Resources

There are a lot of resources out there on creating, recording, producing, and sharing music. Here are the ones I've found most helpful. Updated somewhat regularly.

Jump to: Tools | Blogs | Podcasts | Books & Stuff

Tools

Chord Transposer

Pick a key and see the guitar chord shapes transposed to different positions based on capo position.

Blogs

Ableton Blog

I'm not a heavy Ableton Live user, but their blog is a good source of inspiration and techniques which can largely be brought into other DAWs and production workflows.

Reverb News

Lots of gear news, but plenty of cool historical posts, technique overviews, and industry news, too.

Splice Blog

Plenty of Splice- and sample-specific posts, but some good technique posts on production, songwriting, etc.

Gear News

Exactly what it sounds like. Very frequent updates, a great way to keep up on what gear is coming out.

Podcasts

The Working Songwriter

Joe Pug's truly excellent look at the life and work that goes into being an active songwriter.

Song Exploder

Hrishikesh Hirway's awesome podcast that breaks apart how songs are built.

Hanging Out With Audiophiles

Jamie Lidell's podcast about making sound. Wonderfully in-depth.

Switched on Pop

Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding's fantastic podcast on the making and meaning behind popular music.

Strong Songs

Kirk Hamilton's in-depth notes on what makes a good song a good song.

Tape Notes

John Kennedy's deep dives with artists about making their albums.

Tape Op Podcast

A mix of interviews and chats from the Tape Op team.

Books & Stuff

Tape Op

Larry Crane

The greatest free magazine ever. Subscribe now.

How Music Works

David Byrne

An essential manual from one of the very best in the history of music.

How to Write One Song

Jeff Tweedy

I love this book. Demystifying the songwriting process.