I Don’t Own the Rights to this Music – Copyrights Explained

We all play other people’s songs. Whether we’re jamming on our guitar or listening to a track. We play these songs at our parties and big life events. Of course, there is no law to this private use of music. But, if you’re in a cover band or cover other’s songs by yourself in venues

The Best Soundproof Curtains for Your Home Studio or Practice Room

Whether it’s because you like to jam a little too loud for your neighbors’ taste or whether you want to keep noise out to record, soundproof curtains may be a viable option. But if you’ve been shopping around, you may have noticed that there are different types and you may have seen that they aren’t

How to Master a Song From Home

We always hear about the vital “mixing and mastering” step in the final stages of completing our mix. However important it may seem, it often gets misunderstood in what it entails, and how we know when we’ve achieved a mastered mix. As you read on, we’ll uncover some common misconceptions, as well as what you

Best Equalizer Settings – Setting Equalizer For Best Sound

The process of applying equalization to a mix is an art form. It’s something that eludes many beginners, and up-and-coming producers alike, as we chase the perfect sound. However, would it surprise you that something so important can also be something glossed over in the overall process? As you read on, we’ll cover the importance

How to Set Up a Bedroom Home Recording Studio

Are you ready to take your music production to the next level? Perhaps, you’ve started out with a simple laptop and a DAW, and are looking to enhance your space. Maybe you’re new to music production and aren’t sure where to begin. Either way, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll delve into the essentials

How to Use Beat Making Software

The idea of beat-making excites you, but for many of us, learning something new can be intimidating. Getting started with beat-making software doesn’t have to be. In fact, it can be a very rewarding artistic outlet that you can pour hours into, and not feel a shred of regret. Let’s dive in! What is Beat-Making?

The 12 Best Electric Violin

So you’re in the market for an electric violin. We at Beginner Guitar looked into the best electric violins for you. While this may not seem like the best place to get that kind of info, we love stringed instruments. Many of us play more stringed instruments than just the guitar. And just like an

10 Best Beat Making Piano For Producers

Who doesn’t enjoy the piano? Without the piano, we wouldn’t have many of the various MIDI devices and controllers you see today. It’s become a staple in most music studios, and a huge part of the workflow of many modern music producers and beat-makers. Let’s get to know a little more about them! What is

How to Write a Music Review Like a Pro

Maybe you’re a budding journalist who wants to cover some upcoming indie concerts. Or an influencer who wants to share your favorite old-school reggae album with your followers. Or maybe you’re just a diehard music fan with a lot to say about the latest Spotify releases. Point is, you want to learn how to write

What is MIDI and How to Use It

If you’ve been into making your own music, you may have come across something called MIDI. This game-changer has been around since the 80s (it was invented in 1983). Trust me, if you’re someone manually making electronic music by drawing in triggers, MIDI is going to make you a happy person. I studied music production

How to EQ Vocals – 11 Tips to Get You Started

So you’ve just dropped a bunch of clean bars, recorded them using your best gear, and you’re ready to put the whole track together. But there’s something wrong: Your vocal tracks don’t seem to fit as well as you’d expect. It’s like, they’re in there, but they feel kind of separate from the rest of

What is a Pop Filter and Why Do I Need One?

So, you’ve got yourself a nice microphone, and you’re ready to get started recording at home. Problem is, you’re hearing a lot of weird P and B sounds in all of your recordings. Did you get a bung mic? Is it something to do with your audio interface? Or, maybe, there’s something wrong with the

The Best MIDI Controller – 10 Top Choices

Putting together a home studio is no small feat. There’s a lot of gear to choose; from studio monitors to microphones to acoustic treatment, right down the engineer’s chair. In the modern production studio, one of the most important pieces of the puzzle is the MIDI controller. These handy little devices open up a world

What is Vocal Compression and How do I use it? 

Mic placement, vocal technique, and acoustic treatment are only part of the recipe for creating a modern, professional vocal sound. Though the general goal is to capture the best take during recording (and not to ‘fix it in the mix’), it is true that most sound engineers actually apply a significant amount of post-processing to

How to Make Electronic Music in 12 Steps

Whether you’re dreaming of being the big EDM producer, or just want to know a few basics on producing electronic music on the weekend, there’s a pretty steep learning curve involved. Don’t let that scare you off, though. All we’re saying is that you need a capable guide to take you by the hand and

Behringer UMC1820 Audio Interface Review 

It’s time to build the home studio. Great. Right after we choose our home studio laptop, the next step is going for an audio interface. Enter the Behringer UMC1820 Audio Interface, a different kind of beast. In short, this is an affordable and well-built 8-input model. If you’re looking for an audio interface with plenty

Best Cheap Audio Interface (and How It can Still Sound Incredible) 

So it’s come time to buy a cheap audio interface. Whether you’re looking for your first ever interface, or you’ve been down this path a hundred times and find yourself needing a new audio box for whatever reason, there are countless options available. The latter is the situation I found myself in recently, and I’m

Best Synthesizer

Musicians have always needed to infuse various sounds in their compositions. With the limited number of traditional musical instruments available, some of the creative sounds needed cannot be obtained even with metal pedals, which is why many musicians rely on the creativity that technology offers in synthesizers. Getting a synthesizer opens up another universe of

Best Field Recorder for Musicians

Musicians are a breed that thrives on inspiration, and being able to get down this muse is vital in being successful as a musician. Having a field recorder is therefore essential for a musician. Recording sessions, rock concerts, and rehearsals are parts of those moments when having a quality recorder can be invaluable. However, a

Best Recording Laptop for Your Home Studio

If you’re here, I understand you’re building yourself a home studio, and now you’re in need of some guidance to get the perfect recording laptop you can use to produce music. Such a laptop, I imagine, should be within your monetary reach. It must give you the best specs it can for the money so

How to Record in GarageBand

That riff you just wrote sounds awesome! Oh, man, those melodies! So tasteful. But, honestly, how is the world going to know how talented you are if you don’t have the ability to show as many people as possible? Luckily for all of us, there’s a super easy way to show off your skills by

Best VST Plugins for Guitar

VST Plugins are the studio world equivalent of guitar effects pedals. If you’ve set up your own home studio or you’ve spent any time recording in a professional studio, the recorded material can be processed in two ways, hardware or digital. Hardware processing takes the form of the commonly seen rack mounted units in high

15 Of The Best VST Plugins

At BeginnerGuitarHQ, we aim to help you learn to become a great guitarist. When recording and producing your own music, you’re pretty likely to encounter VST (Virtual Studio Technology) both in terms of creating instrumental sounds and timbres, as well as applying effects and manipulation to real, recorded instruments. In this important guide, I’ll talk

The Best Audio Mixer

In this buyer’s guide we dig deep into how to choose the best audio mixer. There are basically 3 kinds of mixers suited for different professions, all of which I took into consideration for my list: Recording studios (music, TV, film, broadcasting, etc); Live musical shows; DJ. We’re also covering the basics of consoles. Think

The Best Music Making Software

Once you have your basic home studio setup ready to go, the big decision is in the DAW that you choose. DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation which is a piece of music making software that is central to all your studio needs. All home studios and professional studios are built around a DAW. The

How to Set Up a Home Studio

So, you’re about to get started in the world of recording? It’s true, there are a lot of things to consider to get your home studio up and running. Budget is of course a big factor as well as space and your needs. When planning out a studio build, no matter how big or small,

Best Studio Monitors that are Budget Friendly

Studio monitors are often overlooked as a crucial component of any studio. The monitors allow the producer or mixer to listen back to the recorded content and make decisions based on what they hear. A good set of monitors will translate the recorded media in its purest form and not colour the sound in anyway.

The Best Audio Interface

Audio interfaces are amazing inventions, they allow users to plug in microphones and instruments and record to one of the many digital audio workstation software packages available. Perhaps the idea of you recording some tracks that you’re written, or putting out some music with your band is quite scary because studios are quite expensive right?

Ultimate Guide on How to Record Acoustic Guitar

The acoustic guitar is a beautiful instrument to record. Whether you’re playing with nylon strings for the warmer, mellow feel, or with steel strings for the brighter, crisp sound and volume, you can’t go wrong! The raw, organic nature of the instrument attracts all musicians alike. It’s important, however, that while many of us share

A Guitarist’s Guide to Jam Sessions

Jam sessions are one of the best ways to improve your skills as a guitarist and have a great time playing with other musicians. However, the prospect of a jam session can feel imposing to many players. From calling tunes to comping over other players’ songs and improvising solos, jam sessions are complex endeavors. Beginners