Today we have a plethora of live mixers, digital and analogue, from the affordable to the super expensive. You can get them from under $100 or if you wish you can spend over $100,000. The Behringer X32 was a game changer and has sold thousands upon thousands of units since its launch in 2012. The 18 channel digital mixer, the Behringer XR18 costs only $448.00 USD, plus the cost of an iPad or tablet to control it. In light of this we are fascinated by Make Your Own Sound’s series on building your own digital console system, using your own hardware (Computer, Audio Interface & controller) and software (they recommend RML Labs SAC). Martin gives us a set of detailed and clear tutorials and we recommend this as a must watch series. Learn how to mix and match your favourite hardware, optimise your PC and get to grips with the SAC software. For more information go to: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MakeYourOwnS… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makeyourown… Twitter: https://twitter.com/MakeYourOwnSou1 e-Mail: makeyourownsound@gmail.com
Category Archives: Recording and Production
Making music with one synth
We love the channel Once Upon A Synth and especially love this series wheee he makes a song using just one synth. Now in this day and age we tend to feel that we really need lots of gear and lots of plugins in order to make a record. Truth is that you can use just one synth or one plugin and create all the sounds you need. This video revolves around an analogue synth which is a lot more remarkable. So make your song with what you have already. Also subscribe to his channel as well.
studio gear – dji mobile 3
For many years I ignored gimbals as I really had no use for them, having owned a DSLR camera and using the iPad Pro as an extra camera (with its large screen of course). That all changed at Christmas when I bought the Oppo Reno 5g phone and then on Valentine’s Day went and had a look at a gimbal and was blown away by the DJI Mobile 3. This thing is amazing and will make our smartphone film making and music videos look like the real deal. Click on the link and check it out. It is low cost and offers tremendous value for money. Kehinde A
Phil Harding – PWL: From The Factory Floor
A must read for anyone interested in music production. In other words budding artists and producers. Stock Aitken and Waterman were the UK’s Motown and Phil Harding has written a very balanced book about the rise and fall of this fabulous production team and the PWL label. Get it now for Christmas. In this book you will learn about how the hits were made from an engineering and production angle and also some fascinating insight into some of the artists who SAW produced. Preview the book now.
THE NEW MODEL – THE $300 STUDIO CHALLENGE (COURTESY OF THERECORDINGREVOLUTION.COM
Graham Cochrane returns with the second part of the $300 studio challenge, which we are sharing here to encourage artists to delve into the world of recording thanks to truly affordable gear.
In this episode Graham tackles the recording of guitars and bass and is a fascinating video. Get on it!
The New Model – A brand new feature from My Hot Music
We’ve decided to bring to you a series of fantastic videos that can help you as an indie artist to get off your butt and create brand new records. We are going to try and cover every aspect of the new music industry from recording, production, a&r and promotion. This is a very exciting time to be recording and releasing music.
But a lot of young artists just do not know the wealth of material out there that will set you free and stop you from spending ridiculous amounts of money on recording or production and also stop you from mimicking every fashionable sound out there because guess what? You won’t get signed if you’re not unique or if you don’t already have a bazillion Facebook fans, millions of Youtube views and merchandise flying out the door. So to kick us off, let’s start from the absolute beginning. Graham Cochrane from Recording Revolution has shared a fantastic video about starting your own recording studio for $300.
How to have a top 5 hit the Nerimon way.
December 25th 2011 will go down in history as the day when the new model music industry finally arrived. The UK top ten features a young lad by the name of Alex Day, whose hit "Forever Yours" is arguably the most successful DIY music release in history. Forever Yours peaked at number 4 in the UK national pop charts beaten only by Millitary Wives (Decca), Little Mix (Syco) and Dominick The Donkey (Cinquenta Musica).
To be honest it has been here for a few years but critics dismissed its earlier successes as "not being repeatable", "not a bona fide chart hit" etc. Ever since Koopa stormed the pop charts in a blaze of publicity, the unsigned artist has grown from strength to strength, unfettered from the stuffy suits of the music industry and its bland same sounding hits. But in Alex Day the DIYers have a genuine hit to shout about, a record that will make everyone finally sit up and take notice, a formula, a strategy, a method that ANYONE can employ. It does not require a huge amount of money to break it but it does require time, cleverness and great content especially great music. Artists all over the world rejoice! The DIY method is here to stay!
Earlier in the year Rebecca Blacks' much maligned single Friday quietly notched over 100,000 sales and dented the lower regions of the charts. That record was a surprise hit in many respects but it did require the publicity machine to break it and whilst most people were laughing and trolling her, fans we quietly buyiing the single until it sold significantly and hit the lower bowels of the charts worldwise. In fact that was probably just about as much as an independently released single could achieve without the circus of traditional pop music promotion, without widespread radio play and without the backing of the majors.
But how did Alex Day do this? How did a young 22 year old crack the charts without the backing of any label? How did he do this all by himself? and more importantly what can we all learn from his experience?
Well the really short and simplistic answer is Youtube!
Since 2006 Alex Day has been posting regular videos on Youtube and with a few mates notched up a staggering number of subscribers. His video channel has nearly half a million subscribers who watch his videos regularly. Add to the mix a catchy and infectious record and a funny albeit cheap looking video and most important of all a carefully constructed campaign around a day called the Forever Day (18th December) backed by loyal fans.
His fans bought all the mixes of the singles which all add up to the overall sales and hey presto a top 5 hit. To say this idea was ingenious would be an understatement. Alex Day and the Nerimon Army have achieved what many labels could not achieve and make no mistake, the significance of this achievement shall reverberate throughout the record industry who must now hear the death knell sounding. Artists no longer need them to release their music, nor do they need them to market their music. By the way Alex didn't have to spend a penny, instead he spent a lot of time personally emailing all his fans and getting them to back the single.
Buy Forever Yours from iTunes today.
