The guitar is a versatile and expressive instrument that contributes rhythm, melody and flavor to many music genres. Capturing and enhancing that flavor takes good taste, real talent, and effective techniques.

You'll need a range of skills: the ability to mic amps and acoustic guitars, add the right combination of effects and EQ, tame the beast using appropriate compression, and more. There's a lot to learn! Here's a range of tutorials from basic to advanced that explain it all.

It's an amazing thing to be able to move an audience with a carefully crafted song or melody, giving them a taste of your own emotions and experiences. To be able to do that effectively is a real gift, but a gift that needs to be developed.

Creating a unique song involves multiple steps—crafting lyrical ideas, expressing those lyrics through a memorable melody, working on the song harmonically and rhythmically, giving the song an appropriate structure, and honing all of those elements until it's perfect. Skill is required... and patience! Here is a range of tutorials from basic to advanced that explain it all.

Trying to move audio data from one source to another should be a very straightforward process. Simply setup your I/O to send one sounds output to the input of another. In fact, we do this all the time inside our DAWs from track to track. But what happens when we want to route audio between applications?

MIDI is a relatively old technology in the electronic music industry. It came into being in the early 80s as a way for electronic instruments - including synths, drum machines and sequencers - to talk to one another. Over the years it has evolved, and is at its most powerful when creating music using computer software.

So how is MIDI different to audio? Where do I start? How do I connect MIDI devices to your computer? What are control codes? How do I make MIDI music sound more realistic? Here is a range of tutorials from basic to advanced that explain it all.

Have you ever wondered what defines a pop song? Well I have, and decided to find out. I gathered data from 52 Number 1 hits, the most successful from each year spanning 1960 through to 2011 as determined on the Australian pop music charts and came up with some interesting recommendations as to what technical aspects this group of songs has in common.

Reverb is an incredibly important effect that can add life to a track. How you use it is totally up to you. Reverb can be subtle or blatant, sound natural or add interesting flavors to the mix. Using it effectively takes skill and experience, and knowing the right techniques.

Here is a broad collection of tutorials that aim to teach you those techniques, starting with great advice for the beginner, progressing to advanced techniques, and showing you how to produce some classic reverb effects. Work through them in order, or jump to the tut that most interests you. When you're finished, review what you've learned with the quiz.