2011 was a great year for Audiotuts+. We published over 500 times – tutorials, tips, articles, open mics, workshops and quizzes – and were visted 39% more often than in 2010. But 2011 is over. What do we have in store for 2012? Read on to find out!
1. In 2012 We’ll Expand Our Focus
When Audiotuts+ came into being, it had a narrow and specific focus. It provided tutorials on a short list of DAW applications. Since then we’ve experimented with adding content on other related topics – music theory, musical instruments and mobile music, for example.
This year we’ll expand our focus even further. While we’ve been focused on a short list of specific DAWs – Logic Pro, Reason, Cubase, FL Studio and Pro Tools – this year we’ll start accepting tutorials and quick tips that cover more DAWs. Are there any in particular that you’d like us to cover?
Then there’s instrument tutorials, which we started toying with last year. Most of these were about guitar, but we gave you a couple about drums, and picked up that you were keen for piano/keyboard tutorials too. We’d like to make these more prominent in 2012. Would you like help learning your instrument of choice? Which instrument would you like to see covered?
We’re also planning to produce more regular product reviews, in terms of both gear and software. What type of review do you find most useful? A post that covers just one product in detail, or a comparison of several similar products so you can see more easily which you should choose? And what types of products should we cover?
Finally, since 2008 we’ve covered an impressive range of topics. But we haven’t covered every topic. And those we have covered we haven’t exhausted. This year we’ll become more strategic in choosing our topics. We don’t want to keep repeating ourselves – we want to cover every relevant audio topic and subtopic as helpfully as possible. Which topics are we missing?
2. In 2012 We’ll Broaden Our Appeal
Many of the tuts on Audiotuts+ are geared at the intermediate user. An absolute beginner won’t know what to do with them, and an expert might find as many new insights as we’d like. This year we’re aiming to provide more content for both absolute beginners, and experienced gurus.
Firstly, we’ll schedule two Basix tuts every month, and these will be aimed at those who have never produced music before, or have just started. We’ll choose the most important topics for the absolute beginner to understand, and make sure they’re the ideal resource to get them on the right track.
Secondly, we’ll aim to post advanced material more often. If you consider yourself an advanced audio geek, what types of topics would you like us to cover?
And finally, we’ll publish videos and screencasts on a more regular basis this year. I personally love written tutorials, and there will always be a place for them here, but sometimes there’s no better way to learn something than to actually see it being done. If you’re a visual learner, we’re planning more content for you this year.
3. In 2012 We Want More Community Involvement
We want to get you more involved this year. Think of it as us giving you some homework. I think we’ve kept our loyal readers far too passive – and most people learn better by doing than just reading.
So we’ll do something about that this year. In the first half of the year we’re planning to run two community projects. This will involve giving you the opportunity to actually create something, and then show it off to the world.
For example, the guys over at Aetuts+ could throw together a video sequence, and you could produce the soundtrack or foley track for it. We’ll show off your submissions, and maybe get everyone to vote for the best. We could throw in some nice prizes to get you motivated.
What do you think? Would you like to get involved? Do you learn better by being more active? Can you think of any cool projects? Let us know in the comments.
4. In 2012 We’ll Build a Better Premium Program
I’m really proud of our new Premium site. It’s been a lot of work, and a long time coming. But it’s more than worth it. This year we’ll be aiming to take our premium program to the next level.
One thing I’d like to ask you. In 2010 and 2011 we cut down on the number of sample/loop packs we offered our premium subscribers, offering more tutorials instead. What do you think? Would you like to see a monthly audio pack, or do you prefer getting more tutorials? What do you see as best value for your money?
Well, thanks for reading – and for commenting. We’ll take your feedback very seriously. I’m really looking forward to 2012. Hang on for the ride of your life!
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By Adrian Try
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Regarding premium tutorials vs. sample packs: I vote for tutorials – there are lots of sample packs all over the internet.
Tutorials made using Reaper would be nice to see. Thanks for all the great content!
I’d also be curious to see some Reaper tutorials, perhaps what similarities it shares with other DAWs and how it differs, kind of like a Transitioning into Reaper from series or something like that.
Thanks for posting this. I would like to see tutorials with logic pro 9 (you guys did a great job of this, just don’t stop!), and more articles on programming synths. I would also like to see tutorials geared towards bands that want to set up DIY tours, release music, etc.. Or how to get signed to an independent label. Thanks for everything though!
I’d be a big fan of getting the community together to produce something.
I also think it’s really important for you guys to get some more advanced material. I started out learning production with AudioTuts, and have continued as a loyal reader for a couple years, but I’m finding fewer and fewer tutorials on here that teach me something new. Of course, this is inevitable as I learn more, but I KNOW there’s a ton of stuff I’m still ignorant about; I’m just not finding it at AudioTuts. (That said – I love you guys and am really proud of the work you’re doing. I’d just like to see more material that I can benefit from.)
As far as specific topics:
1. Phase. There are a million tutorials explaining what it is (especially in basic terms), but not many showing practical applications for it. E.g., I once read about an assistant engineer who spent tons of time “phase-aligning” the two samples on a layered kick track. How do you align phases on drum hits? In particular, I hear a lot about “getting the phase right” when recording, especially regarding stereo micing, but I don’t hear a lot about it in the mixing phase. How do you know if your tracks are in the best possible phase? Unless I hear complete cancellation, or something
Some examples of tutorials I’ve really liked that touch on this subject are:
http://audio.tutsplus.com/tutorials/production/2-useful-phase-tricks/
This one blew my mind with the “Outside of the Speakers Trick.”
http://therecordingrevolution.com/2012/01/04/5-minutes-to-a-better-mix-ii-phase-check-drums-part-4-of-31/
Not quite as good as the AudioTuts article above, but definitely still useful.
http://www.moultonlabs.com/more/about_comb_filtering_phase_shift_and_polarity_reversal/P0/
A really nice, technical discussion of comb filtering and phase.
2. Quadrophonic/Surround Mixing
3. Psychoacoustics
4. Audio Programming and Interactive Sound (e.g., Max/MSP, SuperCollider)
Thanks guys! Looking forward to the awesomeness in 2012.
Hi Adrian. At first thank you for your work, I appreciate it. I am drummer beginner, I’m studying to play drums, and I’m very interested in Drum tutorials, I saw that it is one on the top, and this is very good. I think that people like not onlly a guitar, there are a lot of drummers. As for another news, you are doing cool work, your service is unique in some style.
(Advanced?) topics I’d like to read more about:
Vocal recording – coaching a singer, deciding when a take is good enough.
Vocal production – for example, tricks for composing effective harmonies and ad libs as heard in almost every hit song today;
Best practices during your mixing session;
Lifting your final chorus;
Quick tips on vocal mixing, based on song examples. I find this especially interesting because most vocals are recorded pretty much the same way, but can sound very different in different songs.
keeping a piece of music interesting from start to end.
DAW’s and their different sound quality;
Speeding up your workflow;
Organizing a project folder (how do I descriptively name and archive all the versions of a project?)
Mastering for different purposes (MP3, CD, Vinyl)
I think the above comments already touch a lot of good suggestions. I’d also like to see hardware reviews and comparisons. If a product is bad at aspect x then put another product which is good at is in the comparisons.. Also explanations what the features that make product x good actually do in practice and how they work behind the scenes, why soundcard 1 will outperform soundcard 2 for example at same latency settings.
As far as the DAW side goes I use Logic Studio 9 & have read all of your articles on it. Recently I was given a copy of Studio One 2 Producer. So… I would like to learn how to better use it.