With the accessibility of recording technology, making an album on your own has never been easier. You can even promote, sell and distribute your music online from your laptop. However, there are still principles of producing professional sounding music that shouldn't be ignored.
Here are three common mistakes that indie recording artists make:
Quantize Everything
The days of having to perform your music perfectly to make a recording are long gone. Thanks to high-quality samples and MIDI programming software, you’re just one click away from having all of your notes play perfectly in time. However, unless you’re making EDM, this can sometimes be a liability.
No matter how well an instrumentalist can play, there are nuances and imperfections in every human performance that add character. Whether consciously or not, listeners can perceive this and generally prefer it to a perfect MIDI playback. The success of bands like Mumford & Sons, who have a more organic sound, are proof that listeners still want to hear a person–not a computer–playing an instrument.
Rather than quantizing everything, try practicing a little more and give your recording the extra touch of a human performance on at least some of your virtual instrument tracks.
Too Much Processing
Indie recording artists can sometimes get a little too happy with their plugins. Whether it’s overcompressed to the point of having no dynamic life or it’s too much reverb to the point of sounding hokey, laying off the plugins a bit can sometimes be your best bet.
Take the time when you're tracking to get the sound you want. Play with mics and positioning. Do multiple takes. Go with the one that captures you. Rather than using plugins as a way to fix a track, try to think of them as being there to highlight the magic of what’s already in the recording. Remember, less is more.
Do Your Own Mastering
There’s a reason that virtually all major recording artists hire someone outside to master their records. Mastering is a complex skill and working knowledge that requires high end audio equipment, monitors, an acoustically-treated space, natural talent and a lot of experience.
Mastering puts the finishing touches on your album and can often make the difference between a bright, lively sound one that falls flat on the floor. Time and again, we get projects from clients who tried to master their own music only to eventually decide to hire us.
With all of the time and hard work you've put into recording and mixing your own music to get it to 80%, you can’t afford to not hire someone to master your record and add that final 20%.
If you record your own music, you’ll likely save yourself some time and end up with a better sounding mix by avoiding these three common mistakes. And if you do decide to hire someone to do your mastering, don’t hesitate to give us a ring!
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.
