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: William Steffey Title: Shangri-La Genre:  Indie Rock

William has submitted a cool, sparse recording, with an intriguing blend of electronic and reggae stylings that manages to combine some disparate tones and textures into a satisfying whole.

Starting with the percussion, William has designed a fairly aggressive-sounding drum program via his Native Instruments Drum Lab software. The hi-hat is pronounced and the snare has an attack that certainly gets your attention! In counterpoint to this lies Traci’s super-active but muted bass guitar performance. Normally we would find the juxtaposition between the two rhythm section partners to be an issue, both in tone and arrangement, but for some reason it seems to work here. 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