Whether it’s a marriage or business partnership, relationships run the risk of becoming stale or even suffocating over time. Musical relationships like bands or songwriting partnerships are no exception. The excitement of making music with someone new is sure to fade over time, but that doesn’t mean every creative partnership is doomed to expire after a certain length of time––some of the world’s most influential bands and songwriting collaborators consist of relationships that span decades, after all. 

All relationships require work and sacrifice to function, and the sort of attention needed to keep musical relationships civil is different from the work needed to keep things creatively fulfilling and challenging. 

There’s no getting around the fact that being confined to an apartment or dorm room is a major challenge for a serious musician. Maintaining positive relationships with other musicians is tough enough, but throwing non-musicians into the mix like roommates and neighbors is something that makes writing music and practicing even more complicated. But look around for musicians who’ve thrived in similar challenging conditions, and you’ll find that lots of people manage to make great music while living in less-than-ideal spaces like apartments, basements, and dorm rooms. Here are three tips to help if you’re a musician working in a challenging living situation:

One of the biggest challenges of DIY music production is the cost of recording instruments. While instruments like guitar, vocals or bass can be easily recorded at home with simple setups, when it comes to drums this is not necessarily the case. Getting a good drum sound at home can be tricky, not to mention the acoustics if you’re living in an apartment building. Moreover, it can be expensive to rent a studio and record your drums there. However, it’s still possible to record drums on a budget and make them sound good. So here are five tips to record real drums on a budget:

Even the most prolific songwriters have trouble creating new work from time to time. Whether it’s the frustrating situation of questioning each and every note and lyric, or not feeling focused enough to follow through with an idea, making new music can feel challenging or downright impossible for some musicians. If you’re currently wedged in a creative rut and are looking for ways to get your writing output moving again, here are three challenges to help:

The drums in your track are the foundation for your song. 

They play an important role in conveying the emotions that you are trying to capture through your song. This makes it a top priority for you to mix your drums in a way that is powerful and impactful. 

But how do you add this weight, punch, and power to your drums?

In this article, I am going to go over how you can apply the New York compression technique to any of your drum tracks to create a more impactful and emotional song. 

The success of your track will primarily depend on the main elements you have in your track, how they are arranged, and how they are mixed in. What often gets forgotten in a professional song are the ear candy effects. 

These ear candy effects give your track that professional polish that is needed to create detail and interest throughout your track. 

In this article, I am going to show you how to create a very popular but effective reverb tail effect. 

Multiband compressors are one of the most misunderstood and misused mixing tools. 

To many, the multiband compressor can seem quite complex and difficult to use in the mixing process. By understanding the basic functions and applications of a multiband compressor, you will be able to use this powerful tool in an impactful way.

In this article, I am going to go over what a multiband compressor is, why you would use it over a normal compressor, and when you would use it in your productions. 

The piano is one of the most beautiful instruments ever created. 

Its unique timbre and characteristics blend together perfectly with a wide range of musical genres, making it one of the most widely used instruments. Unfortunately, the pianos naturally rich timbre can lead to mixing problems. 

Also, as with any other instrument, the piano you choose to use in your productions can be lacking in certain parts of the frequency spectrum, making the piano sound weak in your mix. 

In this article, I will be going over how to mix and layer your pianos for a more professional sounding mix.