Room - materials, their shapes, what's the difference? Internet is really lacking information about acoustics in the room, absorbing materials, it's shapes and patterns.. how to glue them, why there are different shapes. I really would like to know how to make a simple recording room at your house. Mostly I'...	Acoustic foam is probably the easiest thing to remove echoes from a normal room - it's also simple to remove if your needs change For cost saving purposes
tips for making a more realistic "live drummer" sound with only audio samples I compose and produce my own original electronic music songs and I generally only have trouble with one aspect of music: the drums. This is the only major instrument that I have no formal (or informal) training with. The real reason I never p...	With some drum/genre combinations you can replicate the feel of what a real drummer would do if you listen carefully and patiently tailor each hit wrt velocity and nudging the timing ( and possibly using groove quantize ) ....
Audio tracker for Linux with support for VST/VSTi For the past few years I have been using Windows where I was working on quite a good piece of tracker - MadTracker (which sadly is not available for Linux). Recently I had to migrate to Linux and I have no intentions of maintaining two operating systems. I have seen th...	I think Renoise might fit the bill, which is a tracker-style sequencer that does support VST.
How does our brain detect the direction of sound? We are able to detect the direction of sound because of our brain's capbility to measures the time lag and amplitude difference between the sound that reaches our ears. However the sound produced by a source 10 meters directly in front of us and sound produced by anothe...	The brain uses interaural, time, amplitude, frequency and phase differences to locate sounds.
What's the best software for DJing and mixing? I've seen Mixxx seems to be one of the few that's not proprietary, but I'm having a hard time choosing what to at least start out with What choice are there? What are some of their strengths and weaknesses? <Q> VirtualDJ VDJ is mostly the industry standard and is extrem...	Pro TRAKTOR PRO is the new benchmark in DJ software. There's also Ableton Live if you don't necessarily want to use something that looks like turntables.
Is there any Windows, Mac, or Unix software similar to LSDJ for writing "chiptunes"? I am aware of LSDJ and have tried to use it via various GameBoy emulators, but I find the interface to be incredibly clunky and am wondering if anyone has seen a suite of software that takes better advantage of the keyboard and/or mo...	If you're on Windows, try Tweakbench's free Toad , Peach , and Triforce plugins which make sounds based on NES waveforms, likely similar to what you were making with LSDJ.
If we recorded tracks at 48khz, and are mixing through an analog console, is there any benefit to printing the mix in 96khz instead of 48khz? We have a situation where we recorded tracks at 48khz. However, the final mix will be printed through an analog console. Is there any benefit - and if so, how much - to printing ...	The only reason it can be useful to record at higher rates is to avoid aliasing issues in any nonlinear effects plugins.
Field Recording Alone in Remote Areas I've been wanting to travel deeper into the mountains (of Taiwan) for my field recording. I can only go so far if I plan to be out by dark. So I've been collecting gear to allow me to stay a night or two, hiking the whole way. What I'm wondering is, who has gone out to remote loca...	Be prepared to spend the night in the wilderness (in case something happens). Know where the trails lead and bring maps.
Fading Out Best Practices I make presentation software, and we have the ability to export that presentation to a video. Lately, we're trying to add the ability to choose a soundtrack to attach to that exported video. We want the soundtrack to fade in/out. I'm pretty unfamiliar with the theory behind fade in/out and ha...	There really is no right or wrong way.
What vocal effects do these heavy metal bands use for live shows I have been trying to look for the vocal effects that singers like Brian Fair of Shadows Fall and Randy Blythe of Lamb of God and other heavy metal singers use, but i cant seem to get an answer to a simple question. I am looking for the names of the pro...	Shadows Fall use some reverb and delay on the vocals, but nothing special there as far as I can tell from the tracks I know.
Do vinyl records sound better than CDs? Is this true, or it's just a placebo effect? Personally I don't hear any differences besides the usual vinyl "cracks" and random noises... <Q> TL;DR: it depends on the recordings. <S> You can't make a blanket statement about it. <S> Vinyl has one advantage over CDs: mastered a...	Personally, I like the sound of recordings on vinyl.
Free batch conversion from FLAC to Apple Lossless (ALAC)? I am looking for a free tool that would allow me to convert large amounts of FLAC files to ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) while preserving the meta information and optionally adding new information from CDDB or similar sources. At this moment I'm more in...	X Lossless Decoder (XLD) is a great prefect lossless ripping and batch conversion tool for the Mac. There are a wide range of applications for Windows and for OSX - you could try Audio Transcoder or Max or a range of others ( google will find many)
Assessing the reliability of using a laptop in a stage environment I have been experimenting with a Dell D-510 laptop computer for stage use. In my equipment arsenal, I also have: A Casio PX-5S keyboard A Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 USB Audio/MIDI Interface An M-Audio Oxygen 61 MIDI Controller A Mackie 3204-V...	I think it may just be that your Dell is not up to the task
What kind of Mac to buy? I've just started doing live sound at my local theater company and we might get a new Mac as opposed to using our antiquated Acer notebook any more. For the upcoming show, we need to use QLab to play the sound effects and music. I've used it some on my own MacBook Pro which has a 2.4 GHz Inte...	Mac Minis are great for Qlab audio, and are also cheaper than a macbook pro or a macbook air.
how to get rid of a loud buzzing noise when I try to record? I have an MXL 770 Cardioid Condenser Microphone connected to a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 2 In/2 Out USB recording audio into Sonar x3. When I try to record, my voice is very very low. You can barely hear the voice over the buzzing noise. All my audio sou...	It sounds like your input source is not set to your focusrite interface.
First memory of manipulating sound? We all have memories of our first listening experience (ie the first memorable sound we heard and rememebred) but what was the first sound you heard, captured & manipulated in some way & went OMFG at what the manipulation represented to your future self? What was it? Captured how? Ma...	Electronically it must have been when i blew up the amp for the first time and discovered distortion. My first sound manipulation moment came in my early to mid teens when I was volunteering at a campus radio station.
Low impedance monitoring headphones that work with Mbox Mini I recently discovered that I can't use just any headphones with my Mbox Mini as it seems to have a somewhat underpowered headphone amplifier. I did this by buying a pair AKG K240 mkII headphones (which sound very very good on everything else, even the jack on...	With Mbox Mini in question too high current is probably not an issue, but the max voltage available to the headphone amp is limited and the output stage likely has relatively high impedance. If you're already willing to drop £100 on new cans, I'd consider replacing the Mini instead.
VST Plugins similar to Dblue Glitch? I've had a lot of fun with dblue glitch vst. I was wondering if there are similar vst plugins that achieve the same clean cutting and manipulating that it does? <Q> <A> iZotope Stutter Edit is a similar glitch-effect plugin. <S> It focuses on pre-defined tempo-synced sampling and ...	While I agree that iZotope Stutter Edit is a great plugin, and I haven't used Artillery from Sugar Bytes, I think the following is more similar to dBlue Glitch than the previous mentioned: Effectrix by Sugar Bytes.
How to stream my band on uStream? What is the best way to stream our band practices on uStream? Right now we are just using the microphone that came with our webcam. What is the next step in improving the audio quality of our stream? <Q> You wouldn't necessarily need a full-on dedicated mixing console to achieve this...	The next step would be mic'ing up your entire band through one mixing console, like you would for a live show, and running a stereo mix out of the console and in to your computer via a line in on a sound card and streaming that mix.
How is this technique called with ethernet cable to stage In my live mixings until now I always worked with analog signals between stage and mixer. Recently I saw at a small performance a solution with a kind of ethernet cable to stage. On stage there was a device that did the AD-DA conversion. How is this solution ca...	It's called a "Digital Snake" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_multicore_cable
Best vst for realistic violin articulations (disco) I'm looking for a good vst library for creating realistic 70s violin ensembles - any suggestions? the library should have some intelligent scripting which detects portamento, runs, riffs and such. Any ideas? <Q> The classic "70's" string sound is the Arp String Ense...	Have a look at Native Instruments Session Strings which is a sample based VSTi of a string ensemble, which has built in "articulations", including "scoops/falls" specifically targetted at creating 70s disco
How does the group work on the Behringer X2442USB? My Behringer X2442USB has a little panel on the left that has the follow [Button] [Button] [Button] [Button] LEFT LEFT LEFT LEFT[Button] [Button] [Button] [Button] RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT 1 2 3 ...	In this case, what's probably going on is that each sub signal is routed into a couple of outputs.
Is bass boost harmful? I recently bought a Sony headphone which has "bass boost", and I really love it. I love it so much that I increased the bass (low frequencies) on every device I use it on, with like 7db and decreased the overall gain (even on windows I use a system wide equalizer). Which means I'm not really list...	It is true that the sensitivity of our ears varies based on frequency and that high pressure sound can be more damaging without being noticed, but if you are not listening too loud it shouldn't be a problem.
Using my Cpu efficiently when using Fruity Loops I don't have a top notch computer; I only have what I've got, which is an acer laptop. With about only a 1.6ghz cpu. I don't have the money to upgrade, or to buy a desktop. I'm just wondering if there is some way I can use my cpu more efficiently when running Fl Studio, ...	There is a page on Optimizing FL Studio performance: http://flstudio.image-line.com/help/html/app_opt.htm You can increase the size of your virtual RAM and see if that helps at all: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Change-the-size-of-virtual-memory Some other ideas are to clean up your HDD (if you can d...
What causes the limitation on excessive analog signals vs. digital signals? In the digital world, "clipping" would occur when a signal passes above 0db. But if you are dealing with analog equipment, is there a certain "ceiling" that tends to "brickwall" the signal down as well? Does this have anything to do with Line-...	With analog equipment, if the signal level rises above the maximum input level of the equipment, it will begin to distort.
Difference between 3.5mm and quarter inch plug? What's the difference between these two types of plugs? Why do they exist? Why can't all plugs be 3.5mm ? <Q> Different form factors allow use for different applications - I believe they are capable of carrying the same signals. <S> 1/4" cables are more durable - I've ...	Otherwise, for smaller devices like smartphones etc, the 1/4" jack would be too big - so a smaller 1.8" (3.5mm) connector has been developed, as well as even smaller ones. I do not know of any meaningful electrical difference between them at the line- or instrument-level voltages that they usually carry.
Neutrik XLR 1/4" Combo Jacks and Phantom Power For devices that support mic input on the XLR and line level input on the 1/4" parts of one of those Neutrik combo jacks, do I generally need to worry about phantom power being sent to my line-level device? We have an assortment of digital recorders with this style of inp...	The Neutrik combo connector has separate connectors for the XLR and TRS pins, so it depends on whether the digital recorder in your setup feeds phantom power to both the XLR and the TRS pins. It really depends on your equipment. The voltage present on the tip and ring "is seen by equipment as “common mode” noise and re...
Maximum length for an unbalanced cable? Is there a maximum length for an unbalanced audio cable after which you should use balanced? <Q> The answer is: it depends. <S> It depends on how much RF noise is in the environment you're running the cable through and it depends on how strong the signal is you're sending along t...	It depends on a lot of things!
How do I produce this effect? Can somebody tell me what effect/processor I need to apply to make any sample "stutter" like this chainsaw in this trailer @ 0:58 I'm using Cubase and Sound Forge, so if your answer could be related to either. Even better! Thank you. <Q> You could either: 1, manually automate the lev...	The effect is created primarily by playing a continuous sound and then modifying it
What advantages does an MPC-style device have that are not offered by a DAW? It seems that the MPC-2000 had a long stranglehold on drum programmers and sample editors, but with the rise of DAWs (most notably I think was FL Studio around version 4), are they now obsolete? What advantages does one have to using an MPC ve...	I think the main advantage of MPC-like devices is that having a set of physical controls, that are mapped to a limited number of functions, is conducive to building up muscle memory--something which mouse-plus-monitor interaction is very badly suited to.
Is it safe to connect 2 players to a single pair of headphones using Y splitter? I would like to connect 2 devices (player and tablet) to my headphones; would it be safe to do so using a simple Y splitter? (Two male 3.5 mm connectors would to go both devices and one female 3.5 mm connector to the headphones) sorry f...	To do it right, you really need something that prevents backfeed and isolates the two inputs, that requires power unfortunately, which either comes externally or from the signal itself (which would result in massive attenuation thus not suitable for powering headphones.) Here 's a small, passive mixer that could well d...
Non-audio applications on performance OSX laptops I have a MacBook Pro running OSX 10.6 that I use as my primary computer for audio production and performance, mostly using Ableton Live. I've been trying to keep it free of other software to minimize the chances that a change to the system (or some other process compet...	On these machines you will find everything from audio software, tools for web and software development, and tons of other miscellaneous programs that I have picked up along the way.
Rechargeable batteries for wireless mics? Has anyone had any positive experience using rechargeable batteries with wireless mics? In particular 9V as they are quite expensive. I’ve tried metal halide in the past with poor results, but I’m wondering about lithium ion. <Q> I use two rechargeable nickel metal hydride AA...	I've been having a very good experience with Lithium-Polymer 9V rechargeable batteries in my Sennheiser wireless lapel mic. The big trick is to find a good battery manufacturer that makes batteries that meet your needs.
Looking for a Sound Editor for Mac OSX I am looking for an audio editor (it does not matter if it is free or not). I am starting to learn music and how create and edit in Mac. I want a simple but still powerful enough application to edit audio files and apply some effects. I come from Linux, so, and the obvious choice...	I know it is expensive, but Logic Studio comes along with Soundtrack Pro.
How do you handle performers that want to "fix it in the mix"? I've experienced this over and over with multiple performers: experienced and novices, instrumentalists and vocalists, groups and individuals, it doesn't seem specific to any group. They all think their performance is "good enough" while we're tracking, an...	If you agree on the fact that the recorded material doesn't sound good enough, and the musicians want to 'fix it in the mix', tell them that basically the only things you can fix in the mix are related to your job: registering their performance on disc (or tape, or whatever).
Websites to find "stem" tracks from commercial music Are there any online communities for trading unmixed ("stem") tracks from popular commercial music? <Q> What you are looking for are called "stems" or "raw tracks" and are generally only made available by artists who actively want to promote remixes of their works. ...	There are a few communities my band is a member of that trade stems with other bands - the purpose being a quid pro quo development of remixes/derived material that we then deliver back to the other bands.
How do I 'drag' waves in Sound Forge? I've been playing around with Sound Forge Pro 10 for a few days. Basically, I've recorded my girlfriend's vocals (she was listening to the music via headphones from a laptop), and I'm trying to line up the backing music to her vocals. Is there any way that I can simple drag the wav...	As an old standby, I usually just click anywhere and ctrl-A.
How do you get a job in a recording studio? I have no idea, so any advice would be helpful. The research I've done shows that opinion is divided. As an idea of my current situation, I have just graduated with an MMath from Oxford, and I'm likely to spend the next couple of years pursuing a part-time PhD in number theo...	The thing to do is research what studios are in your area, what their client base is like, what kind of music they specialise in and then contact them to propose an internship.
What is compression and why is it used? Related to vocal recording, I see some answers that talk about compression. What exactly does compression do, and why and how is it used? <Q> In a nutshell, it's making the loudest parts of the track softer. <S> Of course it's more complicated once you get into it. <S> You c...	Compression in this context means compressing the dynamic range of an audio track.
Uses for Ring Mod I'm very much into processing of my sound sources (synths, vocals, samples, etc.) to add interest to tracks with uncommon sounds, and like to use effects in ways they weren't really designed for. However, this means I'm often at a loss for an actual use for something, and the one that has always got ...	Set to extremes, some ring mods produce some interesting, bell-like sounds when fed single notes.
Demo samples of common effect presets Imagine I'm in a situation I don't have any gear with me (a meeting with a client). When I want to explain what a 'slap-back delay' sounds like, I could put on a typical Elvis song, but 'wood room' is trickier. And how to show what the difference would be between a short and an lon...	If you don't have your gear, you could always make yourself some preview recordings, especially if the client has already told you what sounds they're working with.
Any reason not to convert WAV to FLAC and save some disk space? As I understand the technologies, WAV is a raw, uncompressed format and FLAC is a compressed but lossless format. My research has shown that FLAC files "still maintain all the audio fidelity" src of WAV. I'm just wondering: Could I be saving a significa...	The main reason not to encode everything as FLAC is simple convenience.
Difference between microphone and line in inputs? Just something I've always wondered—most sound cards have both a line in and a microphone, and I've never been able to tell the difference between anything recorded with them. Lately I've seen cards without the line in, so is there actually a difference? If so, specific...	A microphone input is typically a very low level signal, and is mono.
Is there a sample player (vst) plugin which is able to adjust the sample playback tempo using MIDI time code? I'm playing a e-drum set. I want to trigger samples which are quite long (1min) during playing. Since I'm not a perfect drum player my playing tempo may have changed when I arrive at the point where I want the ...	An ideal candidate for that could be NI's Absynth VSTi (can download demo).
Amplify a person's voice in a phone record I have a phone record with two persons speaking, let's call them A and B. A is very quiet on the record, B is "normal". Now I want to amplify the voice of person A so that it matches the loudness of person B. How can that be done? Note that I don't care about noise or what...	As another option, consider using The Levelator — a free application for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, intended to adjust audio levels within a recording, using a combination of compression and normalization. Set the threshold to kick in only on the louder voice, and adjust the ratio until the levels between the two vo...
Open-source alternatives for plug-ins. Are there any open-source alternatives to VST/AU/RTAS that work across multiple OSs and can be used in host-programs such as Ableton's Live that are either in development or fully functional? <Q> Audio Units is an API which is compatible with Open Source Software licenses. <S> ...	There can, in theory, be open source plugins released in AU format. Martin Eastwood MVerb - a reverb
How to create ambient sound effects for video games? I am very new to sound design, and I'm wanting to make background ambient sounds for a dark-feeling game. How would I go about doing this? Would I use music creation software like FL Studio, or would I record things and slow them down? What tips and tricks should I u...	First of all, I would recommend to learn how to manipulate, edit and process simple audio recordings. I'm not very familiar with FL Studio (I remember Fruity Loops), but the freeware solution for learning how to work with samples can be simple as Audacity.
Mixing For DCP - Reels or Continuous? I'm currently finishing mixing a feature which has been cut in reels so I've mixed it as such. However as it's for DCP and not a film print I'm wondering if there's as much of a need to still work in reels? I'm about to start another project for DCP next week and am considering m...	Given that its a DCP you can work on either a reel format or a continuous file and it should not be a problem.
Crackling noise coming out the SM7B microphone I recently ordered an open-box SM7B (perfect condition), so far so good, except there's some crackling noise coming out of the audio signal. You can hear a sample of the crackling noise here , it's normalized so you can hear it clearly. There's only a XLR male to female...	Static electricity can also affect sound.
How to choose a microphone for my requirements? I am in a need of a microphone for a specific setup and with some requirements, but I don't seem to have much luck in finding the best option. There is a possibility I am looking at this all wrong, so I am asking for advice here. My setup is as follows: The recording d...	The best low budget lavalier mics i came across where the sennheiser lavalier mics of the ew100 eng series.
How to find out the exact volume in decibels when playing music on a Mac? I want to be able to know what volume I'm playing my music in decibels when I'm using my Macbook Air. Is there any plug-ins or methods to show this information? <Q> how far away? <S> is your macbook air connected to speakers? <S> Your file has ...	The only way to get an accurate estimate of the SPL is to use a SPL meter. The dB level depends on what you are playing and how far away you are from the speakers.
How to convert a stereo MP3 to mono MP3 We had an MP3 created for a message greeting on our phone system. It is stereo MP3, not sure what the bit rate is, but is sampled at 44.1k. Our sound system requires it to be in this format: 16 bit Mono 44.100 kHz I have Garageband and went out to find Peak but they are o...	You can try Foobar2000 (which is a music player but can convert sounds too).
Is it better to record a vocal as close to raw as possible, or to compress, eq etc along the way into Pro Tools? I've been playing around with running vocals from our 1073 pre-amp into an Avalon compressor and EQ before hitting our Pro Tools rig. I'm loving the sound I'm getting, but am not sure if this is giving me th...	I always run vocals through a compressor as the human voice has an incredibly wide range of dynamics and is very susceptible to sudden peaks.
What is Abstract Sound Design? I want to understand what Abstract Sound Design means. I looked at other questions here but couldn't find an answer I fully understood. What it means in terms of - How do you create it? What is it for? What is it exactly?Anything you can tell me about it would be great. Thanks <Q> [Boo....	Abstract sound design could be construed as a sound that represents something that doesn't usually have a sound (mental flashbacks or character epiphanies, for example), or a sound that itself doesn't have a real world equivalent (many button sounds found in fantasy user interfaces in films).
What are some tips and techniques on recording paper, pencil, chalkboard and other often harsh sounding foley? What are some tips and techniques on recording paper, pencil, chalkboard and other often harsh sounding foley? Many times I'm designing an animated piece that requires organic foley elements like pencil drawi...	To get rid of harshness at recording try the following: Record with a distance.
New auditorium construction-- where is the 100% perfect place for sound? I work for a church as a system admin. Considering the size of the organization, my tasks also involving being the go-to guy for research and making any decisions involving any form of technical needs, including audio and video setup. Within the...	Honestly, the best thing you can do is make sure you have a dedicated wifi network in the auditorium and get a digital mixer that can be controlled from a tablet.
What's the shortest sound perceptible to the human ear? How long would the shortest perceptible sound last? I'm guessing there'll be a frequency at which we can hear short sounds best but I don't need to find that. Admittedly this is also completely dependent on the hifi too. (I'm working on an audio processing algo...	The shortest length of time your eardrum can respond to a given sound depends on its frequency.
How is Audio Compression possible (file size) I understand that compression works by exploiting certain psycho-acoustical characteristics of our auditory perception, but I'm still confused. I mean ultimately, the waveform must be recorded regardless of what has been done to do it, and I was under the impression that al...	Audio compression works by making alterations where the loss of detail won't be noticed in order to conform the waveform to a pattern that can be more easily compressed.
Where to find gusty wind recordings I'm in a bind and I'm looking for some wind with a lot of whipping and dynamics. The project I'm designing is very ethereal in nature so I will probably be doing a lot of panning/modulation work but most of the wind libraries I've looked at are a bit flat for what I need. Are there...	I can recommend "Winds of Nature": http://www.boomlibrary.com/boomlibrary/products/winds-of-nature The first tool I'd reach for to create a "whipping" sensation would be either an amplitude modulator (think MondoMod) or a chain of dopplers (GRM or Waves), or the two of those working together.
Jump in Sound Design My name is Riccardo i'm 23yo from Italy.I'm trying to abandon my work as sound engineer and jump in the world of Sound Design.Until now i've always passed lot of time working with Ableton Live on synthesis and Audio Recording/Editing, the point is that i think (maybe i'm wrong) i don't have enough ...	Securing a position as an intern and learning from others may be a better route - on the job training and trial by fire is good for you career and your character.
An effective technique for ducking in Sony Vegas? I'm trying to wrap my head around ducking effect. Say, I have two tracks: A music with pretty harsh peaks and drops (it's a dubstep) A vocal voiceover I also have two Track Compressors applied to Master Bus : one is quite soft (-16x at -5dB), and the next one is...	It basically involves creating additional buses, and routing the source and target tracks to that bus, then using a compressor with the ability to pick one of the channels off the bus as a source, and another channel as the target.
Studio Flooring - The Great Debate I'm moving my studio from a room that has carpet to a larger room with tiles. I've researched online and there does not seem to be any flooring that is favored, so I wanted to get some opinions for my particular case. I predominantly record acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guit...	If you have a flat and particularly reflective ceiling, some form of carpet/rug would almost definitely be a good idea.
What do I lose when reducing bit depth? I am concerned about the losses when converting flac files from 24bit to 16bit.Does it reduce quality or add noise or what? <Q> Technically it does reduce the quality, yes. <S> It should not add any perceivable noise. <S> Will you notice the difference? <S> Try it and see. <S> I ...	I can assure you that unless you're planning to further process the sound or the sound in the file is very very quiet, you won't lose anything important.
How do you eliminate or lessen feedback? I have a 24 channel mackie mixing board, and I am trying to run two shure super 55s through the board and into two EV 1 inch monitors. I am getting a large amount of feedback whenever I try to get any volume out of my mics. Is there any special way to set the channels to get mor...	In order to eliminate feedback, you need to break the feedback loop by either altering the position or orientation of the microphones so that they do not pick up the sound from the speakers (point it away from the speakers, preferably behind them), by altering the orientation or position of the speakers so that they do...

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