A Musical Cyber Monday Shopping Guide

Here were are at another Cyber Monday, so I thought I'd post my own gift ideas and forego the usual New Music Gear Monday. Some of these are my own books and courses, but despite the self-promotion, they'll still make some fine gifts. Some of the other items are things that I personally can't live without in the studio, so you might find them useful as well. Here we go:

Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust: Ken Scott is a true legend, having worked with the likes of The Beatles, David Bowie, Elton John, The Stones, Kansas, and Devo, to name just a very few, and his story is a great one. I admit that I'm biased since I co-wrote the book, but I gotta say that every time I read something from it, I get drawn back in and forget that I was even involved. A great gift for anyone that's a fan of the music, engineering or the music business. You can read more about it at abbeytoziggy.com.

Audio Mixing Bootcamp: To someone who's either never done it before, or who's never done it well, mixing can be a total mystery. I wrote the Audio Mixing Bootcamp specifically to take the mystery out of it by making this a book about the reader actually doing it. Instead of talking about the mixing in the abstract like most other books, this book is a guided series of exercises that allows you to show yourself why something sounds good or why it doesn't. Read more about the Audio Mixing Bootcamp here.







Lynda.com Audio Mixing Bootcamp: If you don't know about Lynda.com then you really should. They're the #1 portal on the Internet for video learning, with over 1600 high-quality courses on just about any kind of high-tech you can think of. I was lucky enough to do this video version of the Audio Mixing Bootcamp book for them, and a lot of people really like. I hope you will too. Lynda is just $24.99 for a full month, which allows you to access as many courses as you can watch. Here's a free 7 day trial.

Lynda.com Audio Recording Techniques: Here's another course I just finished that covers all the basics of recording. You even get an inside look at a session with a bunch of LA A-list players as we record a song from scratch. If you want to see what goes into the making of a record with a rhythm section, vocals, background vocals, strings and horns, check it out.

Etymonic ER20 earplugs: These are the best earplugs made, and at around $10, they're a bargain too. My entire life around live music changed when I got these. They're one of the few earplugs that actually attenuate the audio while keeping the same frequency response. I've not found anything that works better at any price.









Mastering For iTunes: This is a free Lynda.com course that shows you not only how to make your files sound best on iTunes, but also everything about the new Mastered For iTunes program where they now accept hi-res 96/24 files. You'll find information here about the MFIT tools and how to use them that you won't find anywhere else.

Etymonic Research ER4 Micropro Earphones: Not only do these things sound great, but they're the absolute best for traveling, small and compact with great isolation and high-quality audio. If they're too pricy for you, try the HF5's instead.

Equator DS5 Monitors: I'm going to cover these in an upcoming edition of New Music Gear Monday, but let me say that you just can't find a better pair of monitors at this price point ($299) anywhere. Heck, you might have a hard time at twice as much, they're that good.




Music 3.0: A Survival Guide For Making Music In The Internet Age: This is the definitive book on the music business today and how to take advantage of vast number of changes that that the industry has undergone recently. It includes everything about social media that you need to know in order to communicate, promote and sell directly to your client or fan. You can read more about the Music 3.0 Internet Music guidebook, as well as some excerpts, here.







The Studio Builder's Handbook: The acoustics of a room is often discussed in dark, mysterious scientific tones, but it doesn't have to be that way. The Studio Builder's Handbook breaks room acoustics down into a really easy to understandable way, with less math than you'd find in a cookbook. The best part is it shows you how to really improve the sound of your room for $150 or less (yes, that can really be done.) Read more about The Studio Builder's Handbook here.







Ariel Hyatt's Music Success In 9 Weeks: Ariel Hyatt is one of the smartest people in the music public relations business and a real pioneer in social PR. This book teaches you the right way to get ahead in the business using social media, and fills in where Music 3.0 leaves off.











Monoprice 8323 Headphones: It's hard to believe how good these are for only $28. These are finally the answer to expensive headphones that get lunched during sessions but are expensive to replace. Buy these and no one will be the wiser, because they really sound great for the price.

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