Welcome once again to Sage Audio’s Emerging Studio Technology blog series. This semi-regular series takes a look at the latest and greatest (and sometimes not so greatest) gadgets and technologies for studios. Some of the things we cover are designed specifically for home studio recording, while other technology may fit better in our own CD mastering studio. But most components can be of use to many engineers, producers and musicians – if it’s new and related to recording or mastering studios, you’ll find it here.
Jam with Chrome
What we have here is a web app that allows you to play pretty much any instrument either with your mouse or your computer keyboard, all from the comfort of your own browser. Want some stereo delay on your drums or chorus on your acoustic guitar, they’ve got effects for that.
To make it even more addictive, you can even invite your friends to play with you online. Now, while I’m under the impression that this is just a huge ad for Google, that doesn’t mean it’s not pretty awesome – at least for an afternoon.
Native Instruments – Session Horns
If you’re using MIDI controlled instruments in your home studio, you may be aware of Native Instruments, as they make some pretty awesome virtual instruments (including an awesome Hammond B3 sounding organ). Now they’re back with Session Horns.
As you’re probably aware, horns are pretty difficult to make sound good through MIDI controls, but a quick listen to some of the samples on the Native Instruments website reveals they seem to have come up with a pretty good virtual version.
Audiofile – Triumph
Finally, a product that is closer to our ‘mastering’ hearts. Triumph is an audio file editor that has very advanced features while remaining simple to use. Perhaps best of all, it is relatively inexpensive, with a regular price right around 80 bucks.
Triumph is trumpeted as the next step up from Audiofile’s previous editor, the appropriately named Wave Editor. Triumph’s official website has this to say about the new product special:
Triumph features a unique and patented method for editing audio called Layers. This technique which we pioneered in Wave Editor is similar to image editing, but specifically tailored for audio. The Layers method is a truly innovative way to create combinations of sounds and saves time by keeping everything live and editable until the final product.
Make Pro Songs
There are 6 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. 20 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 20 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. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited mixing feedback so you can quickly improve your mixes fast.
- This is highly valuable - giving you access to a thriving community of mixing engineers who can provide you with feedback about what you can improve first before sending your mix to be professionally mastered.
3. 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.
4. Sage Audio Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers that can provide you with real-world mixing feedback, discussions, mix competitions, networking, collaborations, and more.
5. 700+ In-depth Sage Audio Mixing and Mastering Videos
- 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.
6. 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.