Muzikant

A good sound engineer is absolutely essential for any gigging band. Whether you’re lucky enough to have your own live engineer or you’re working with the venue’s, the person that sits behind all the buttons and faders is essentially the person that’s ultimately responsible for your band’s sound. This means that, as a band member, you’re only partly responsible for the end product, so you’ll want to make sure that everyone on stage and out front is doing their job and getting along.

Plenty of solo guitarists and artists want to back up their live gigs with a beat, but simply tapping your foot in time simply doesn’t cut it. You could set up a cajon and kick pedal, but for most musicians, this might feel a bit unnatural and start hindering the show. To solve this problem, Ortega offers a new and innovative solution in the form of their Stomp Box Series

Maybe you’ve already picked through our Synthesizer Buyer’s Guide and been left wondering what exactly FM synthesis is. If so, you’re in the right place. Basically, FM synthesis is a sound-creating method that, according to a lot of people, isn’t the easiest of methods to work with and is best avoided. But anyone who does avoid it, is really missing out. Despite its tricky reputation, FM synthesis is well worth getting to know, and the more you know it, the more you’re likely to love it.

The piano is one of the most popular musical instruments in the world. In this article, we discuss its history, inventor(s), most important parts, tuning and playing techniques, as well as the differences between acoustic and digital pianos.

You can definitely plug a set of headphones into your electric guitar or bass, but not much will happen. Luckily, there are plenty of other compact and less-compact solutions if you want to hone your playing technique while wrapped in the privacy of a set of headphones. Read on to find out how it’s done!

While I write this, I’m browsing Spotify for different drum sounds. Take the new Lamb of God album, You Got Me from The Roots and Get Lucky by Daft Punk. All of them feature incredible drum mixes and all of them have a completely different sound. This alone makes it pretty clear that this blog could never provide a one-size-fits-all manual to mixing drums. What it can do is offer a few tips and techniques to help you lay down a good and solid drum sound that can work as a foundation for your unique mix.

Performing out in the open can be challenging when it’s windy. Not only can wind literally carry the sound of the band in the wrong direction and make it harder to hear, but a light gust can easily send your sheet music flying. Luckily, there are a few simple solutions to tackle the latter, no matter what kind of music stand you use.

Put simply, the dynamics refer to the volume range of any given piece of music, so the difference between the loudest and softest parts along with everything in between. Songs, albums and even entire shows can greatly benefit from enhanced dynamics, yet many bands and artists sadly pass up on the opportunity. Since they’re definitely missing out, here are eight tips that can help enhance the dynamics of your music.

The shorter the distance between the source and the microphone, the more low frequencies are registered at the cost of high frequencies. This is what’s known as the proximity effect, and it applies to a lot of microphones. In practice, this usually means that the closer you close-mike your voice or instrument, the fuller it’ll sound. Read on and learn how to take advantage of it.

It’s a classic issue in the life of drummers. You hit the smallest, highest pitched tom and your snare makes a buzzing sound in response. Even when you try to dampen the snare with a bit of tape, a slip of paper or card, or even a tea towel, the snare wires still vibrate when you don’t want them to. So, how does this even happen and how can it be solved?

Since we get so many questions about it, it’s about time we tackle an age-old debate in drum-land with a dedicated blog about bass drum holes. The question is: should your resonant head have one and why (not)? Allow me to explain!

The world of percussion is home to a near-infinite range of unique sounds, yet many pop and rock musicians seem to pay it no mind. Maybe it’s because they don’t know their way around percussion gear, or perhaps they simply don’t know how to put any to good use. Either way, since rock and pop music can benefit greatly from percussion in terms of rhythm, melody and even harmony, here’s a list of seven solid percussion instruments along with a quick rundown and examples of well-known tunes they feature in.