Music
Records got louder for thirty years, and the reason was competition rather than taste
The loudness war was a rational response to how music was encountered. Understanding what was traded away explains a great deal…
Music
Records, production and the way a sound spreads from one room outward.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 1 of 2
Music
What a music supervisor does, and why one song in one scene costs what it costs
Putting an existing record into a film is a legal transaction with two separate owners, a negotiation, and a deadline. The taste is the easy part.
More in Music
Music
A record producer is doing four different jobs and the credit does not distinguish them
The title covers everything from writing arrangements to managing a budget to deciding when a take is finished. Which job it means…
Music
Song introductions got shorter, and the incentive that shortened them is measurable
The long instrumental opening did not go out of fashion by accident. It stopped being affordable once the first thirty seconds…
Music
The vocal you love was assembled from thirty takes, and that is normal practice
Comping is the standard method for building a lead vocal. Knowing how it works changes what you are hearing when a performance…
Music
A live album is a recording of a live event, which is not the same thing
Concert records sit somewhere between documentary and studio production, and where any particular one sits is almost never stated…
Music
Mastering is not making it louder, and the confusion costs musicians money
The final stage before release is small, technical and widely misunderstood. It is the difference between a mix that works…
Music
Reverb decides where the listener thinks they are standing
Every record places you somewhere. The tool that does it is the least discussed and most consequential decision in a mix.
Music
A song has two owners and confusing them is the most expensive mistake in music
The composition and the recording are separate pieces of property with separate owners, separate income and separate rules. Almost…
Music
Why a chorus lands: repetition, contrast and the register you were not using
Choruses work through a small number of mechanisms that can be described precisely. Knowing them makes the good ones more…
Music
Album sequencing still matters even though almost nobody listens in order
Track order is a set of decisions about contrast, key and pacing. It survives the shuffle era because it shapes the record even for…
Music
Pitch correction changed what singing means, and not only in the obvious direction
The technology is treated as a scandal or as an effect. Its real influence is on how vocals are recorded, arranged and expected to…