Techniques - The Home Recording Studio

15Jul 2026 by Jon Chapman

70s Soul Samples to Chop and Flip

Blog, Composing, Home Recording Blogs, Logic Pro, Sampling, Sound Design, Techniques

Honey - Vintage Soul Sessions is a 60s and 70s soul-inspired sample pack designed for hip-hop, boom bap, lo-fi, neo-soul and sample-based production. It features warm keys, dusty vocals, guitars, bass, strings, tape texture and musical loops made to be chopped, flipped, resampled or built into full tracks. In this Honey - Vintage Soul Sessions walkthrough, I take you inside my latest Tangerine Sounds sample pack and show what’s included, how the files are organised, and how you can use the loops, stems and processed versions in your own beats. Watch the Honey - Vintage Soul Sessions Walkthrough In the new walkthrough video, I go through the pack in Logic and show the different types of files included in Honey - Vintage Soul Sessions. The premium version includes 10 original…

22Jun 2026 by Jon Chapman

The 70s Soul Sample Behind Q-Tip’s Strangest Loop

Blog, Home Recording Blogs, Logic Pro, Sampling, Techniques

Minnie Riperton’s “Inside My Love” is one of those records that seems to live several lives at once. On the surface, it’s a beautiful 1975 soul track from her album Adventures in Paradise. But for hip-hop producers, it became something else entirely: a source of texture, warmth, atmosphere and musical fragments that could be flipped into something new. Over the years, “Inside My Love” has been sampled by artists including A Tribe Called Quest, 2Pac, Slum Village, J Dilla, Busta Rhymes, Madlib and J. Cole. It was also featured in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, helping introduce the track to another generation of listeners. But one of the most interesting uses of the sample is A Tribe Called Quest’s “Lyrics to Go”, produced by Q-Tip for their 1993 album Midnight Marauders.…

06Apr 2026 by Jon Chapman

How to Sound Like Peaky Blinders: Writing Dark Folk Tension Music

Blog, Composing, Home Recording Blogs, Recording & Mixing, Techniques

The music in Peaky Blinders has become just as iconic as the characters and storytelling. From gritty folk textures to dark cinematic tension, the soundtrack plays a huge role in shaping the atmosphere of the series. With the release of The Immortal Man, interest in this style is higher than ever — especially among composers writing for sync libraries, film, and TV. In this guide, I’ll break down how to create a Peaky Blinders-style track, focusing on the key elements that define this sound — and the one ingredient that makes the biggest difference. Watch the video here:- https://youtu.be/VsnuIAZ4qPU What Defines the Peaky Blinders Sound? At its core, the Peaky Blinders sound blends: Dark, minimal harmonic movementFolk-inspired instrumentationGritty, organic texturesSlow-building tension It’s not about big orchestral arrangements — it’s about…

20Jan 2026 by Jon Chapman

How Long Does Podcast Editing Really Take?

Blog, Home Recording Blogs, Podcast, Recording & Mixing, Techniques

Recording a podcast episode is usually the easy part. Editing is where most creators underestimate the time involved — and where entire evenings quietly disappear. If you’ve ever finished recording and thought, “I’ll just tidy this up quickly”, only to still be editing hours later, you’re not alone. So how long does podcast editing really take? — and when does it make sense to outsource it? How long does podcast editing actually take? As a rough rule of thumb: Audio-only podcastsEditing typically takes 2–4× the length of the episode Video podcastsEditing often takes 4–8× the length of the episode (sometimes more) In real terms, that means: A 45-minute audio episode → 1.5 to 3 hours of editing A 60-minute video podcast → 4 to 8+ hours, especially if clips are…

22Sep 2025 by Jon Chapman

How to Create Your Own Virtual Instrument with Decent Sampler (Step-by-Step Guide)

Blog, Foley, Home Recording Blogs, Recording, Sampling, Sound Design, Techniques, Virtual Instruments

Are you interested in making your own virtual instruments for music production? In this post, I’ll walk you through exactly how I created my latest instrument — Cat Toy Drums for Decent Sampler. I’ll share the full process from concept and recording, to sound design, scripting, GUI design, and beta testing. By the end, you’ll have a clear roadmap to start building your own instrument with Decent Sampler. And if you watch the video I’ll also share a special promo code to save 30% on my Cat Toy Drums virtual instrument. https://youtu.be/3gjkWspZfIE Step 1: Start with an Idea Every instrument begins with a concept. Mine came from a quirky inspiration: creating drum samples out of cat toys. I was originally inspired by Lofi Sounds, who built a sample pack from…

03Jul 2025 by Jon Chapman

Convolution Reverb: Create Your Own Impulse Responses

Blog, Home Recording Blogs, Mixing, Sound Design, Sound Effects, Techniques

Looking to capture the sound of your favourite hardware reverb and use it digitally? In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to create your own convolution reverb impulse responses (IRs) using free tools — perfect for bringing analog effects like spring reverbs into your DAW workflow with zero hassle. I recently faced this exact challenge. I wanted to use my Behringer 636 analog spring reverb in a more seamless way inside my digital setup. Routing audio in and out of a DAW every time? That gets tedious. That's where Convolution Reverb comes in. https://youtu.be/OJE0Iyht_Bg 🎛️ What Is Convolution Reverb? Convolution reverb is a powerful technique that uses a sample of a real acoustic space or hardware unit — called an Impulse Response (IR) — to recreate that reverb digitally.…

25Apr 2025 by Jon Chapman

Analogue vs Digital Guitar Effects: Which One Wins?

Blog, Home Recording Blogs, Mixing, Recording, Recording & Mixing, Sampling, Sound Design, Sound Effects, Techniques

It’s an age-old debate that continues to divide musicians and producers: analogue vs digital guitar effects. Does analogue truly deliver a warmth and character that digital can’t replicate? Or have digital effects come so far that their convenience, flexibility, and quality make them the obvious choice? https://youtu.be/vKmwvrjAGqY While working on my latest sample pack, Vintage Vibe Guitar Loops, I wanted to put this question to the test. So, I processed the loops with some classic vintage gear: the Behringer 636 Spring Reverb and an Akai X360D Reel-to-Reel tape recorder—the latter used as a tape delay. How I Used Analogue FX in My Workflow To create the tape delay effect, I routed audio from my DAW through a hardware mixing desk into the Akai tape machine. By putting the tape recorder…

25Apr 2025 by Jon Chapman

Creative Sampling Techniques Using Momentum

Blog, Composing, Home Recording Blogs, Sampling, Sound Design, Sound Effects, Techniques

If you're into sampling and looking to spice up your sound design, this post is for you. Today, I’m diving into some creative sampling techniques using a completely free plugin that could seriously enhance your music production workflow. https://youtu.be/hWMtTHFirJE Let me introduce you to Momentum by Big Fish Audio — a powerful, intuitive tool for sample playback and manipulation that won’t cost you a penny. Why Creative Sampling Matters When working with samples from libraries, it’s always a good idea to add your own twist. Not only does this help you avoid issues with content ID systems on platforms like YouTube, but it also ensures that your sound is unique to you. Whether you’re making beats, scoring video content, or building full tracks, personalizing your samples adds that extra layer…

25Apr 2025 by Jon Chapman

Recording Acoustic Guitar – Which Mic is Best?

Blog, Home Recording Blogs, Microphones, Mixing, Recording, Recording & Mixing, Techniques

In this video I test out 4 microphones for recording acoustic guitar in your home studio. All mics are budget friendly, with the cheapest just $200 and the most expensive $650. Listen and decide which one you prefer from the Shure SM7B, GAP R1 MkII Active Ribbon Mic, AKG C451 B, and the Rode NT2 https://youtu.be/rOcj9Ds7ZnQ I've been recording a lot of Acoustic Guitar lately and its something I think lots of people struggle with in home studios. Our environment can sometimes be challenging and most of us don't want to spend a fortune on microphones. Therefore, I only wanted to test budget friendly mics. It's very tempting to just give in and buy a new microphone. However, I wanted to try out my existing mics first and see if…

05Dec 2024 by Jon Chapman

FREE Plugin: Vocal Menace

Blog, Home Recording Blogs, Mixing, Recording, Recording & Mixing, Sound Effects, Techniques

When it comes to music production, achieving the perfect vocal sound can often feel like chasing a moving target. We stack EQs, compressors, saturators, and other plugins, tweaking endlessly in pursuit of "that" sound. Enter Vocal Menace by Chris Liepe—a game-changing, all-in-one vocal processing plugin that simplifies the process without compromising on quality. And the best part? It’s completely FREE! So read on to find out more about this FREE Plugin: Vocal Menace. What is Vocal Menace? Created by Chris Liepe, a seasoned musician and vocal coach, Vocal Menace is designed to help producers and vocalists quickly dial in an expressive, high-impact vocal tone. Whether you’re working on lead vocals, harmonies, or even spoken-word content, this plugin provides an intuitive interface and powerful controls to take your vocal tracks to…

Category: Techniques