Talking Shop With Emile 

By Mike Levine

It all started with a borrowed Ensoniq EPS sampler. It was back in the early '90s, and Emile (who is also known by his full name, Emile Haynie) was a young DJ with aspirations of getting into production. ...

Massive Attack | Tripping Into 'Heligoland'  

By Sam Pryor

For Massive Attack, the process of producing an album is often an evolutionary one, with the final result deviating significantly from what was originally envisioned. A case in point is the band’s last release, 100th Window (Virgin, 2003)....

Back for a Second Bite 

By Mike Levine

To the public at large, Vampire Weekend's ascent seemed like an overnight success story. They exploded on the national scene in 2008 with their album...

Ryan Leslie | Transition Man  

By Mike Levine

Scholars, economists, lawyers and politicians may come to mind when you think of Harvard graduates, but generally not producers and musicians. But then...

Richard Devine Is Living the Dream 

By Geary Yelton

Composer, performer and sound designer Richard Devine leads a charmed life. Armed with an impressive arsenal of tools and talent, Devine has evolved from...

Sonic Journey 

Béla Fleck is interviewed about the recording of Throw Down Your Heart, a field-recorded musical excursion To four African countries. Listen to clips from the CD and see photos from the trip....

AIR | Studio Symmetry 

By Sam Pryor

For years, the French duo AIR has navigated a demarcation zone between soft pop, experimental electronica, trendy lounge and brain-challenging prog rock....

Fauxharmonic Orchestra | The Ultimate One-Man Band 

By Paul D. Lehrman

The conductor lifts his hands and nods to the others on the stage. He lowers his right hand, and at the bottom of its arc, the orchestra begins to play...

The Elliptical World of Imogen Heap 

By Geary Yelton

Imogen Heap may not be a household name, but that could soon change with her latest release. Ellipse (RCA, 2009) is a stunning album produced in the recording...

Inside a Game Soundtrack 

By Mike Levine

There are many similarities between composing music for films and for videogames, but there are also significant differences. Because game composers generally...

Geeking Out With Infected Mushroom 

By Mike Levine

They are considered innovators in the electronica subgenre psy-trance, but Erez Eisen and Amit Duvedevani, better known as Infected Mushroom, aren't so...

Going Beyond Presets 

By Larry the O

Five top sound designers offer tips and advice for programming your own synth sounds, rather than relying only on presets...

T-Pain: The EM interview  

By Jason Scott Alexander

Technology has been an interesting gift to Faheem Rasheed Najm. Just three short years ago, you could have mentioned the Tallahassee, Florida-born singer/songwriter/producer by his more marketing-friendly stage name, T-Pain,...

Electric Engineering | Steve Albini 

By Rich Wells

Steve Albini is an esteemed recording engineer who has tracked a long list of high-profile bands, as well as played in influential groups such as Big Black and Shellac. This article focuses on his recording techniques in his studio Electrical Recording...

Modular Moods 

By Gino Robair

I didn’t really give up the guitar. It stopped inspiring me,” explains Alessandro Cortini on a warm spring day at his home in Los Angeles. “I got more into the song itself, as opposed to just the guitar.” ...

Shop Talk with Youth 

By Michael Molenda

Youth (aka Martin Glover) pounded the bass for industrial punksters Killing Joke in the late 1970s and has since become one of Englands hottest producers. ...

Shop Talk with Shel Talmy 

By Michael Molenda

Shel Talmy's production credits are all over classic singles by The Who, The Kinks, Easybeats, Chad and Jeremy, Manfred Mann, Small Faces, and count¬less other acts from the 1960s British in¬vasion. ...

Studio Junkie 

By Mike Levine

When Tom Holkenborg was a young musician growing up in Holland, he spent so much time playing music and recording that his friends dubbed him The name...

Metalocalypse Now 

By Gino Robair

As the band kicks into overdrive and the guitarists do hair windmills, hot coffee and cream spill out over the audience, injuring even more fans. It's...

Metalocalypse Now (Bonus) 

By Gino Robair

Metalocalypse co-creator Brendon Small creates all of the music of the fictional band Dethklok in his home studio. In this interview, he talks about scoring the show. ...

Without Missing A Beat 

By Mike Levine

As one of the world's elite drummers, Omar Hakim has worked with everyone from Sting to Michael Jackson to Weather Report to Miles Davis....

Thomas Dolby Goes Remote 

Mike Levine

Among the musicians involved with online collaboration is synth-pop and music-technology icon Thomas Dolby. This fall Dolby is touring the U.S. and U.K.,...

Renaissance Man 

By Mike Levine

Producing, engineering, mixing, remixing, playing keyboards, programming you name it, Carmen Rizzo does it. What's more, the genres that the multitalented...

Pushing the Right Buttons 

By Paul Tingen

If you want an indicator of Bill Bottrell's skills as a producer, start by looking at the list of heavyweight artists he's produced: Rosanne Cash, Sheryl...

It's Only Make-Believe 

By Mike Levine

The sounds that you hear in movies, TV, and video games fit so seamlessly with the visuals that it's easy to forget just how much work goes into producing...