You want to draw players into your DND campaign. You’re creating a soundtrack for your video game. You're just a fan of Jeremy Soule who wants to know how to make fantasy music for fun. Wherever you’re coming from, whatever experience you have, here’s how to get...
New to the world of effects? Haven’t kept up with what’s possible? Trying to track down something specific? As musicians, we know the struggles. We also spent the last two years creating our multi-effects plugin, BEAM, and developed a whole new appreciation for...
If you’re reading this article, there’s a good chance you know what guitar VSTs are: plugins for your DAW that allow you to incorporate realistic guitar sounds into your projects without needing physical guitars. As a team that has developed a VST that includes...
The click of a pen by itself? A boring sample. But run through granular synthesis, that same pen sample can transform into a song lead, a shimmering soundscape, and all sorts of new, beautiful instruments. It’s this nearly limitless potential that makes granular...
Naturally, music production largely focuses on producing sound—hitting piano keys, holding a synth chord, strumming a guitar. But what if we told you that it’s the space around your sound, the literal physical space, that can push it from good to great? Not just...
When you’re creating new patches and designing sounds, do they sound static? Without rhythm, groove, dynamics, or a sense of movement? If so, what should you do to fix it? Enter the unsung hero of sound design and production, the LFO, or Low-Frequency Oscillator....
Unlocking the Sonic Magic of Physical Spaces Ever shouted into a cave? Or ‘yee-hawed’ down the Grand Canyon? Maybe you've heard an echo in a large bathroom? In each case, you would have heard what convolution reverb is based on. Did you notice how the sound in a cave...
What Makes Drums "Cinematic"? Cinematic drums are crucial for captivating, immersive film-based storytelling. They also elevate pop, hip hop, and EDM productions, adding gravity and depth to key sections of a track. Composers and producers typically turn to percussion...
Atmosphere, rich sonic textures, liminal spaces, and distinctive ambience all help define the allure of ambient music. If you're curious about ambient music's beginnings or how to make it, read on. This article covers a brief history of ambient music then dives into...
A Brief History of String Synths Think of electronic music and it’s impossible to ignore the role of string synthesizers. One only has to consider the lush ambient string pads in ‘Halcyon + On + On’ by Orbital, or the late great Vangelis’ Chariot’s of Fire and,...
