THE BLOG
Mixing tips, mastering guides, gear reviews, and music production tutorials from a studio with 20+ years of experience.
AI Vocals vs Real Vocals: What Still Gives Them Away
The robot-gargling era is over — modern AI vocals sound smooth. But smoothness itself is a clue. Here's the engineer's e...
Can You Copyright AI-Generated Music?
AI music copyright confuses a lot of people, and most of the confusion comes down to one word: authorship. Here's the ac...
How to Gain Stage: From Mic to Mix
Gain staging isn't dead — even with 32-bit float and loudness normalization changing the game. Here's how to manage leve...
Can You Release AI-Generated Music on Streaming Platforms?
Yes, you can release AI music on Spotify and most platforms — but only if you play it straight. Here's what's actually a...
Suno Studio 2.0: I Recorded My Own MIDI, Then Had It Build Me a Plugin
I built a lo-fi track in Suno Studio 2.0 using my own MIDI performance, then had it generate a custom plugin from a text...
The Microphone Proximity Effect, Explained
Get too close to a directional mic and the low end swells up. That's the proximity effect, and it can make a voice sound...
The Haas Effect: What It Is and How to Use It
The Haas effect is one of the oldest tricks for making a mono sound feel wide, and it still works. But there's more to i...
What Is Audio Clipping, and Is It Always a Bad Thing?
Clipping gets a bad reputation, but the full story is more interesting than "never let it happen." Here's what clipping ...
How to Mix AI-Generated Vocals
AI vocals from Suno, Udio, and the rest come with their own baggage — metallic sheen, digital ringing, and a flat, lifel...
What Are Music Modes? A Plain-English Guide
Modes get made way harder than they need to be. In plain terms, a mode is just the major scale heard from a different ho...
What Is the Circle of Fifths? A Practical Music Theory Guide
The circle of fifths looks intimidating, but it's really just a map of how keys relate to each other. This guide breaks ...
Reverb vs Delay: How They Differ and When to Use Each
Reverb and delay are both time-based effects, and they get mixed up all the time. This guide breaks down what each one a...