Recording

Audio files to accompany the article.

The harmonica, or blues harp, appears on tracks in many genres. Despite its apparently simple construction, it’s an amazingly expressive instrument — and there are almost as many ways to record it as there are to play it.

This month we feature: Vadim Mikhailov, Mr Smith, Jeff Lowe, Rough Twist, Kristy Gallacher, Wilderspin and SuperCool-Guy.

When I look at the waveform of a vocal recording, it looks lop-sided, with the waveform going further above the zero-crossing...

I have a question about recording percussion — in particular, tuned percussion. Why is it that some sound engineers can record without a massive impact when a mallet strikes a bar, and others can't?

The line inputs on my computer interface are all balanced on TRS sockets, but the outputs of my hardware synths are all unbalanced on mono TS sockets...

I've had a home studio for a few years now that I use mainly for my own projects and some commissioned work. I'm occasionally...

Many bands record their own albums these days, but few achieve as much with as little gear as Stornoway.

Forty years after its original release, Mike Oldfield tells us the story of recording his hugely successful debut album, Tubular Bells.

When you make recordings designed to show off your hi-fi systems, they had better be good! It’s no accident that Philip Hobbs of Linn is one of the UK’s leading classical engineers and producers.

I'm responsible for live sound at a lot of small shows where there isn't the budget for a separate monitor desk or engineer....

Phrases like 'digital clocking', 'word clock' and 'interface jitter' are bandied around a lot in the pages of Sound On Sound....

Most of the recording I do involves tracking several musicians playing together in a room. I'd like to use a stereo pair to...

With a band citing a particularly broad range of influences, our engineer came up with a plan for capturing a bit of them all. Find out how he fared...

Audio files to accompany the article.

Wham! went their separate ways in 1986, but the triumph of George Michael’s debut album Faith in 1987 meant that the success of his solo career was never really in doubt.

Cochlear implants help the profoundly deaf experience sound. But can users overcome the limitations of the technology to understand music?

This month we feature: Straw Bear, The Neo-Kalashnikovs, Ken Nicol, Gibson, Gillie Nicholls, The Star Fields and Christopher Holland.

When I listen to MP3s on a PC or Apple Mac, they are all at different levels, with the louder ones seeming twice as loud as the quietest ones.

I have come to the conclusion that wow and flutter are a lot more important in the sound of tape and analogue recordings than...

One of our engineers aims for a big sound from the smallest of acoustic drum kits, as he sets about creating a drum sample library...