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Eleven: deep dive

This is a suspended chord and its third has been replaced with a fourth.

Sharp Eleven

I want to introduce you to a sweet little chord with an intimidating name.

Video thumbnail: As your understanding of music deepens, one of the things that’s going to come into focus is the...

Chord Structure/ Chord Function

As your understanding of music deepens, one of the things that’s going to come into focus is the distinction between structure and function.

Video thumbnail: The next time you reach for the attack or release on a compressor, instead of thinking of them as a...

Attack Release: gas and breaks

The next time you reach for the attack or release on a compressor, instead of thinking of them as a time, think of it as the gas and the brakes.

Tape Digital

For me, the most impactful part of the move from tape to digital wasn’t the sound quality.

piano vs guitar tuning inharmonicity

So why can’t you use a guitar tuner on a piano?

Video thumbnail: When you’re arranging you have to think a lot like a mix engineer because every instrument is going...

Arrange Like a Mix Engineer

When you’re arranging you have to think a lot like a mix engineer because every instrument is going to speak differently in every register So the chord that sounds great here May not sound great down here But this note sounds fabulous so we restructure the core And oftentimes when we’re looking at chords like this we’re trying to find the spot where the instrument growls without becoming overly dark *Music* *Music* *Music*

Bread and Butter: 6/3 Church Chord

Another useful chord progression to put under your fingers — a common keyboard trope built on the 6/3 church resolution.

Video thumbnail: This diminished chord resolves nine places and the first eight are easy.

Diminished Chords Resolve 9 Ways — Here's the Pattern

A diminished chord resolves to four roots, major or minor — that's eight resolutions. The ninth is the surprise. How diminished chords function as rootless dominant 7ths and where each resolution leads.

songwriting finish

Raise your hand if you get stuck finishing a song.

Feedback: things they don't teach you in recording school

Important stuff they should teach you at recording school, but don’t.

Before You Set Your Price

Putting a price on your work is one of the hardest things for any creative to do.

Chess pieces and audio cables on a chessboard atop a piano

The Stereo Mid Side Chess Test

A thought exercise to test your understanding of stereo imaging, mid side processing, phase, polarity, and signal flow.

Plagal: meet the amen chord

Meet the Amen chord, the plagal cadence.

Compression: frequency or level

Does a compressor operate on level or frequency?

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Showing 12 of 611 articles (Page 27 of 51)

Minor Seven

Stuff that confuses new producers.

Video thumbnail: You may have heard of the four chord progression, but think of it more like a family of chord...

Ouroborus: four chord progression

You may have heard of the four chord progression, but think of it more like a family of chord conversions, one of which you may actually know really, …

Write For That Kid

Once upon a time, there was a kid, and that kid was you.

Run Tape

Always run tape. That was a piece of advice I got as a young musician, and I still think it’s really good. I don’t just mean you should record your…

Corporate Boys

"Heh, Nathan." I initially responded to a mastering session and have never been replied to.

Impulse Response: eighth grade science teacher

An impulse response is like an acoustic fingerprint.

Survivor Bias

You can’t learn how to be lucky, but you can learn a lot from failure.

Chord Clash Logic Edit

Like most things, fixing a subtle clash in logic is pretty much the same as it was in Ableton.

clash close but not touching

A clashing note is one that doesn’t fit with your existing harmony.

Video thumbnail: A compressor reduces the level of a track, but one of the places people get confused is in...

Compression: input output

A compressor reduces the level of a track, but one of the places people get confused is in understanding where it reduces that level.

Major and Minor Thirds in C

When you’re playing on all white keys and you skip a note, you’re playing a third.

Video thumbnail: Okay, fair question. Beat building jams are an opportunity for a variety of instructors to identify...

Beat Building Jam: what is it

Okay, fair question. Beat building jams are an opportunity for a variety of instructors to identify inefficiencies in your workflow. They’re one-hour …