I thought the article below could help some of you guys out. I'm sure most of you will know what this guy is talkin about, but for those who don't I suggest you look into it.

Home Recording Studio Basics - Here's What You Need to Record
By Seth Lutnick

After I had blown quite a few thousand dollars in a recording studio, a sound engineer friend made a cool suggestion. "Why don't you buy an ADAT, and do some tracking at home?" So I purchased that venerable 8 track digital tape recorder and saved oodles of time and money putting all my synth tracks on tape. That was my start in home recording, and oh, the fun I've had since!

What are the basic pieces of equipment and software one needs to record at home?

There are so many ways to do this! Well, since you're reading this, you probably have a computer, so let's base our home studio on the computer. We'll start by understanding the different functions we will need filled in home recording. Then we'll understand what the best hardware and software products to do it are. In general, the principle I recommend is to use fewer pieces of equipment with more functions. That approach saves time and, usually, money. As you advance in your recording skills, you can go for more specialized equipment.

There are two distinct phases in recording a song. One is the "in" phase, referring to everything needed to get your music performance into a basic recorded form, with however many tracks you need. The second phase is the "out" phase, where you will take that raw music, process it and create the final stereo version.

The "in" phase -- sending the music to your computer

Music can be put into your computer either as audio or as MIDI. Audio is actual sound recordings. MIDI records no sounds, but only the digital instructions for an instrument to play. It is much like a combination of a pianist and sheet music. Without an instrument, he can make no music. With MIDI, you are saving the note and volume instructions to be played on the instruments of your choice later on.

Although some programs let you put MIDI notes into your computer through your computer keyboard, and other programs have music generation features that allow you to create an entire backing band without playing a note, the best solution is a velocity sensitive MIDI keyboard. It gives a much more realistic performance. For example, playing a key softer will record a softer note. Other features, such as aftertouch, allow you to add vibrato and other realistic effects.

Audio simply means actual sounds. Audio tracks will include vocals, acoustic instruments, and electronic instruments whose sounds you wish to use. You will do well to get at least two microphones. Some microphones are better constructed to record vocals, while others are optimized for instruments. In addition, having two mics allows you to record in stereo, or two soloists performing at the same time.

Receiving the music into your computer

All of this will get your music up to your computer's door. How do you get it inside? With an audio interface that has: a microphone jack that fits your microphone cable and preamp function (so that the signal is strong enough to be properly recorded), phantom power (if you use a condenser mic that needs it), a line input for synths and sound modules, and a MIDI interface. Remember the principle - less products that do more. Some find it simpler to run every audio sound, mics and all, through a hardware mixer (with phantom power and effects) and sending that pre-processed signal to the audio interface's line input. You'll still need the MIDI interface function for your MIDI recording, though.

Once your audio and MIDI are inside your computer, software takes over. For our recording we will use what's called an integrated audio/MIDI sequencer. Famous names include Cubase, Cakewalk and so forth. These programs record multiple tracks of audio and MIDI in perfect synchronization.

Now you have all the equipment you need for the "in" phase. What will you need to take the many tracks of audio and MIDI you have recorded and make a song out of them?

The "out" phase -- making MIDI into music

We mentioned that MIDI is simply digital instructions, it is not actual sounds. Now we will need to create actual sounds from those instructions. There are two options for this: external and internal.

External sounds come in little boxes called sound modules (or keyboards with their own great sounds). Sound modules have hundreds of high-quality patches that re-create every instrument in the orchestra, classic electronic sounds, spacey new synthesizer creations and sound effects. To use them, you send the MIDI back out from the sequencer program through the audio interface's MIDI output and into the sound module. You then take the audio output from the sound module back into your computer via the line input on your audio interface and record it on a new audio track in the sequencer. It is now a real sound and is perfectly lined up with the other tracks.

Internal sounds come in lots of different types. Instruments that you use from within your audio/MIDI sequencer include VST instruments and software synths. The latter may automatically come with your audio interface, or require installation like any other program. Option two is a full-blown sampler/synthesizer program, such as "Reason", that you connect your sequencer to through a software function called "Rewire." And there are also sound modules that come in the form of PCI cards that you physically install on your computer.

Fine tuning and effects

Most every song will use spatial effects such as reverb and echo. You may find that some tracks are slightly out of tune. On others, there may be a consistent buzz that needs to be removed. For all of these, you will want to have an audio editing program or plug-in. A plug-in is simply a function you can add to your basic sequencer program. Plug-ins exists for all kinds of functions, including reverb, compression, equalization, noise reduction, pitch correction and so forth.

An audio editing program is a standalone program that does all of these things. With most audio/MIDI sequencers, you can configure your software to call up the audio editing program and fix the track without leaving the sequencer.

Mixing down

Once you have all of your tracks and sounds recorded, you will need to mix them down to stereo. Again, this can be done in an external or internal fashion. To do it externally, you would need a hardware mixer. This method limits you to the number of tracks you can send independently through your audio interface and the number of tracks your mixer can handle. Nonetheless, mixers give you a real surface to work on, and often include quality studio effects, reverbs and such.

Internal mixing means using your audio/MIDI sequencer to mix down the entire song to two tracks. The advantage of doing it internally is the expanded number of tracks you can use. The disadvantage is the difficulty of mixing with a mouse on a computer screen. There are, however, hardware mixing surfaces which simply control your software program.

Mastering and burning

Once you have your stereo mix, you want to put the finishing touches on it. These touches include overall compression, equalization, noise reduction, fading in and out and bringing the recording up to a normalized level of volume. Your audio editing program should be able to handle these adequately, although there are specialized mastering programs which offer higher quality and many more enhancement features.

Then you're ready to burn your song to CD. Odds are that your CD writing drive came with a program that does just that and you won't need anything more. I did mention that you'll need a CD writing drive, didn't I? Well, now I did! And if it's MP3 you're after, most audio programs encode MP3s as well.

And that's it! Now you have everything you need to make your musical magic at home. Have fun, but I don't need to tell you that, because it just is.

Seth Lutnick is a singer and songwriter who has been bitten by the bug of home music recording. His web site, offers detailed step-by-step plans for creating a home recording studio, song arranging and professional album recording.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Seth_Lutnick

How to Use Your Computer as a Recording Studio
By Hans Dekker

A few years ago there was a revolution in recording technology. As computers became more powerful, they started to replace traditional tape recorders that were the heart of most recording studios. Today, computers designed for home use are powerful enough to emulate an entire recording studio, and can be used for everything from multitrack recording to audio editing and scoring music for videos.

This “democratizing” of recording techniques has opened up the entire recording industry to anyone with the proper software and hardware. With software packages costing a few hundred dollars and professional-quality audio interfaces costing less than $100, anybody can have a virtual recording studio in their home.

Some of the big names in the audio recording field are Cubase, ProTools, Sonar and Sound Forge. Each of these Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) can be used for multi-track recording and editing and have the ability to combine recordings with “virtual instruments”.

Virtual instruments are computer-generated sounds that can be played via MIDI. Traditionally, MIDI was used to send music data to hardware devices like keyboards and sound modules, but computers are now powerful enough to emulate sound modules. Instead of hooking up cables to an external device to play MIDI tracks, virtual instruments can be loaded into the computer’s memory to play any type of sound.

MIDI tracks can be combined with audio tracks and all of it played back in perfect synchronization. All tracks can be processed with effects like reverb and chorus, and the entire mix can be compressed for a professional sounding result.

Although professional sound recording packages can be fairly expensive, you can get your feet wet by trying out one of the shareware programs that are available. They will allow you to see the capabilities of digital recording, and if you want to develop your interests further you can later buy one of the professional programs.

Hans is editor of the Audio Howto Section of
the http://www.selected-audio-reviews.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hans_Dekker

Home Recording Studio Tips, Part One
By Gene Smith

I hope that you read my first article on setting up a home recording studio. Perhaps, now you have some of the equipment and are eager to get started. Maybe you already have layed a few tracks and mixed-down you effort.

These tips are from experience and are not all inclusive. In fact, with a little effort, you may become more profecient than me next week, next month, next year.

Let's look at the recording scene today. I'm older than dirt so I won't bug you with what I like and don't like. I'll try to be objective in presenting to you tips on recording. Whether you're into Rap, R&B, Punk, Rock and Roll, Country, Gospel, or Folk. I won't cover classical since I don't know much about the genre.

If you listen to a lot of music, you've probably noticed that some is engineered well and some of it is junk. In my opinion, the best recorded music is Rap, R&B and Country. But music is like flavors of ice cream: not everyone likes the same taste.

Let's get started.

Placement of the microphone:

-For vocals, have the mic about 6-10" from the singer directly in front. A sound-pop device is a good idea. These can be purchased at your local music store.

-For guitars, acoustic-place the mic stand about 4 inches below and 6 inches from the guitar. On playback, if you hear a "click", it probably means that you are occasionally striking the pick guard with the pick. I had this nasty habit for years. Try not to do that. With a little practice, you can overcome this obstacle if you have it.

-For woodwind, horns, sax, flute, recorder-Place the mic slightly above and about 6 inches from the end of the instrument. Experiment, you might even find a better way!

-Upright Bass-Have the mic on a stand and placed low about 2-3 feet and 6 inches from the instrument. Again, you might find a better way.

Piano-That's a tough one. If you have a Grand. Place the mike about one foot over the piano strings (with the lid raised). A spinet-Raise the top of the piano, have the mike about 1 foot from the casing. If you have two mics, place one above the treble and , on the other side, place one above the bass strings. Experiment with the spacing. With the two mic system, you have two tracks of piano, bass and treble. Mix them down to a pleasing sound for you at mix down.

Now let's talk about vocals.

Vocals should be the last tracks layed on your machine. Put the rhythm down first, then rhythm guitar, piano, etc. then lead and bass.

Duets-For the life of me, I can't understand why live TV has such bad engineering on duets. Most of the work would get a C- from a 10th grade teacher! I guess the engineer is following the levels indicated on his mixer. Wrong. Except for the most expensive mixers, the treble is much higher than the bass. I heard that these machines take a middle tone as the standard for volume. But you'll have to talk to someone more edumakateed than me for that!Try this- Run main vocal on the meter at 95% and run the higher alto or soprano at about 40%. Listen! Listen at the playback-make the two singers blend appropriately. Don't let that higher voice drown out the lead. Set your pans like you like it. After all, it's your recording!

Something to think about. Don't hotwire your amp directly into your recording machine without checking to see that it won't mess up your machine. It's best to put the plug from your guitar directly into your recording machine and use the built-in effects to get your sound. Today, there are many effects to choose from-grunge, rock, blues sound, echo, reverb, delay, raving maniac, octave changers, etc. I'm sure you'll find one right for you and your song.

Housekeeping-The following will help you take care of your masters and keep things in order.
Track Log-This is a form. Keep it in one of those 50 cent paper term paper things that you get at the department store. I you don't know what it is, you can puchase them on the web. If you have an 8-track, get an 8-track log, etc. If you don't want to buy them, you can make one out of a sheet of paper. Just take a ruler and make 8 columns and some horizontal lines. Fill in at the top, 1,2,3,etc. The first box you have created below the number one, put the type of thing that's on track one-vocal, bass, drums, etc. and so on.

You can add notes in the boxes below on each track indicating start time-stop time of the track information. Play around with this, keep the info that you need, to recreate a mix if you want to do it later. The instruction book that came with your machine might even have more extensive tips for you on the track log. Read it through. It can be a great help.

If your master is on a zip-drive or some other removable media, make sure to lable it correctly and thoroughly. You might even want to document the date. Who knows? You might want to use your walker to get to the closet in 2066 to play your stuff to your bored grandchildren!

Have fun and if I'm still on Planet Earth next month, I'll have more stuff for you.

Happy recording!

Gene Smith has his own recording studio in a room in his home. He has made several spoken word CDs and music albums. He lives in West Virginia

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gene_Smith

The Main Reasons Why You Probably Don’t Have A Record Deal, Yet!
By: Sahpreem King




1. Skills: You can get mad and storm off. You can get pissed and start to cry. You can get angry enough to toss a pitcher of water in the faces of the audition panelist. But no matter how heated you may get, nothing will change that fact that you might not be as talented as you think. All your life your family and friends have said, "Wow! You’re really talented," and it has started to go to your head. You could very well be the next J-Lo or Nelly, at least according to your peeps, but if no one outside of your support network has ever heard of you, you might be in for a rude awakening. The best way to test your talent is to let other people critique it for you. Believe me, a perfect stranger will tell you exactly what others have been afraid to tell you all your life, you suck! On the other hand, the opposite may apply. If you got the got skills, strangers will let you know with enthusiasm. Exposure, exposure, and more exposure is the key to measuring your talent. Whether it’s rapping or singing, or a little of both, you gotta get out there and be seen and heard. Take every opportunity to perform, big or small, and show the musical world what you have to offer. In addition, I suggest you obtain a written evaluation of your talent from a reputable music industry professional, and leave the rest up to luck.

2. Game Plan: Just like a football team has to practice in order to win, so do you. At the beginning of training camp, as the players arrive to the first practice, each player is handed a playbook. This play book is a detailed plan of action to guide the team to its ultimate goal, success. Your play book doesn't have to be quite as elaborate as the NFL's, just a simple pencil and pad will do. The entire concept of a game plan is to map out where it is you want to be, and how you’re gonna get there. Start with the end product (the goal) and then work your way backwards. List all of the steps it may take to reach your goal, then right them down in reverse order. Now, you have created a map of your game plan, review it and make changes if necessary. Then fold it up and tuck into your wallet, for easy access, this way you can constantly remind yourself of were your going and cross off where you've been.

3. Product: Face it, you wouldn't be too impressive of a plumber if you didn't own an adjustable wrench, and you certainly wouldn't be much of a clown without the funny make-up. So what makes you think you'd even have a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding in the music business, if didn't have a demo. Very few people have ever gotten a record deal by bum rushing a record executive at a night club or mall; even less have gotten a deal via telepathy. Being that fate is not on your side, get off the couch, put down the PlayStation and head out to the nearest recording studio and record a demo. You can usually find a good recording studio listed in the Yellow Pages, trade magazines, or on the Internet. Most if not all recording studios have staff producers that can help you develop your sound. Once the recording process has been completed, its time to put together a press kit. Start off by putting three of your best songs on a CD; make sure that the label has your name, the song titles, and contact number in plan view. Next, you'll need a recent photo of yourself, or group, with your contact information written on the bottom. Lastly, you'll need an artist biography (resume) that highlights any detailed information about yourself, including who you are, where you’re from, and where you want to go. Also include any press write-ups or articles that may showcase your achievements. Once you have gathered all of these items, stick them into a nice little package. Make sure your package is professional and unique enough to set you apart from everyone else.


About the Author: Sahpreem A. King, Multi Platinum Record Producer, DJ, Music Consultant, and Author of the book Gotta Get Signed How to Become a Hip Hop Producer on Schirmer Trade Books

Make Music with your

Make Music with your Computer: An Introduction by: Calab Coleman
Intro
Well guys, I’ve decided to write a short article on how to make music with your computer. When I started out, I couldn’t find anything to help me. I didn't know what to buy, or where to start. Hopefully this short article will help you in your quest to making music a fun and productive hobby or future profession.
Loops and SONY ACID Software
When I first started to create music I used SONIC FOUNDRY'S ACID MUSIC 3.0. It's a piece of software that enables you to create music with loops. Loops are small pieces of music, like a drum line or synth line. These loops are only a few seconds long, but, obviously, they loop. This means that you can draw the loop in for 30 seconds, 60 seconds, whatever length you’d like with no distortion or other strange noises when the loop starts over at the beginning. There are many websites and companies that create loops for production use. A lot of them are Royalty Free; this means that you can use them in commercial (for-profit) songs. Each of the companies that create these loops has their own license, which you’ll want to read if you’re going to release an album. The license is usually just a set of rules or terms that say what you can and can’t do with a loop. Most the time you can use these Royalty Free loops in commercial recordings, but you can’t, for example, resell the loops by themselves. You have to abide by the license.
As far as I know SONIC FOUNDRY was bought out by SONY, so if you’re looking for this software….
- Do a search for ACID PRO, or visit the link at the bottom of the article
- There are different versions of the software; one of the versions is absolutely FREE
The Reason to create
The piece of software I’d like to talk about in this section is PROPELLERHEADS REASON. This piece of software is much different than ACID. REASON is focused less on loops, and more on programming. When I say programming, I mean using individual sounds, for example, a kick drum, snare, or piano sound. You then use the awesome devices to create patterns. REASON includes a powerful list of devices. Some of the more important are the ReDrum Drum Machine, Synthesizers, and all new in 2.5, the mastering devices. I’m not going to get into this too much, because there’s just too much to tell in this article. If you’re interested in using REASON, I recommend that you get the tutorial CD-ROM from M-AUDIO. It will give you a good idea of how to get started with REASON, and if you think that it will be good for you.
Putting it all together
The great thing about the two pieces of software that I talked about in the previous two paragraphs is this:
- You can use ACID for all your loops
- You can use ACID to record vocals and/or guitars if you have the equipment
- You can use ACID to render your final recording to mp3, wav, aiff, and more
- You can use REASON to program patterns for drums, synths, etc.
(Keep in mind that these two programs can do way more than what’s displayed above)
The coolest part of this whole thing is that you can connect these two programs. Using a technology named “REWIRE”, created by PROPELLERHEADS you can have both of these applications synchronized. Add a loop in ACID, make a pattern in REASON, and have them play back together. When you’re done, you can render in ACID to have the synchronized music as one file, or track.
Wait! I have no sound
Okay, so now you have the software to start creating some awesome music. So the thing you’re missing is sound, speakers, headphones, etc. I use an external sound card by M-AUDIO, called OMISTUDIO USB. This thing connects to my pc with the USB port. It has two headphone connections and two instrument/mic connections with preamp power. It also contains several speaker connections, as well as other connections for mixers, etc.
There are several different types of these external sound machines. Most of them are either USB or FireWire. Most have headphone, speaker, and mic connections and come with the necessary drivers for your computer.
It’s all over
I hope that this short article gave you some ideas to start making music. I plan on writing more articles as time permits. See ya soon!
Links
ACID PRO and other SONY Software - http://www.sony.com/mediasoftware
PROPELLERHEADS REASON - http://www.propellerheads.se
M-AUDIO Products - http://www.m-audio.com


http://Liquidesert.comhttp://www.BeatStorm.com

Legal Free MP3 Downl

Legal Free MP3 Downloads - Is It Possible ? by: Guro Moy
Downloading free mp3 music from the internet its a great thing to do. Mp3 downloads can give you thousands of free mp3 songs and hundreds of hours of listening just by using your fingertips. However, the common way to do download mp3 music is illegal... but there is an other method.
Its a fact that companies and individuals are getting sued for encouraging and downloading illegal music. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and their sister organizations in other countries have recently been passing out large fines trying to prevent illegal mp3 downloads. A bunch of music download networks, like Napster, Kazaa, Winmx has been stopped, Grokster and Morpheus faces an uncertain future.
So what will the future bring ? Can I still download free mp3 music ?
The answer is YES, you can still keep your mp3 players cookin`. There are tons of websites in various sizes and shapes that are publishing free legal mp3 music, and they are just waiting for you to start download.
After the close down of the big file sharing networks there are many pay sites that have licensing agreements with the entertainment industry, such as Rhapsody, iTunes and Yahoo Music. Unfortunately these top profile download sites often charge a too big fee for their mp3 download access.
Alternatives have arisen that gives you the same amount of content, but for free. Search the net for the free alternatives to Rhapsody, iTunes and Yahoo Music and you will be amazed of what you will find. The huge amount of free mp3 downloads you`ll download will keep both your heart and your wallet happy.
A comprehensive list of websites that gives you access to free mp3 downloads can be found http://bestmp3links.com.

Hip Hop Mixtapes If

Hip Hop Mixtapes, If You Don’t Have Them, You’re Left Out by: Brent Wilson
Hip hop mixtapes are one of the foundations of the hip hop music genre. It is often through mixtapes that music gets out for the first time. And, it is through these tapes that many hip hop artists got their first start. No matter what your thoughts are as far as who to consider as hip hop’s first artists, there is no doubt that they had a mixtape. First, a definition of what a mixtape is. It is often a homemade taping that is a complication of homemade recordings. In some cases, individuals will record sountracks that are copyrighted music but then change them to fit their needs. But, in the hip hop world, they are a little different.
A hip hop mixtape is the customized recording of DJ’s. In the 1970’s when artists such as Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five were playing in clubs, they would often record their mixtapes to then sell to others who wanted them. Individuals would often purchase a one to three hour tape for as much as $75. Hip hop mixtapes are unique in that they were an expression of each individual’s concepts of the music. Other artists of the time frame that used hip hop mixtapes include Kool Herc and the Herculoids, DJ Breakout, Afrika Bambaataa, and many more. In today’s world, mixtapes have really become replaced by cd’s and mp3 players.
But, you can still purchase a variety of mixtapes. In fact, some of the hottest artists in hip hop right now are putting out mixtapes as recordings of their DJ careers. If you would like to find mixtapes that you can purchase, check the websites. On the web you will find a large amount of the best in hip hop mixtapes. You will find that these are often the best ways to listen to hip hop in general. To find them, all you need to do is to look on your favorite hip hop websites or the websites of hip hop artists and radio stations. You will then have a large amount of options to choose from. You don’t have to go without your hip hop mixtapes!

Create your own Audio studio for under $100.
by: Quentin Brown

Creating your own audio studio has never been easier. There are so many great products around today that will allow you to produce high quality audio for a fraction of the price it used to cost.

HARDWARE

The first thing you will need is a compatible computer. Today every new computer is already set up with everything you will need. A basic sound card with a mic and line in jack. If you do not have a sound card they are very cheap and you can get a good one from any standard computer shop.

Next you will need a good mic. These come in all sizes and shapes with different configurations however a general all round mic like the Logitech Noise-canceling microphone is fine for beginners. I suggest you get a desk top one to start with as you may want to move into video later and so you wont want a headset in your videos.

Of course you could go up a stage and get a preamp with a professional mic but this will start running into dollars and the whole aim of this article ids to help you get started.

Next you will want to get some cables to connect up your tape recorder and other audio equipment. Again the computer stores now have packs that will connect up pretty well any device into your computer to digitalize your sound.

SOFTWARE - RECORDING

Recording your audio is probably one of the most critical parts of this process and again you can get software that ranges from free to many thousands of dollars. For this exercise I suggest you download the free copy of Audacity. This is an excellent software package that will allow you to record from your mic or any equipment you have.

It provides excellent editing capabilities and also will allow you to edit multiple tracks and then combine them into one single track. For a wuick overview of how to do this you can watch this video.

http://www.msincome.com.au/sound/testaudio.html

Download the software here. http://audacity.sourceforge.net

SOFTWARE - CONVERTING

The next piece of software you will need for your studio is a converting program that will allow you to convert different formats. For example you may have a real audio file and you want to convert it to mp3. dBpoweramp is like the swiss army knife for the audio industry and will convert just about any file to any other file format.

Convert from one format to another, just about every audio type is supported: mp3, mp4, Windows Media Audio (wma), Ogg Vorbis, AAC, Monkeys Audio, FLAC and many others whilst preserving ID Tags. It will also rip CDs for you.

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm

SOFTWARE - REDUCTION

If you are going to stream an mp3 direct then you may want to recompile the file to a smaller format. RazorLame is a so-called "front-end" for use with LAME. LAME is a great MP3-Encoder: it's very fast, it produces high-quality files, has many advanced features (like Variable Bitrates and Joint-Stereo), and it's open source. Unfortunately, it is a command line utility, and that is where RazorLame comes in: It provides an easy-to-use graphical user-interface which makes MP3-encoding even easier!

The best way to use this software is to get one file and compile in a number of different formats to test the size against quality. Very similar to working with graphics.

http://www.dors.de/razorlame/download.php

SOFTWARE – STREAMING

There are a few different ways of streaming your new audio files. If you have Macromedia products you can simple organize this your self however there are some great third party programs around that will do it all for you at a fraction of the cost.

MP3 SOUND STREAM

This is a simple piece of software that takes any mp3 or wav audio and converts the whole file into a swf file and then attaches a button so that viewers can listen on a web page without needing to download any extra software. This is because the flash plugin is on 98% of computesr and if not it will automatically detect and load the small plugin. This is great for anyone not wanting to get ino all the technical aspects of streaming audio.

You will not need to reduce your files at all with this program as it doers it all for you. This is perfect for anyone wanting to stream one file at a time and wants to do it quickly and efficiently. It will stream even over most modem connections.

http://www.mp3soundstream

MSIJUKEBOX

For people wanting to stream a number of files then msijukebox is a great alternative. This software lets you choose any number of mp3 files and then organizes them using an XML file. By using the above free programs you can significantly reduce the size of these files to save on bandwidth.

Because MSIJukebox streams the actual mp3 you can also have a lot higher quality playback including stereo files. This is much better for those wanting to stream a number of very high quality mp3 audio files.

http://www.msijukebox.com

SUMMARY

So there you have it. A complete studio set up for under $100. Just download all the free software and purchase any of the streaming audio setups that you want. You can then create, edit and manipulate any audio files you like. You will also be able to add these audios to your website.

With the web surfer becoming much more "web savvy" than they were a year ago, they are expecting not only information but an entertaining web experience.

What Is Producing?
by: Brandon Drury

I deal with a lot of bands who simply aren't sure what producing is. Some have no idea what it can do to their songs. Some are under the impression that some guy (who also owns a strip club) who has a limo and pony tail is going to call them "baby" and turn them into New Kids on the Block with guitars.

While this sort of thing might exist, I don't think these sort of producers stick around very long. I could be wrong. The way I see it, a producer is just regular music dude who is working with you to make your songs the best they can be. I'm guessing that everyone has a different idea of what a producer is and I think that stems from the idea that a producer does different things in each situation. One band may have songs that are good but lack an extra push. Another band may just need to be excited in the recording process.

I'm convinced of 2 things.

A Producer does not necessarily have to be a great musician

A Producer does not necessarily have to be a great songwriter.

To me, all a producer has to do is help people who are good at the two things above do those two things better. This could be everything from playing blindfolded, to intentionally ruining a song just to see how the band puts it back together.

I think a producer's job is to challenge the song. Take the song, tear it apart, push it, pull it, twist, it and see what happens. What happens if we do the most obviously wrong thing to this bridge? Try it. See. Record it live and see. Did it work? Does it sound like crap? Maybe it does sound like crap, but listen to how the chorus sounds now. Hmm. Now the chorus is bigger. Let's play something less crapty on the bridge but with the same feel. Ahh.

I get excited just pretending that I'm producing a record right now. I find it so exciting to get all the creative juices going with a whole band with the band and I all working together democratically and pushing them to make their songs better. If the band doesn't like a direction, no problem. We go a different direction.

This Blog will focus on mainly on building, and maintaining personal recording studios. Feel free to comment, and offer advice.