Digital recording places a huge demand on your computer in terms of processing power, memory usage and storage space. Is your computer up to the task? If you want to be making good quality music, it had better be!
Arguments abound about which operating system is best for recording music. Many swear that Macs are best for anything multimedia, while others vow they will never move away from Microsoft Windows. Some suggest that Linux is worth a look, and that’s a story of its own. Arguably, Windows may not be the best choice, but the truth is, the computer you’re running now is probably running Windows. And you might as well start there.
What can we do to make Windows record music more effectively? I spend a lot of time supporting and maintaining Windows computers, and here are my 14 tips to make Windows break the sound barrier. (more…)
There’s been a lot happening on the marketplaces of late, and today I wanted to touch on a few important issues and get some feedback, from you, the community.
Firstly, for those of you who don’t know me, My name is Cyan and I’m the Envato marketplace manager. That means I’m the person who’s in charge of the day to day running of the marketplaces as a whole with the help of the awesome site managers, reviewers and moderators.
Lately we’ve noticed some brilliant new author apps popping up, and some talk on the forums of files being distributed without author permissions. I want to talk a little about both of these issues. Additionally, I want to tell you about some things you should be doing to promote maximum account security.
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Being a musician can be expensive. With musical instruments, equipment and software you normally get what you pay for, and we want to sound good! So we pay, and pay big. But it’s good to know you can get some things for free.
Last year Joel wrote an article called “8 Free, Cross-platform Apps for Musicians“, listing some really useful music utilities and programs that you can get at no cost. Many of you are Windows users, and pointed out that there is some useful Windows software that was not included in the article because it doesn’t cross-platform. Well, this article is for you!
Of course, Windows has its own problems when it comes to recording music. It can slow down over time, is susceptible to malware that slows it down further, and doesn’t have the best latency out of the box. Next week we’ll look at some ways of tuning your Windows box for the best results.
In the meantime, here are 7 digital audio recording apps for Windows: (more…)
AudioJungle has a Twitter account! Now you can get AudioJungle news faster than ever, and see plenty of tips for getting the most out of the site along the way. If you don’t have a Twitter account, the blog will always be here and provide all the meaty details; this Twitter account is just a quick way of letting you know when there’s something new going on. That said, Twitter accounts are free and can come in handy.
If you haven’t already you can also follow our AUDIOTUTS Twitter account, where we discuss various audio and music topics and provide you with audio engineering and production tips for your favorite software.
The day has finally arrived! As of yesterday, all authors are eligible to earn 40% to 70% of any sale. To do so, authors simply need to sign on to the Envato Exclusivity Program.
What is “exclusivity”? It means that any items you are selling on an Envato Marketplace should only be sold here. You can still sell other items elsewhere, just not the same ones. That way the marketplaces stay unique and offer greater value to our buying community.
I’m Already Exclusive!
If you’ve been exclusive up till now, nothing will change, except in almost every case your rates will immediately jump up. That means not only more cash in your account every month, but also a higher future percentage to aim for. Click here to find out what your new percentage rate is.
I’m Not Exclusive but I Want To Be!
If you’re not already exclusive and wish to be, it’s super super simple! There are no minimum sales needed, so any author can agree to exclusivity immediately! Here’s how:
Step 1: Go to your Account page:
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Home studios are great. They allow us to play producer, singer and recording artist. They enable us to record (hopefully) pretty good quality music that we can share with others, and maybe make some money from. They can be addictively fun, incredibly frustrating, and consume all of our spare time and money. And they’re all different. Home studios vary as much as our interests, budget and available time vary.
Some studios are totally digital. The music is put together from loops and samples, or recorded from electronic keyboards. The focus is on the gear – especially the computers, software and peripherals. Acoustics and noise from the outside world aren’t an issue.
Other studios do have to worry about these issues. Besides the gear, there needs to be a huge focus on the room. Are the acoustics right? Do we want a dead room or a live room? How can we minimize sound from the outside world? Do we care if our neighbors can hear their televisions? We may need to record vocals, acoustic guitars and drums. Choice of microphones becomes an important consideration. (more…)
Too often I’m too busy to play. And it’s not healthy. Usually all I need to get started is the right toy.
Around ten years ago I found a toy that I couldn’t resist: the Roland PMA-5, a personal musical assistant modeled on the idea of the Palm PDA, but not quite as portable. I’d fiddle with it for hours, composing music in a Band in a Box type of way, playing its tiny on-screen keyboard with a stylus, and sometimes plugging my Yamaha KX5 keyboard into its single MIDI port.
There’s something about a portable music gadget that you can actually make music with that makes me want to play. And I had that feeling this week when I heard of a Moog synthesizer that you can play on a Nintendo DS. I want to play! And it got me wondering about all the other toys around that I’m missing out on.
Here are 5 music gadgets that are tempting me to put down my work and start playing.
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We’ve introduced a new feature at AudioJungle: you can now sell your source files and make even more money as a stock author.
Buyers want the ability to modify the content they purchase to suit their purposes; they like your track, but perhaps it would suit their presentation more if one of the instruments was swapped out for another (assuming you’ve used MIDI), or the reverbs were backed off a bit. Perhaps they don’t want to purchase full songs, but starter project files that enable them to dabble in a particular genre or style of music. (more…)
I can be a cerebral sort of guy. When I was a kid, I’d sometimes spend more time reading about a new toy than playing with it. As much as I’m embarrassed to admit it, it’s true.
So when I started to learn music around the age of twenty, I thought that understanding music would help me play it better. I started looking around for a book that explained how music worked. Although I did finally find my music “Bible” (Making Music compiled by George Martin, which I may talk about in a future post), there is no book that can explain music in the way that I wanted. I discovered that in many ways music is arbitrary and man-made.
So I kept on practicing my scales, learning how to read music, working out how synthesizers worked, and bought a portastudio. I got to know the ingredients of music, how to put them together, and how they related to each other.
And I learned about one of the ingredients of melody: intervals. (more…)
The tune, or melody, is probably the most important and identifying aspect of a song. It’s what we seem to relate to and remember most easily. It’s what we sing, hum or whistle.
Paul McCartney once related the satisfaction he experienced one morning as he was going to bed late after a gig. As he was getting into bed he heard the milkman whistling the tune to “Is There Anything That You Want?” McCartney recalls the great feeling of being on the same wavelength as the milkman, and relates, “I think that was one of the best compliments I’ve ever been paid to this day.” That’s the power of a memorable tune.
Not all music today focuses on the melody. A lot of music is rhythm based, being driven by the groove of the drums and guitar, with the singer swimming around in there somewhere. Other music is most memorable for the riffs and licks the guitars or other instruments are making. In an interview, the Corrs once attributed their success in Australia to their music being so melodic. They felt that Australians relate well to songs with a strong tune, and that a lot of music today lacks a strong melodic component.
Whatever style of music you write, your composition is likely to benefit from having a memorable tune. Here are ten hints for creating one. (more…)
