What if I told you that there was a special kind of chord you could use to give your music an extra sense of depth in the writing? If you went to a music school, or have extensive musical training, then you already know what I'm talking about. For those who don't, this is for you: 

So when I say "9 chord" what exactly do I mean? Well, it's definitely a chord. And we know what that is, even if we're a beginner. So we're already half done! AWESOME. 

But what about the "9"? What does that mean? To make…

When you open up any given DAW--digital audio workstation--you are almost always presented with a small screen that has multiple templates to choose from. 

For years, I almost always chose "Empty Project" and would then start setting up my session for songwriting, mixing, or whatever I was doing that day. One day, I decided to do some scoring to video, so I decided to check out the corresponding template. That day changed everything. 

All of a sudden, I had all the tools necessary to start composing…

Last time, I showed you guys why it's helpful to arrange your music within your DAW of choice. So in that same vein, I want to talk about Logic's Virtual Drummer and how it can help you realize your musical vision much quicker. 

 I just read a great article over at The Recording Revolution, where Graham called a home studio the ULTIMATE SONGWRITING TOOL. I could not agree more with that sentiment. In fact, I've literally done all of my writing in my home studio. Here's an example, one that Graham uses in…

I know this is the last thing we want to think about as creative musician-types. But we kind of always are anyway... 

Say you're a guitarist or bassist and have a pedalboard. Now, it's pretty common to have a compressor or EQ on it. But, when you were setting it up, did you ever notice that things sounded different when placed in a specific orders? 

That difference is signal flow at work. Without being all science-y, it's basically the path that the audio signal takes through your gear. It's as simple as…

Compressors are one of the most utilized pieces of gear/plugins in audio engineering. So how can we use that to make our songs sound better? 

I really like Graham Cochrane of The Recording Revolution's way of talking about compressors. He says that their basically a "smart volume fader" and that's exactly right. It's actually really simple, which is confusing for such a widely-used tool, at least for me when I was starting out. 

Today's video takes a look at the stock Logic Pro X compressor and how to get…

An EQ can and usually is the single most powerful tool in any DAW. That's why there are stock EQs in the first place! If there weren't, they wouldn't come with literally every DAW, free or paid. 

So what does it really do? How can you use it to your advantage? Here's a quick tutorial on the EQ that comes with Logic Pro X, what it's features are, and what it can do for your tunes. 

Check out the video:


 

A well equalized mix can literally make or break it. We use these tools to shape the sound so that we…