Recording’s Readers’ Tracks is where respected engineer and producer Marty Peters listens to your recordings and critiques them, pointing out where and how you can make them better. Listen to the songs, read the reviews, and submit your own materials online via upload.

Artist Name: Dan Desroches Title: Girl of My Dreams Genre:  Rock

Dan has submitted a pretty successful effort here, that could be even more so with a bit of sonic housekeeping. In his production notes, he tells us that drums are his primary instrument, although in our opinion he’s done a darn good job on all his instrumentation.

Where we find issue with the track is more on the arrangement end of things. The art of mixing is indeed an art, and there are many ways to approach it. Some prefer to mix “from the bottom up,” meaning they start with the drums and bass and build things up from there. Others center on the vocals and… READ THE FULL REVIEW

REC’s six monthly Sound Advice bulletins offer great advice:

1. On Vocals: Useful advice on recording the best vocals.
2. On Guitars: Miked or direct, electric or acoustic, ways to capture great guitar sounds.
3. On Drums: Great techniques for recording drums.
4. On Mastering & Mixing: Practical mastering topics for at-home users and tips on how to mix better songs.
5. On Acoustics: Learn how to make your room sound better.
6. On Digital Audio: All about digital and computer audio.

SAMPLE BULLETINS