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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.

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Body Check: third-fourth dissonance

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

Transport Hack

I’m a guy who loves to get my hands dirty.

Flow: Order of Operations

There’s an order of operations I prefer when announcing a new take.

ProDuce

Check this out and tell me if it makes sense to you.

Unexpected Minor Endings

Here are three unexpected ways to end a song in a minor key.

I Am the Transducer (first version)

The act of transduction involves taking energy in one form and converting it into another.

Accidental

Is there a difference between a Bb and an A#?

Clash Fix

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

Video thumbnail: Beat Kitchen harmonic synthesizer — additive synthesis built from the overtone series

Oops, I Made a Synthesizer

What started as a way to visualize the harmonic series turned into a harmony-aware additive synthesizer. It folds overtones across octaves, tracks scales from partials, and does things conventional synths can't. Free on our website.

Video thumbnail: I’m going to play an F in every chord of the opening of I Love Zupor I’m playing an F and the...

Porgy

I’m going to play an F in every chord of the opening of "I Love Zupor" I’m playing an F and the droning pedal tone of the tonic note is going to ground the song What makes this feel so hopeful?

Video thumbnail: No matter what your beliefs, the way the universe sometimes lines up is so mind-bogglingly...

Amen: Perfect vs. plagal

No matter what your beliefs, the way the universe sometimes lines up is so mind-bogglingly inspiring.

Video thumbnail: Sometimes stereo is like an added byproduct of what you get when you use multiple microphones.

Stereo Width: fields and flashlights

Stereo width is not one thing — it can come from microphone placement, processing, or panning. Fields vs. flashlights: two mental models for how width works in a mix.

Video thumbnail: If you’re thinking about and grappling with scales, I would encourage you instead to think about...

Scales and Targets

If you’re thinking about and grappling with scales, I would encourage you instead to think about targets.

Video thumbnail: A440. Here’s what we’re talking about. What it means is when I play this note, this string vibrates...

Frequency, Octaves, Sample Rate

A440. Here’s what we’re talking about. What it means is when I play this note, this string vibrates at 440 times a second. An octave up, 880. An octave down,…

routine reminder

This is your routine reminder that what you do is extraordinary.

All Bites

Showing 12 of 611 articles (Page 30 of 51)

louder quieter

You know how compressors make stuff quieter?

Video thumbnail: We all do it. Part of studio culture seems to be fetishizing gear, but let’s level set for a...

Level Set: white shirt

We all do it. Part of studio culture seems to be fetishizing gear, but let’s level set for a second. Because aside from you and your instruments, the …

Chord Inversions

The easiest way to start understanding chord inversions is to think of it like a cake with three ingredients.

Happy Chords: Sad Chords

Do you ever get confused about major or minor chords?

TLDR: finish your songs

If you want to get better at finishing your songs, here’s the TL;DR.

Under the Microscope: Something, the Beatles

The song "Something" by The Beatles uses a very common device to move between chords.

Anatomy of a Reverb

After the onset of the original sound, the anatomy of a reverb occurs in three distinct stages.

Songwriting: top down bottom up

It’s only fair that I tell you what I mean when I say bottom up or top down songwriting.

Video thumbnail: If you’re starting to make your own music, there will come a time when you find yourself scratching...

naming chords a three step series

If you’re starting to make your own music, there will come a time when you find yourself scratching your head looking at a bunch of notes and asking …

Third Tools Shortcuts: Logic Pro X

If your workflow is inefficient, nothing you learn in your DAW has much impact.

Feedback: things they don't teach you in recording school

Important stuff they should teach you at recording school, but don’t.

Video thumbnail: I actually reject this idea that anybody’s becoming a better producer because of posts that they’re...

it doesn't make you a better producer

I actually reject this idea that anybody’s becoming a better producer because of posts that they’re reading, because everybody’s really teaching from …