Keep It Simple, Stupid: An Introductory Rant

This might be the only off-topic post you see on this blog—and for good reason: you’re probably here for answers, not stories! It seems only fitting and necessary that I elaborate why there is a blog on this website at all.

While I do not consider myself the master of all things recording, music production, composition, or podcasting, I do feel confident calling out a persistent problem: it’s not always easy to find accurate, relevant technical guides in these fields. Whether you are new to any of these things or you've been doing it professionally for years, you undoubtedly run into a problem or question that sends you scouring Google results for an answer. But I find a couple of commonly unaddressed setbacks that seem to always be a factor when looking for answers online.

1. Lost In Translation

   
   

   Search engines are not always, or seemingly less and less as time goes on, efficiently indexed or worded to provide you with the answers that you are looking for. There are TONS of terms that mean the same thing. Whether it is music production related, live sound related, or podcasting related, all of these industries have expansive terminologies that are also split up into different terms for the same things, depending on where you are or who taught you, what time you grew up in, and when you started learning it. You may laugh at the various names for a "turnaround" in a live production situation.   Maybe you don't know any of the terms, and you're guessing by looking up "How to add more audio to Pro Tools" when you mean "How to create a new track, and import audio in Pro Tools." Sure, you could hit the forums and wait it out through the gate-keeping trolls until someone answers you.

   
   

   Even if you don't find a suggestion on here that leads you to which microphone you'll fall in love with, if anything, I hope I help you hone your ability to SEARCH for information in the field. There is an art to writing a musical masterpiece, and there is an art to using a search engine. Don't worry, half the people who work in Technical Support don't know how to use one either these days.

2. Once upon a time in a studio far, far, away...

   Look, I'm no Tolkien, and I accept that. But neither are the rest of the audio bloggers. When you're looking for information like this, you could very well be in a situation where you don't have time to listen to someone give you a life story before the answer. It's the copy-and-paste cooking recipe blogs all over again, but it's made its way into the audio blogs too... (seriously, why do I need to hear a step-by-step account of someone's 2-week vacation before they tell me the recipe for a casserole!?)

   
   

   While I can appreciate and understand the value in hearing someone else's personal experience and preferences on technical or creative topics, it is not uncommon that the answers you are looking for are buried beneath an extensive amount of unnecessary babbling.

   
   

   I'm not Rachel Ray, and I doubt you want to hear my life story before finally getting to hear about how the hell you locate the Event List in Logic, or what the hot-key shortcut is to import audio in Pro Tools, because you haven't used it since 2009. I think if you want my personal opinions on things, you should be able to find them in their own dedicated content.

   
   

   But, if you want a to-the-point list of what recording software and gear you need, how to use it, or what is wrong with it, you shouldn't be held hostage with a 30-minute anecdote about how, as a toddler, I bonked my head on a record player and now I'm obsessed with music production for some reason.

Whether it’s quick how-tos, gear breakdowns, or problem-solving guides, this blog is here to be useful—no fluff, no clickbait.

As I said, maybe for some bewildering reason, you DO want to hear my personal opinion or methods on something. Sure, it'll be here in its dedicated area. I'd be lying if I said I don't like to discuss gear, or debate contradicting points of view, like why one minute I'm a stickler for the rules of production, and the next I'd suggest breaking all the rules at once and using something unconventional to record an instrument. So, here you are. There will be more to come! Got a gear question? Can’t find an answer online? Hit me up. If it’s audio-related, I want to write about it.