In this week's edition Julian & Ashea are joined by audio engineer and current student James Watts, where they discuss ​​whether music education is adapting to meet the evolving needs of students and the industry.

Talking Points:

How much emphasis is placed on the following?

• Hands on experience, using hardware, navigating a mixing desk and traditional studio setups.
• A.I and one knob plugins: How granular are you taught to get with plugins?:
• Career Goals & Prospects: Training for commercial studio vs freelancer.
• The role of entrepreneurship, how the industry,networking and career advancement is changing.

Finds of the week:
Julian:  Avid NAMM Tech Preview
Ashea: VEA
James: Pythogorean Tuning

In this week’s edition Julian and Ashea are joined by  Steve DeMott where they discuss the importance and power of saying 'no' in a music production environment. 

Talking Points:

‘The Power of No’ in music production, recording & mixing.
 Expanding on William Wittmans article:

Finds of the week:
Julian: PMC 6-2
Ashea: Sketch Casette 2
Steve: Zoom H6 field recorder

 In this week’s edition Julian & Ashea are joined by James Richmond where they discuss some of the stand out developments of last year.

In the final edition of 2023, Ashea is joined by Russ Hughes & Reid Caulfield.  Where they discuss the important topic of managing mental health, particularly in the audio industry.

Talking Points:

• Dealing with anxiety and other mental health issues that plague freelancers and audio professionals. 
  
  
• The stigma attached to mental health issues.
  
  
• The role of social media and how it can affect our mental health.
  
  
• Coping and good practices to reduce stress etc.

Finds of the week:

Russ: A Therapeutic Journey Book
Ashea: Contact- Movie
Reid: The Demon- Haunted World , Blink, McDSP SA3

In this week’s edition Julian and Ashea are joined by Ary Maudit, where they discuss studio roles, terminology and definitions, are they changing, if so how?

Talking Points

• As an engineer at Strongroom, what is your role, and what are the main things you get asked to do? Have you witnessed people’s role changing/morphing over time, if so how?
• Producer, beatmaker, songwriter let’s discuss our interpretations of those roles and how they have developed/changed.
• Stems,multitracks. Any definitions that are commonly confused?
• Our thoughts on Russ’ article. https://www.production-expert.com/production-expert-1/its-none-of-your-business-how-people-choose-to-make-music

Finds of the week:
Julian: PSP Auralcomp
Ashea: Nutribullet Blender
Ary: Amedeo Modigliani

In this week’s edition Julian and Ashea are joined by Nathaniel Reichman, where they discuss the things they loved in the month of November. 

Talking Points:

•  Universal Audio Opens LUNA to All Mac Users in Inclusive Software Update
•  Avid Now A Private Company As STG Completes Acquisition
•  Apple Logic Pro For Mac And iPad Updated - Includes Mastering Assistant And More
•  Serato Unexpectedly Announce Native Apple Silicon Support For Pitch 'n Time  Plugin
•  Steinberg Nuendo 13 Announced : A Comprehensive Update for Post-Production Professionals
• Slate and SSL Gobbler
•  Universal Audio Sound City Plugin Announced
•  Spatial Audio And Using Audiomovers Binaural Renderer For Apple Music 
• Ginger Audio iRender Spatial Released
•  SSL E 4K released
  
  

Finds of the week:

Julian: Loudspeakers For Music Recording And Reproduction
Ashea: Fletcher & Mills Studio Desk 
Nathaniel: ChatGPT 3.5’s new voice conversation feature 

In this week's episode Julian and Ashea are joined by Graham Kirkman, where they discuss the gear and software that they wouldn't want to live without.

Talking Points:

• Let’s discuss some of the gear/software that we find ourselves relying on and why that is.
• Open Back Headphones, 
• Sit Stand Desk, 
• Macbook Pro,
• VisLM, 
• Celemony Melodyne. 
• Neve 1073 Mic Pre, 
• Neumann U87. 
• Logic Pro

Finds of the week:

Julian: Caldigit TS3 Plus -

Ashea: Waves Silk Vocal 

Graham: Supperware Bridgehead 

In this week’s edition Julian & Ashea are joined by Eli Krantzberg, where they dissect the meaning of the commonly used term 'Sounds Like A Record'.

Talking Points:

• We hear the terms ‘radio ready’ and ‘sounds like a record’ used a lot in this industry, so let’s break down the elements that make a song worthy of that statement, and why do some songs fail to sound like this?
  
  
• Music is constantly changing, and so the definition of a ‘record’ surely has too. Let's compare some hits of yesteryear and how they match up to those of today.
  
  
• Can a  great production/mix make an average song sound like a record?
  
  
• Gear and tools used on many of the great records. 
  
  
• Eli, as we have you on, let’s discuss the new Logic Pro updates.  

Finds Of The Week:

Julian: Sonos Era 300
Ashea: Witness For The Prosecution Play
Eli: Model N Channel 

In this week’s edition Julian & Ashea are joined by Steve DeMott, where they discuss the future of music production and emerging trends in the world of audio.

Talking Points:

• Let’s discuss some of the new trends and practices we are seeing pop up in the industry in general.
  
  
• Steve, you mentioned a few days ago that you’ve noticed a trend in audio plugins, how they seem to be geared towards improving subpar recording techniques- Let’s discuss this point.
  
  
• Are there any areas that need more attention in terms of technological development?
  
  
• Are there areas that we feel would be best left to traditional practices and can’t/shouldn’t be solved by a plugin?
  
  

Finds of the week:

Julian: McDSP SA3
Ashea: Miloco Gear's Pro Audio Showcase Returns
Steve: KiiveAudio Complexx

In this week’s edition Julian and Ashea are joined by Luke Steven Ramsay, where they discuss how to revive and make use of old material, that’s currently collecting dust on our hard drives. 

Talking Points

• Do you have a lot of unfinished material sitting around on your hard drive? If so, why do you think that is?
  
  
• Let’s discuss some useful ways as producers we can make use of the old unfinished material.
  
  
• Are there some good tools you know of to speed up & help the process of finishing songs?
  
  
• Platforms that allow us to put our work to good use, e.g beatstars, sample libraries etc

Finds of the week:

Julian: Live From Daryl’s House Glenn Tilbrook
Ashea: New Logic Pro Updates
Luke: Middle Kids Dramamine