![Whoa look! TheWhippinpost gets all Web 2.0 on yo ass!](/themes/gargoyles/global/imgs/bg_mission.jpg)
Embellish sounds - Produce music.
Digital Audio Computer Music-Making and MIDI XG
Now more than 10 years old!
This site was originally for users of the good 'ole General MIDI (GM) and Yamaha's superior XG MIDI standard; specifically, the SYXG-50 and SYXG100 softsynths, now discontinued.
Now it's also for musicians using the computer for making music in the digital audio realm too.
But that's not to say TheWhippinipost is abandoning you GM and XG MIDI users. You can still find the comprehensive MIDI XG guide on how to interpret and use XG's specialised commandset to tap into its hidden power.
Mixing music is another area now covered with lots of articles, interviews and tutorials including the popular 10 essential mixing tips.
There's also an overview (plus many reviews) of popular computer music products, including keyboards and midi and recording equipment.
Oh the list just goes on including the ever-popular online music calculators plus a growing bank of online video tutorials for musicians - just get stuck in and discover, learn, tell your friends and enjoy!
Reason 3 can be operated externally by knob-fiddling a real hardware controller instead of tiny mouse movements! Here are some of the best ones that work great with Reason 3 along with some tips and tricks.
![](http://www.thewhippinpost.co.uk/files/reasonrefill.gif)
Reason Refills are portable (that is; they can be swapped and/or downloaded) Reason settings that can contain anything from dance-synth settings to drum and orchestral samples.
![ReCycle Loop Slicer](http://www.thewhippinpost.co.uk/files/recycle-box.jpg)
Propellerhead's ReCycle allows us to slice loops with ease. So if you have a full drum-loop you can whack it into ReCycle and have it quickly slice apart each percussion instrument, then steal, polish or mangle it... or even time-stretch it!
![mixing desk console](http://www.thewhippinpost.co.uk/files/mixage.jpg)
In Part 2 we looked at how to "isolate" sounds when mixing drums so we can pick out instruments like the snare and hi-hats for EQ'ing.
In this final part of the mixing music interview series, Rick goes on to explain in more detail how he'd mix the kick drum, snare drum, hi-hat and vocals within an hip-hop track.
![mixing desk console](http://www.thewhippinpost.co.uk/files/mixage.jpg)
Here we talk about mixing drums in Cubase, covering the bass drum (kick drum), snare drum and hi-hats.
We also touch on "isolating sounds" using the Cubase EQ mixing panel to boost or cut and there's also some tips for avoiding a "muddy" mix sound production.
![Sound Engineering Dude](http://www.thewhippinpost.co.uk/files/biopic-rick.jpg)
If you listen to The Prodigy or Oasis, chances are that you've already been musically touched by our guest music-mixing sound engineer to the stars, Rick Snoman.This page is a brief profile of one of the UK's leading sound engineers.
![Mastering the mix tutorial](http://www.thewhippinpost.co.uk/files/master-mix.jpg)
So you've got your phat tune down and you've got your audio mix to perfection, but it still doesn't quite have the same sparkle and life as the commercial songs in your CD collection... it's time to master your song.
![Compression tutorial](http://www.thewhippinpost.co.uk/files/compression.jpg)
Compression is all about controlling the peaks and troughs (dynamics) that occur in your mix when, for instance, the quieter vocal moments are drowned out by the guitarist during recording and/or playback. In a nutshell, it squashes the loudest peaks and boosts the quieter troughs, meaning you can up the overall track volume to get that extra punch.
Another technique: punch the guitarist!
![Mixing it up interview mixing console](http://www.thewhippinpost.co.uk/files/../imgs/mixage.jpg)
Yes, we have the pleasure this day of an exclusive interview with Rick Snoman, sound engineer to the stars, discussing the tricky subject of mixing music and getting that right professional sounding mix.