Articles | Beat Kitchen

Byte Sized

Articles

Content from our social media — music theory, songwriting, engineering, mixing, synthesis, and more — collected in one place. If you saw something on our page and want to find it again, it's here. Read it, search it, share it.

Featured Bite

Find the Break

I arrived in New York in the late 90s.

Shepard Tone

Those of you who are making risers in your music are going to want to have a listen to this.

swing

When you first begin to learn about rhythm, you’re taught to think like a metronome.

How Do You Know What Key Something Is In

How do you actually know what key something’s in?

Stop Singing

Stop singing. There’s nothing in your vocal chain that will substitute for a good performance. I can fix your pitch, I can fix your timing, but if the vocal doesn’t…

Getting Started

We see both experienced and beginner producers at Bee Kitchen.

Weather Sonification

What if you could hear everything? Sound waves are spheres with pressure in one dimension and time in the other.

Video thumbnail: If you find yourself turning up your levels when you record and then turning them back down when...

try this setting logic pro x

If you find yourself turning up your levels when you record and then turning them back down when you’re done, consider changing this setting in Logic Pro.

Video thumbnail: There are vocalists out there that will never ever give you a good performance in headphones, but...

Just Get The Take

There are vocalists out there that will never ever give you a good performance in headphones, but even seasoned vocalists sometimes have a hard time matching the vibe and the performance of a relaxed studio environment with the monitors on.

Video thumbnail: It’s only a matter of time before you’re humbled by someone with far less resources than you...

Orchestral Kitchen: soup in a can

It’s only a matter of time before you’re humbled by someone with far less resources than you creating at a very high level.

Asymmetrical Waveforms

Should I be concerned that the top part of this waveform is bigger than the bottom?

Video thumbnail: We think of scales as being linear, but a scale exists within the boundary of an octave, at which...

What is a mode?

We think of scales as being linear, but a scale exists within the boundary of an octave, at which point it just repeats.

Chord Clash Logic Edit

Like most things, fixing a subtle clash in logic is pretty much the same as it was in Ableton.

Audio Masking: Drop and Cut Technique

For a mix engineer, masking is one of the first things you contend with — and it never stops showing its face. Here's a dead simple way to solve it.

Video thumbnail: Let’s take a look at this descending chromatic line and ask ourselves what it has to do with the...

Descending Bassline

Let’s take a look at this descending chromatic line and ask ourselves what it has to do with the key of C.

All Bites

Showing 12 of 611 articles (Page 17 of 51)

Visualize Compressor Ration

Okay, let’s talk about compressor ratio and let’s imagine that instead of pitch, this is level.

Upward Compression: ear training gym

Today was ear training gym.

Video thumbnail: Welcome to today’s first and possibly only episode of Stupid Logic Tricks, where I share things I...

Stupid Logic Tricks: accellerando

Welcome to today’s first and possibly only episode of Stupid Logic Tricks, where I share things I almost never need to do, but I’m glad I know how to.

Body Check: third-fourth dissonance

There’s no such thing as a bad note, but you may find that some notes give you trouble.

Clash Fix

Some people don’t like getting syrup on their bacon.

Video thumbnail: The next time you reach for the attack or release on a compressor, instead of thinking of them as a...

Attack Release: gas and breaks

The next time you reach for the attack or release on a compressor, instead of thinking of them as a time, think of it as the gas and the brakes.

Video thumbnail: We talked about secondary dominance in theory class, and in this song most of the chords are...

Secondary Dominant Gospel Chords: Nina Simone

We talked about secondary dominance in theory class, and in this song most of the chords are functioning like five chords.

Video thumbnail: Major, minor, or diminished.

Major Minor Diminished

How to tell major, minor, and diminished triads apart by ear and on the keyboard — the three chord qualities that underpin all of harmony.

Video thumbnail: When your favorite application is updated, it’s generally considered best practice to preserve a...

Upgrade: keep your old version

When your favorite application is updated, it’s generally considered best practice to preserve a working copy.

Ask Answer: remove my name from the list

I’d like to remove my name from the list of self-appointed experts around here.

A Little Gospel Under Your Fingers

Here is a little gift because if you can play this you’ve got a little gospel under your fingers and that means you’re playing with inversions and …

Upper Extension Friction

If you want to put some friction in your chord, let’s have an easy chat about chord extensions.