Recent content by ElectraHeart

You are most likely going to have to put in a lot of effort to get people to listen to your music whatever you do. By that I mean build a following on social media for your artist project, play live to build your audience, come up with a proper multi-week release campaign for each track you...

It's worth checking out the CHAIR Excite plugins.. I have been using them a lot lately mixed in with other samples etc. They are kind of physically modelled, and you can play them through a microphone (in the pro versions, or via midi in the free versions)...

One thing I realised recently is that it's a bad deal every time I buy software or samples because it seems like I'm getting a lot for the money. Like, I'm going to get many more usable presets buying a full-price set of 60 presets from a really good sound designer than I am from buying a 'mega...

Automated mastering tools are really useful when you need to send a bounce/demo of something that's still not finished yet (if you're working with others that tends to be very frequently!). It's easy to just quickly stick a couple of plugins on the master bus to make it sounds more like a...

Maybe a hardware compressor pedal before the DI? That way you'd get something tailored for guitar, and you could use it live as well. I like the look of the Origin Effects Cali76 and the Warm Audio Pedal76 pedals based on the 1176 circuit (though I have not tried either). There's probably a...

You could definitely use an ordinary straw for these type of exercises. Actually putting the time in is the most important thing whatever you use - it really is effective! I prefer these because over a normal straw because they are about 2cm diameter and twice as long as a regular straw (and...

Here’s something I suggest trying if you are singing: https://vocaltubes.com/ A lot of singing teachers incorporate making sound through a straw as a way to practice with less stress on the vocal cords. That’s definitely worth doing in itself if you don’t do that already. Using Vocaltubes it’s...

I find 'critique' on songwriting forums leans heavily towards saying nice and encouraging things, and maybe nitpicking the wording of a couple of lines. Most people aren't going to rewrite their songs (even if they could make it significantly better). The audience for these forums are largely...

The main vocal mic I use is a Manley Reference C (the cardiod-only version of Manley Reference). It's a bright tube mic, perfect for modern pop. The tube gives the recording a kind of compression / saturation that's really pleasing. It's too bright for some vocalists - you have to match the mic...

What are your favourite vocal mics (could be yours, mics you've used at studios, anything)? Maybe also give us a bit about why you like them and the kind of voices that they really suit :)

If you're producing the music before recording the vocals, it's easy to keep piling stuff on to try and make it sound full before you play it to the singer (you want to impress them, right?). Vocals actually take up a lot of space in contemporary pop etc styles - better to keep the music really...

Thanks to Mike for setting this forum up. I'm a songwriter and producer in and around London. Have been doing quite a lot of co-writing sessions, mostly pop and dance tracks. I also run a networking/writing group for songwriters in London (PM me for details if you are interested, anybody is...