Handmade Audio

11/09/2023

Thoughtful and positive writeup from Rosy Overdrive of Bouquet, the new Blue Stoplights album that I had the pleasure of mixing.

The third and final installment of Pressing Concerns this week sets you up with three albums set to come out tomorrow (new long-players from Wet Dip, Blue Stoplights, and Layperson) and one that ca…

03/31/2022

Listen to Moon News' latest work - 11 reminders of how moving a story in a song can be.

Moon News · Album · 2022 · 11 songs.

03/29/2022

I greatly enjoyed reviewing iFi audio's Gryphon, a formidable little portable headphone amp and DAC.

https://www.handmadeaudio.com/blog/the-ifi-gryphon-the-tiny-home-version-of-an-audio-powerhouse

I recently had the chance to review the Gryphon DAC/headphone amp by iFi audio. The Gryphon strikes me as an ambitious product: it combines the functionality of the portable Bluetooth-capable headphone amp with the feature set of a desktop high-resolution DAC. It handles nearly any file type or samp

03/29/2022

Thank you so much, Liam. It was such a joy and an honor to contribute a tiny part to this album. I can't wait for everyone to be able to hear these songs. Every song is deeply poetic, and will make you laugh, cry, and wonder, and all of the performances are beautiful and memorable.

11/26/2021

What is non-linear processing, and why does it matter? In this episode we dive deep into the topic with our guest Dan Worrall, and talk about: what non-linear processing is, why it can sound great a

11/18/2020

R.I.P Bruce Swedien. One of the greatest engineers ever. His career spanned 5 decades recording Jazz Legends such as Count Basie, Art Blakey, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Quincy Jones, Oscar Peterson and Herbie Hancock. In 1982 he recorded and mixed the biggest selling album of all time ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson. Bruce was without a doubt of the greatest of all time. Thank you for the amazing music you recorded!! RIP Bruce Swedien

10/29/2020

10/29/2020

FAQ: What does a mastering engineer do, and do I need it?

Mastering is the last step in the recording process before your music goes "live" for all to hear. A mastering engineer is usually chosen to provide an objective, 'outside' perspective on an album as a whole (as opposed to the producer and the recording and mix engineers who, by the end of the production process, will have spent many, many hours 'inside' the album).

Oftentimes by the time an album is finished, the songs will have been recorded on different days, in different moods, perhaps even in different rooms or with different speakers, headphones, or instrumentation. A mastering engineer will make subtle tonal (EQ) and sometimes dynamic changes to the tracks across an album, nudging each track ever-so-slightly so that they all sit together well as a whole. They will also often make subtle choices about relative volume and dynamics that will ensure that the album sounds great whether listened to on a car, earbuds, or a big hi-fidelity sound system. It is their job to worry about the quirky details of the differences between Youtube, Spotify, and Itunes loudness normalization algorithms, so that you, the musician, can feel totally confident that your audience will be able to hear your songs as intended on whatever playback service.

In my experience working with indie musicians in Bloomington and the Chicago area, people are often quite blown away by the positive differences that these subtle changes can make, especially if they have never had their work mastered before. I personally have a philosophy of very minimal interference as a mastering engineer; my goal is not to imprint any creative stamp of my own on your work, but rather to make sure that you feel totally confident about how your message and your sound is coming across.

If you are looking for a mastering engineer for your next project, or considering having your work mastered for the first time and want to learn more about the process, feel free to reach out to me here or at [email protected].

Have fun creating and stay safe out there -
Hunter "Nico" McKenzie
Handmade Audio