When the majority of musicians write and record their own music, there seems to be the idea that the more instruments and parts added to the song the better the final product will be. Multiple tracks that are created of the same instrument may give it a bigger sound, but in actuality it is simply making the instrument seem bigger by only increasing the volume. The more duplicated tracks that are in a song causes excess clutter and causes the sounds to fight against each other. Ideally, the ultimate goal is to have each track working together in their own space of the sound spectrum. The key to getting a radio quality sounding mix is clarity, and before a song is submitted for cd mastering, the first step could be simply eliminating unneeded tracks.
Stacking multiple tracks of guitars, for example, is not necessary. If two guitar tracks have different, crisp, solid tones, the end result is much more pleasing to the ear and a full, rich sound can easily be achieved in the mixing process. The less amount of effects and processing on the song in mixing, the better. This is what makes the recording process of a song crucial. While recording tracks, experiment with ways to get the best possible tones out of each instrument. Different microphone locations, various tones of guitars, and even upgrading equipment is always a great start. One of the biggest mistakes made is thinking that decent tones can be transformed into amazing tones through the mixing and audio mastering stages. True, these processes do greatly enhance the sound, but without a solid foundation of great tones from recording, your song cannot reach its full potential.
A great way to begin creating a professional sounding song is to think about what should stand out in the song to really catch and hold the listeners attention. The majority of songs always focus on the vocal hook of course, but the instrumental parts can really stand out if they are not fighting against each other. You rarely hear a lead guitar part playing at the same time as lead vocals because the listener cannot decide which part to focus on. The same idea can be applied to guitars, pianos, synths, and drums, that are fighting for the listener's attention. If a guitar and piano are playing simultaneously in the same register it could become a bit muddy. By simply changing the octave of one of them allows them to move to a different frequency range and add much needed clarity for each instrument to be heard. Another aspect of a song that often gets overlooked is the dynamics of it. By adding build ups, releases, and climaxes in a song it makes the song much more interesting and pleasing to the ear than listening to 3 minutes of repetition. By keeping a song simpler and thinking about a few fundamentals of song building, a song can be transformed from mediocre to radio quality in just a few easy steps.
Make Pro Songs
There are 8 unique value-points inside the Sage Audio membership, so let’s go over each one so you can decide if it’s the right fit for you.
1. 50 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
- You’ll get your own dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer to create custom masters that are specific to you and sound exactly how you want.
- Unlimited revisions with your dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
- All masters are delivered as commercial, industry-standard high-resolution 24-bit HD WAV masters so they will sound clean and clear on every platform.
2. 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio 1:1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us to answer all your questions and receive unlimited advanced mixing feedback directly from us.
- Unlimited direct access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve your mixes and masters.
- Unlimited advanced mixing feedback with detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Fast communication to answer all your questions and get tailored guidance that’s specific to your needs.
3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited mixing feedback so you can improve your mixes quickly.
- This is highly valuable - giving you access to a thriving community of mixing engineers who can provide feedback about what you can improve before sending your mix to be professionally mastered.
4. Sage Audio University™ (SAU) — (Mixing and Mastering Education Platform)
- SAU is a modern audio engineering education platform that includes in-depth mixing and mastering course curriculums that match the new music industry.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from first-time mixing engineers to advanced engineers. The techniques and concepts taught can be applied to any DAW to create industry-leading mixes without expensive software or plugins - and free plugin alternatives are suggested throughout every course curriculum.
- SAU course curriculums include Start-to-Finish session walkthrough lessons for multiple genres so you can follow along with your preferred genre.
- SAU Certification Document, which can be downloaded and showcased on your website, social channels, and portfolio for as long as you remain a member.
- Get first access to all future SAU course curriculums to continually build and refine your mixing and mastering skills as the industry evolves.
5. Mixing and Mastering Competitions
- Compete in Mixing Competitions and Mastering Competitions to win prizes and connect with friends and colleagues.
- This is a great collaborative way to improve your skills alongside both aspiring engineers and seasoned industry professionals.
6. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
7. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content, Including:
- 36 multitrack sessions spanning multiple genres for mixing practice.
- 57 un-mastered mixes spanning multiple genres for mastering practice.
- 62 Recommended Free Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 39 Recommended Paid Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 58 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.
8. 700+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into playlists so you can take a deep dive into all aspects of audio engineering with thousands of hours of concise, expertly crafted Sage Audio videos to continually improve your mixing and mastering skills at your own pace.
