It wasn’t all that long ago that the term “online mastering” didn’t exist, so we here at Sage Audio know as well as anyone that in this increasingly digitized world, almost everything is moving in one way or another online. But there are many things that seem like they would be immune to digitization. For example: practicing, performing and learning music.
Well, it turns out there’s an app for that, too. And it’s pretty intriguing.
Chromatik is a California startup company that is attempting to revolutionize how we play and learn music for the first time in centuries. The company publicly launched its web and iPad app in November.
“The way that we go about teaching, practicing and performing music hasn’t changed since the days of Bach and Beethoven,” said Chromatik co-founder and CEO Matt Sandler in an interview with BetaKit.com. “The problem behind that is that music is inherently social and collaborative, but the way you practice is you go into a room by yourself with a piece of paper, pencil, and instrument and we hope you come back playing beautiful music. The idea behind [Chromatik] is that we provide the tools… ranging from sheet music you read all the way through lyrics, tablature, chord changes, audio and whatever you may need to practice from.”
Essentially, the app tries to keep a student connected to other music learners and instructors during the isolated practice time, while also providing all the resources the student needs to learn the music. And though the company is young, the idea seems to be catching on.
“American Idol” served as early users and testers, and Bruno Mars has signed on as an investor – his backing band uses the app. Additionally, UCLA, the Los Angeles Unified School District and other K-12 and higher education institutions have started using the free app.
Chromatik is not the first app attempting to digitize the music learning process, but it is one of the first to place such an emphasis on collaboration, and with its high profile sponsors it is quickly becoming fairly well-known around the country. The band GroupLove also partnered with the company, and will upload sheet music and tablature to the app. The band members will occasionally even provide direct feedback to users.
I’ll tell you, when I was learning how to play the guitar, there were many times when I would’ve loved to somehow have access to my favorite bands to find out how to really play those riffs, rather than the watered-down versions my 12-year-old ear decided sounded like the real thing (it didn’t).
But the real test will be how this app will actually aid in the process of music learning, if it does. When I first read about it, the first thought I had was how great it would be for school settings, so I was glad to see that Chromatik partnered with a slew of school systems for the launch. I’ll be very interested to hear the results as they start coming in, and see if the schools stick with this method.
So, Why A Membership?
Let’s face it — trying to create professional mixes without the correct knowledge, tools, services, and network is like playing a concert with a broken instrument to an audience of no one.
That’s where the Sage Audio membership comes in — the membership gives you everything you need to create professional mixes consistently.
The membership is the secret to your success — it’s the difference between the 1,929,999,999 of poor-sounding mixes and the .00000002% of mixes that make people say 'WOW!"
There are 7 unique value-points included in your Sage Audio membership.
Let’s go over each one so you can decide if the membership is right for you.
1. Sage Audio University
- SAU Flagship Mixing Course: 23-video in-depth mixing course that reveals the little-known secrets of mixing and matches the needs of the new music industry.
- SAU Flagship Mastering Course: 19-video in-depth modern mastering course that dives into every nuance of making professional-sounding masters.
- SAU Pre-Mastering Course: Concise pre-mastering course that details the latest industry standards for preparing your mixes for mastering.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from budding 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 each course.
- Each SAU course includes 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 and social channels.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
2. Private 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio private 1-on-1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us for advanced mixing feedback, in-depth discussions, and customized guidance that's tailored to your specific needs.
- Unlimited private access to us for advanced mixing feedback, where we provide detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Unlimited private access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve every aspect of your mixes and masters.
- Customized guidance that’s tailored specifically to your needs.
- Fast communication so you can improve your skills quickly.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited professional mixing feedback directly from us so you can consistently improve your skills and create professional mixes.
- Mixing feedback is invaluable, and the Sage Audio membership gives you continual direct access to us for real-world feedback so you can improve every aspect of each of your mixes while you're in the process of mixing.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
4. 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 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 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.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
5. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with additional real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
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6. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content
- 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).
- 71 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
7. 800+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into categories so you can easily 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 skills at your own pace.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >