Field Notes
Writing on music, craft, and building things
Notes on the work — practice, production, teaching, and everything that goes into building the tools and the book.
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The Twin87: Two Eras of One Legendary Mic, One Switch
Vintage mode runs the capsule on 48V like the originals. Modern raises it to 63V with an FET boost. What…
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“AI Mixing” Plugins: What They’re Actually Good For
Not a replacement for a mix engineer. A genuinely useful starting point, if you’re honest about what it’s actually doing.
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Always Print a Rough Mix Before the Artist Walks Out the Door
One skipped step cost me a session’s worth of context, and I have never skipped it since.
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The Stream Deck Is Secretly an Everyone Tool — Drummers Included
Filed under streamer toy since launch, the Stream Deck is actually the cheapest control surface in pro audio. For producers,…
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Build the Mix From the Drums Up, Not the Vocal Down
Most mixes start in the wrong place, and you can hear it in every single one of them.
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The $40 Tool That’s Been in My Rack for Two Years
The cheapest thing in my rack solves the most expensive-feeling problem I used to have.
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The Live MD’s Secret Weapon Is an Infrared Mic Mute
Open mics are pure downside: bleed, eaten gain, feedback risk. This little infrared box closes them automatically, and it belongs…
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Why Your “Good Enough” DI Box Is Quietly Ruining Your Bass Tone
The cheapest piece in your signal chain has the loudest opinion about your tone.
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The 30-Second Soundcheck Trick That Saves Your Whole Set
One question, asked in the right order, catches 90% of the disasters before they happen.
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Mixing a Whole Church on a Screen: Life With the Waves LV1
Our console is a touchscreen and an IONIC 24 on stage. Why the LV1 Classic earned the important Sundays, what…