1. Music & Audio

Music & Audio Learning Guides

What better way to learn new music and audio skills than with a series of carefully crafted learning guides? Each guide is a curated selection of free tutorials designed to help you master a new skill, from arranging for strings to songwriting and composing.

With so much jargon to master in this field, you'll appreciate the guide to music and audio terms. It's perfect for beginners, and even seasoned audio pros will discover some new terms. There are dozens more guides designed to help you master all aspects of music and audio, so why not dip in and see what you can learn?

  1. How to Null Test Your Gear

    2 Posts
    Audio engineers and musicians have a habit of collecting things. Not only do they collect things, they collect things that are similar in nature and believe they are distinctly different. Furthermore, they collect them without actually testing to see if they are indeed different.
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  2. Subtractive Synth Basics

    7 Posts
    You can make pretty much any sound you want using subtractive synthesis (or virtual analog), including effects, pads and strings, leads, and bass. In this series, we'll show you how. 
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  3. Arranging for Strings

    2 Posts
    A standard string orchestra is based on the string quartet; Violin I, Violin II, Viola, and Cellos, with the addition of Contrabasses on the low end. In this series on arranging for strings, we'll look first at how to take an existing four-part harmonization and have it effectively performed by a string orchestra. And second, we'll learn how to use that same foundation to create more interesting variations.
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  4. Creating a Realistic Bass

    3 Posts
    Sculpture is a unique instrument to Logic in that it is something called a 'component modeling synth'. Where Logic's other synths are the more standard FM and additive synth types, Sculpture tries to make a virtual model of an actual acoustic instrument which mimics that instrument's physical properties. In this series we'll look at how this unusual synth operates, and how we can manipulate its parameters to create a realistic electric bass sound.
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  5. Producing Guitar: From Recording to the Finished Product

    20 Posts
    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.
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