Stem Mastering and Mixing

  What is Stem?   In audio production, a stem is a group of audio sources mixed together. A single stem might exist in mono, stereo, or in multiple tracks for surround sound. In sound mixing for film, the preparation of stems is a common strategy to...

Parallel Processing

Serial Processing   In audio processing, we can say there are two main ways of adding effects to a chain in just about any DAW. The first one works by basically interrupting the dry audio signal of an audio or software instrument.  You can do this by using the...

Sidechain Compression

  What is Sidechain compression?   Sidechain compression, also known as ducking, is an audio effect commonly used in radio and pop music, especially dance music. In sidechain compression, the presence of one audio signal reduces the level of another one. In...

Panning

What is Panning?   Panning in audio borrows its name from panning action in moving image technology. An audio pan pot can be used in a mix to create the impression that a source is moving from one side of the soundstage to the other. Although ideally there would...

Mid/Side Processing

What is Mid/Side processing?   Mid/Side processing is a special way to process stereo signals. This stereo signal consists of 2 mono signals, one for the left and one for the right channel. However, when we create this stereo signal, it is likely that some sounds...

Gain Stage

Gain Stage 101   In audio engineering, the term Gain Stage refers to a point during the audio signal flow where an audio engineer can make adjustments to the level of the audio signal. The parameters for this kind of modifications are usually gain faders. You can...