The third Yule Lad to come down from the mountains is Stúfur.

The English translation of his name is Stubby and he is "Abnormally short. Steals pans to eat the crust left on them."

The gift he gives you is this:

Be familiar with the strength and weaknesses of your microphones. Know which ones you use for each situation. Small condensers works wonder on acoustic instruments. Large condensers work great on most things but they shine on vocals. Dynamic microphones can take the power of a loud guitar amplifier or a screaming vocal. Ribbons are delicate and smooth and work nicely for everything from guitar cabs to old-school style vocals. Not only do the types of microphones matter but their polar patterns as well. Use the cardioid pattern when you need to minimize your room sound. Play with the figure-8 pattern when recording an ensemble or dual vocals. Use an omni to capture everything in the room. In addition, comparing your microphones is crucial to understanding the differences between them. This helps you make faster and better decisions once you know the characteristics of each mic in your arsenal. Use the correct mic for the job, but take the time to understand why it is the correct one.

Man, microphones are important to Stubby eh!

Microphones are great for capturing that perfect performance and knowing how to use them is invaluable.

But in the end, they are only tools.

Tools that you absolutely need, but tools nonetheless.

That means that they have really no impact on the quality of the production. They're just there to capture it, whether it's an amazing song performed by stellar musicians and produced by a genius producer or an out-of-tune acoustic demo produced by one of these Yule Lads (trust me, they're terrible musicians...).

Relaunching Music Production Strategies - Complete With New Christmas Content

I want you to be in the former category, which is why I've opened up my Music Production Strategies course, complete with brand-new content.

In addition to the 12 analysis reports, graphics and song highlight videos that give you tips and tricks to spice up your songs to create more interesting productions that actually keep the listener engaged, I've also added a 30-Part Music Production Checklist, where you'll learn:

• What you should keep in mind during the songwriting and arrangement phase to save time before you start recording.
• How to be prepared for the recording session so you get the most out of it, whether you're recording for yourself or at a commercial studio.
• A 10-part process of getting what you envision into your mix, even if you don't really know how to mix.

PLUS: I've added a free bonus in time for Christmas, a broad overview of all the arrangement decisions and production aspects of the Long Wait's two Christmas songs, "Santa" and "Christmas Carousel." This holiday production video will be available as a part of Music Production Strategies until the 24th of December, at which point I'll be stowing them away for another time.

Proceeds go to Southern Arizona Community Food Bank. 

10% of the proceeds from all Audio Issues products until Christmas will go to the Southern Arizona Community Food Bank to help those in need.

So if you need ideas and insights into making your songs more interesting, learn from some of the most popular productions throughout the years inside Music Production Strategies:

www.MusicProductionStrategies.com