There’s no doubt that the art of audio mixing has become much more of a visual affair than ever before. There’s certainly more visual content that aids our understanding of mixing concepts, but to what extent do visual cues actually help us mix? Where should we draw the line in trusting our eyes over our ears? While I think visual content is invaluable for understanding how mixing works, I think it’s good to ‘mix’ it up a bit sometimes. So in … [Read more...]

Several common questions are often asked related to loudspeaker sound reproduction, such as: 1. Why does a loudspeaker sound different when moved to another room? 2. Why does my new bookshelf loudspeaker sound terrible at home? They were great in the showroom! 3. Why does the loudspeaker sound muddy/bassy inside a room? It was great when I listened to it outside. There are other questions, but readers can get the point from the examples … [Read more...]

In space, no one can hear you scream ... because there is no air or other medium for sound to travel. Sound needs a medium; an intervening substance through which it can travel from point to point; it must be carried on something. That something can be solid, liquid or gas. They can hear you scream underwater ... briefly. Water is a medium. Air is a medium. Nightclub walls are a medium. Sound travels in air by rapidly changing the air … [Read more...]

Just setting up some microphones haphazardly usually produces less-than-desired results. To avoid that scenario, let’s have a look at some proven mic techniques for live recording. What they’re trying to do is capture the ambience of the environment and a “perfect” stereo image, but our primary concern is capturing the audience. What makes a live recording sound live? The audience, of course. A live recording is all about the energy of the … [Read more...]

Audio for VR is important, especially for audio people. For us it’s really important -- but how important will it be to your everyday developer? Before we dive into that, a quick back-story: VR has been around in one form or another for decades, but computing power has only recently caught up to our dreams & allowed people (not at technology institutes) access to head mounted displays & experience fabricated worlds in stereoscopic … [Read more...]