Audiophile Naija

As advancement in technology over the decades has resulted in the simplification and affordability of the music production process, the word "Producer" has also evolved in meaning and usage over time. Gears like the Alesis Digital Audio Tape (ADAT) recorder,   Akai MPC's and Rolands range of portable synthesizers and drum programmers like the TR-808 are just a few in a host of other revolutionary audio equipment that brought music production to the everyday musician. In the digital realm, personal computers have become much more powerful and Steinberg's VST technology along with other Digital Audio Workspaces (DAW's) have made mixing "in the box" (ITB for short) a reality. The 21st century producer can literally make great sounding instrumentals with only a laptop! This change is however more evident in hip-hop and other electronic genres of music. So who's a music producer and what's his job?   Traditionally, music producers can be...

My last write up answered some basic questions about preamps in general, but the real problems arise when it's time to purchase one. In the myriad of outboard pres, audio interfaces, mixing consoles and channel strips - all boasting of premium preamps, the dilemma of which to buy is a common one. Really, a lot of people want to know if higher priced preamps sound significantly better than lower priced ones. In October 2012, the Sound On Sound magazine came up with a brilliant experiment to investigate this and I had the liberty of time to participate in the test . The results were stunning! In summary, using a device called a Disklavier (by Yamaha), they played back the same midi performance of a piano through different high end and budget preamps and also recorded it. Stay with me here, the same recording was made using 3 different microphones (valve, ribbon and capacitor) and here's where it gets interesting. The recordings were uploaded on the SOS website and ea...

Dear filmmaker, I write in sheer concern for our future as our destinies are interwoven one way or another, whether we choose to admit it or not. There is a lot to learn from our western counterparts who have mastered the art of filmmaking and turned it into a million dollar industry, however, this letter will focus on just one aspect. Nigeria is a hard country for creatives and the lackadaisical approach of the government towards developing other sectors of the economy besides oil and gas has made things even worse. Funding is no doubt an issue and young practitioners in the artistic sphere have had to use whatever they can gather to make whatever they can. This has been the story for a long time and whatever solutions this letter profers, they were made with this fact in mind. As a sound engineer and music producer, I've had a couple of of indigenous movies (feature length and short films) brought to my studio for mixing and mastering or scoring or both. At the cinemas t...