Thank God for DRM. Without it, the internet would be a cesspool of illegally pirated music, movies and software. Oh, wait, the internet totally is that, because DRM is, quite possibly, the most pointless innovation of the digital age. Companies spend millions of dollars each year coming up with new ways to protect their online content just to see some fifteen year old kid figure out how to circumvent it. Repeat as needed.

But DRM isn’t just an exercise in futility. When you absolutely, positively, must anger every customer you have, few weapons are better than DRM. Take these shenanigans, for example…

Continue Reading

Each month we like to remind the community of what is happening on the other three sites in our TUTS network. This month we have some great Adobe illlustrator tutorials, some ace web development tips, and some excellent Photoshop techniques from other TUTS family members.

Continue Reading

In this video tutorial, Johnathan Lewis explains the process of beat matching using the pitch controllers on your DJ equipment.

Continue Reading

Tutorials on specific plug-ins aren’t that common here on AUDIOTUTS but this one is so special it demanded our attention. Effectrix is a new performance, step-based, multi-effects processor with a really innovative interface and a pretty impressive sound.

For those of you who like the look of this plug-in and want to take it for a spin, download a fully functional demo from the Sugarbytes site, and if you would like to buy it you can find a 15% discount coupon in the play pack available for download at the end of this tutorial.

Continue Reading

In many ways, a film’s soundtrack is every bit as important as the actors, dialog and everything else that go into making a movie. Imagine if, instead of “Stayin’ Alive,” John Travolta strutted through the opening sequence of Saturday Night Fever to the sounds of “Anarchy In the UK.” OK, bad example, because that would have been pretty awesome also, but still, totally different movie if that happens. Here is a look at 25 of the greatest film soundtracks of all time.

Continue Reading

Those of you who are using Twitter can get updates about new AUDIOTUTS tutorials and freebies as soon as they’re published. All you need to do is follow twitter.com/AUDIOTUTS!

Joel will also be periodically posting useful links, hints and updates for AUDIOTUTS readers. Why not follow PSDTUTS, NETTUTS or VECTORTUTS while you’re at it?

The wobble bass, used frequently in the Dubstep genre, is a sound that well, wobbles! It consists of a low pass filter with a LFO assigned to the cut off. That may sound extremely complicated, but in actual fact it’s quite easy to do and master. You can find examples of this technique used in Benga’s “Drums West.”

Continue Reading

Following my tutorials on creating a house drum track and making electronic basslines, we now come to the next stage of producing our virtual track, adding a pad and strings.

Although pads are usually subtle sounds, they can be all-important when you need to add atmosphere to a track. Even though these sounds may only amount to a backdrop, it’s well worth investing some time into creating them.

Continue Reading

Everybody knows the path to rock glory is not an easy one. It takes talent (sometimes), years of hard work, determination, and more than a little bit of luck. But for some, there was even more to it than that. Some stars had to overcome years of poverty in addition to everything else. Here are just a few of them.

Continue Reading

When I teach recording classes my favorite lesson is this critical listening exercise. It’s fun and light, and practicing it helps us all improve our mixes. First, let’s look at what makes a great mix, then we’ll jump into the exercise.

Continue Reading