Editorial

February 2010: Parts of the Process

One of the (many) wonderful things about the AW series is that you have pretty all well the utensils to hand right off the bat to cook up a great recording. You have the tracks, the storage, the effects; even some drum loops.

What take longer to develop of course are the skills required to become a great chef de studio .

While there will always be specific ‘AW’ questions that we will attempt to handle with tutorials, video material, or even direct answers on the forums, the issues that most users seem to face within a few weeks or months of using their Hard Disk recorder are really ones of recording technique. “Why don’t mixes sound as loud as a real record?” “Why do my mixes sound muddy/thin…”

During 2007 we focused on recording techniques, adding a huge number of books to the Store and sourced many excellent new DVD titles on mixing, mastering, and more. Our own Digital Video Productions division also produced several new titles including the giant-sized Sound Advice 3-DVD set on sound design, a hands-on, ‘band-perspective’ guide to Cubase 4 entitled Using Cubase 4 Recording The Band, and a host of dedicated instrument titles including Motif XS, MM6, and DTX e-kits.

2008 takes our investigations into what makes a great recording even further with a major new program featuring one of the all-time great producer / engineers at the helm currently in production.

The AW series, like any recording medium, is just a tool, a means to an end. Here at AWInspire.com we hope we can keep those tools nice ‘n’ sharp for you, plus open up avenues of exploration to take your music recording capability onto ever greater heights.

And speaking of sharp tools, we have just added the superb Avant mics to the store. If you’re in the market for a reasonably priced set of drum mics, a vintage-sounding ribbon, an acoustic guitar mic, or simply a quality-infusing large capsule condenser, make sure you check them out.