Well, we’re half way through the year, and so far it has been great – and very busy! We’ve had a site redesign, increased the number of tuts published each week, and launched our Basix program. Here are the 20 most popular tuts so far.
The 5 Most Read Tuts
Probably the best measure of a tut’s popularity and success is how many people read it. Here are the five tuts with the most reads.
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1. 7 Free Digital Recording Apps for Windows
Being a musician can be expensive. With musical instruments, equipment and software you normally get what you pay for, and we want to sound good! So we pay, and pay big. But it’s good to know you can get some things for free.
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2. Over 90 Free VST Effects Plugins
VST plugins can add power and flexibility to your digital audio workstation. They can also be very expensive. Here is a collection of over ninety awesome effects plugins that have one thing in common: they’re free. Check the details for each plugin to see if it works on your system. If you’re strapped for cash after Christmas, this list is just what you need.
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3. Arrangement Tips and Tricks: Fills and Transitions
Even the best track can be let down by bad arrangement. Let things slide in this area and you’re in danger of losing your listeners’ interest. Often getting things right in this area is down to lots of small touches. It really is all in the detail.
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4. 15 Youtube Videos that Will Improve Your Vocal Technique
The voice is the one instrument we take with us everywhere we go – even into the shower. Yet many of us spend less time working on vocal techniques than we do learning other instruments. Whether you are a lead vocalist, background vocalist, or just record your voice for “special effects”, these videos will teach you to warm up your voice, help you achieve a better vocal sound, and also protect your voice by teaching you to sing with a proper technique.
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5. 25 Tempting Music Apps for the iPad
What would it take to tempt you to grab an iPad? These 25 apps might just whet your appetite. And if you can’t afford to buy an iPad, read on for how you can win one in AudioJungle’s new competition.
The 5 Most Commented Tuts
Tuts with a large number of comments have sparked your interest, raised questions, and inspired your imagination. Here are the five tuts with the most comments so far this year.
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1. Will Apple’s iPad Revolutionise Music Production?
Apple’s tablet has been coming for quite some time now. The little device has inspired more dreams, guesses, mock-ups and rumors than just about any other toy in history. Other companies have been racing to get their own tablets out before Apple. And maybe you’ve been dreaming of the possibility of the perfect music production machine inside a small tablet. Can the Apple iPad possibly live up to all that hype?
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2. Monitor Speakers Roundup: Audiotuts Readers’ Favorites
You can spend countless hours mixing and mastering, but if you’re not accurately hearing what your music actually sounds like, you’re wasting your time. There is no substitute for good monitor speakers. We recently asked you about which you use, and this article wraps up your answers. It summarizes the “hive mind” of Audiotuts+ readers on the best brands and models to use.
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3. Arrangement Tips and Tricks: Fills and Transitions
Even the best track can be let down by bad arrangement. Let things slide in this area and you’re in danger of losing your listeners’ interest. Often getting things right in this area is down to lots of small touches. It really is all in the detail.
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4. How to Create Organic Ambient Instruments in Ableton Live
In this tutorial we are going to use Ableton Live’s “Sampler” and some of its built-in audio effects to produce wide, organic, ambient textures and pads, originating from a single one-note instrument sample. It’s a great way to create MIDI-playable ambient pads with a warm and evolving character, and most of all to be able to use our own original and custom ambient sounds, without having to scroll through hundreds of synth presets to find the right one, which usually leads to losing patience and inspiration.
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5. How to Build Tracks So That Instruments Relate to Each Other
Are your instruments fighting each other to get the main role of the track? This tutorial is about techniques for having instruments relate to each other in ways that will allow them to share time in the spotlight and work together.
The 5 Tuts Most Clicked in Twitter
Twitter is a great way to keep up with the latest on Audiotuts+. You can follow us at @audiotuts. Here are the five tuts that most interested our Twitter followers.
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1. Monitor Speakers Roundup: Audiotuts Readers’ Favorites
You can spend countless hours mixing and mastering, but if you’re not accurately hearing what your music actually sounds like, you’re wasting your time. There is no substitute for good monitor speakers. We recently asked you about which you use, and this article wraps up your answers. It summarizes the “hive mind” of Audiotuts+ readers on the best brands and models to use.
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2. 15 Sites Where You Can Find Free Vocal Samples and Loops
Vocals can add flavor and emotion to your tracks. This article lists 15 sites where you can find vocal samples and loops for free. If you don’t have your own choir or backing vocalists – or just can’t sing – this list might be just what you’re looking for.
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3. 15 Youtube Videos that Will Improve Your Vocal Technique
The voice is the one instrument we take with us everywhere we go – even into the shower. Yet many of us spend less time working on vocal techniques than we do learning other instruments. Whether you are a lead vocalist, background vocalist, or just record your voice for “special effects”, these videos will teach you to warm up your voice, help you achieve a better vocal sound, and also protect your voice by teaching you to sing with a proper technique.
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4. The Good Librarian
A good musician is a good librarian. A good composer is a good librarian. A good engineer, producer, DJ, or (fill in the blank) is a good librarian. This statement can be applied to nearly any creative endeavor, but most certainly is applicable to modern musicians, composers and engineers who are constantly switching between projects, applications, presets, and even platforms. This tutorial will give you an overview of what it means to be a good librarian – one who has a functional system for keeping track of everything from performance notes, to song lyrics, to presets and samples.
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5. Using Reason 4?s RPG-8 Arpeggiator
Reason 4’s RPG-8 Arpeggiator device is a useful tool when you want to create any sort of arpeggiated melody from a chord progression or even lead line without hours of painful penciling. The RPG-8 was released with Reason 4 and was the first arpeggiator to come with the software; it’s not hard to use, but many users still approach it with some confusion.
The 5 Open Mics With the Best Response
Each week we run an Open Mic where we ask for your comments and response to a specific issue. Here are the five Open Mics that inspired the most response. And it’s not to late to add something to the conversation.
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1. Open Mic: Tell Us Where In the World You Are From
Audiotuts has readers from all around the world. Where are you from?
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2. Open Mic: Tell Us About the Audio Interface You Use
Do you use an audio interface for capturing sounds from the outside world? Which do you use?
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3. Open Mic: Tell Us Which Band You Prefer In Terms of Production
Different bands and music appeal to us for all sorts of reasons. Which band’s sound do you prefer in terms of production.
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4. Open Mic: Tell Us About the Tuts You’d Like to See on Audiotuts+
In our recent survey most of you let us know you’re very happy with the site. Thanks! We’d like to keep it that way. What topics would you like covered in tuts in the future?
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5. Open Mic: Tell Us About the Free Plug-ins You Use
Music software and plugins can be expensive. Have you discovered any amazing DAW plug-ins that can be got for free?