Category Archives: Software

Mixing Guitars: 7 Quick Tips to Make Your Mixes Sound Pro

Last updated on February 13th, 2018 Categories: EQ , Gear , Guitar , Mixing , Software

Many people underestimate the importance of the electric guitar in a mix.

They can make your mix thick, powerful, and exciting. When mixed properly, they add a great deal of emotion to the song.

But when they’re mixed wrong, they can take up a ton of space. Rather than making a song more emotional, they can make it blander. More flat. More muddy.

This is especially true if you have several guitar tracks happening at once. It’s easy to have too many passengers crowding the train car!

To help you avoid all of these problems, here are 7 tips for mixing guitars that you can use today to make your mixes sound separate, clear, and exciting.

Dylan Roth

Songwriter and producer. Writer at Musician on a Mission. I’m here to help people make music that lasts.

Mixing with Plugins? Don’t Make These 4 Vital Mistakes

Last updated on March 18th, 2018 Categories: Gear , Mix Philosophy , Software

The digital age changed everything. In the modern world of mixing, we have more options available than ever before.

We no longer have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to get the hardware we need for professional sounding recordings. Now, all we need is a computer and some software. That’s the joy of mixing with plugins.

We live in an incredibly convenient time, but it’s a time with its own set of problems. The amount of options we have for our software toolbox is overwhelming.

Each DAW comes with dozens of stock plugins, and there are hundreds of third-party plugin developers out there, fighting for your dollars.

Every time we open up a project to mix, decision fatigue is nipping at our heels. So if we want to get better at our craft, we have to start making some hard choices.

In this guide, you’ll learn 4 mistakes you’re making with your plugins that are making your mixes worse. And they’re mistakes you can fix today.

Dylan Roth

Songwriter and producer. Writer at Musician on a Mission. I’m here to help people make music that lasts.

Amp Sims vs. Real Guitar Amps: The Ultimate Showdown

Last updated on March 7th, 2018 Categories: Guitar , Mixing , Software

Rob Mayzes, founder of Musician on a Mission

by Rob Mayzes

When it comes to amp sims, I’m sure you’ve heard a hundred different opinions.

“It sounds crap. It will never sound real.”

Or maybe…

“I need software because I can’t make noise at home, and amp simulators now sound as good as the real thing.”

Either way, I set out to get some REAL data about this ongoing battle by surveying 447 different musicians.

If you are struggling to decide which road to go down, you’ll absolutely love the infographic in this post.

I also put together a complete run down of the 24 best simulators available in 2017.

Rob Mayzes

Audio professional, musician and founder of Musician on a Mission.

Best DAW 2018: Choose One of These 12 Top DAWs Today

Last updated on March 7th, 2018 Categories: Software

Rob Mayzes, founder of Musician on a Mission by Rob Mayzes

Finding a DAW is like finding a partner.

After you have designed your dream home studio, the next step is to commit to a piece of recording software.

And once you commit, you’re in it for the long game.

Sure, you can flirt around. You can open a different one up every time you sit at your computer.

But without committing to one DAW, you won’t get the benefits that come with a long-term relationship.

Rob Mayzes

Audio professional, musician and founder of Musician on a Mission.

How to ACTUALLY Set up Your DAW (Sample Rate and Buffer Size)

Last updated on May 17th, 2018 Categories: Software , Voice Recording

DAW Settings: Bit Depth, Sample Rate and Buffer Size

Click here to skip straight to the infrographic

I can remember how much sample rate, bit depth and buffer size confused me when I was younger.

I knew most of the settings worked from trial and error. And back then that was good enough for me.

But I didn’t understand the benefits of a higher bit depth or sample rate. I didn’t understand what buffer size meant, or what I should set it to. Sometimes there would be a delay when I was monitoring, and other times there wouldn’t. And I didn’t know why.

Then I decided to sit down and really get to grips with these parameters and what they meant. That’s when I realised that it really isn’t that complex.

I could spend all day arguing about the pointlessness of super high sample rates, and the theoretical versus practical dynamic range of 32 floating bit.

But you don’t need to know all of that!

All you need is a basic understanding of what these terms, and when to use higher settings.

Rob Mayzes

Audio professional, musician and founder of Musician on a Mission.

13 of the Best FREE Audio Editors in 2018

Last updated on May 23rd, 2018 Categories: Editing , Software , Voice Recording

It was a lonely quiet night. I hadn’t slept for 20 hours. My coffee was depleted and my energy even more so.

Despite this, I had just spent the last 3 hours of my life searching for an audio editor that would do what I needed.

I had over twenty different pieces of software that had audio editing capabilities. Yet none of them could perform the simple task that I wanted to carry out.

Eventually I found an application that did exactly what I wanted with minimal effort. To be frank, I was ecstatic.

That event inspired me to try out every free audio editor out there and compile this list.

If you are thinking about setting up your own home studio, and you want to start looking at the available free audio editing software out there, you are in the right place.

Rob Mayzes

Audio professional, musician and founder of Musician on a Mission.