Every once in a while, we like to expand the scope of the Sage Audio mastering blog to focus on sound in movies and television shows. Though it tends to fall outside the focus of our online mastering service, much of the sound on screen is produced in a similar way as music, and can give us as recording and mastering engineers a welcome additional perspective from another industry.
However, when looking at the music in the new Matt Damon film “Elysium,” we get a look at how independent musicians can find success working on a big budget film, much the same way indie musicians often move to major labels before finding widespread success. And the story is nearly unbelievable.
Wired tells the tale of Ryan Amon, who was living in Bolivia working on film scores when he got an unsolicited email that said only, “Is this you?” and was accompanied by a YouTube clip. It turns out the clip was in fact the work of Amon, and the email was sent from Neill Blomkamp, director of “District 9.” The director was looking for a musician to score his upcoming film which became “Elysium.”
In fact, Amon thought the email was sent from one of his composer friends they apparently are in the habit of pranking each other but he says he replied to the email “just in case.”
Because of being searched out by Blomkamp, Amon went from relative obscurity to recording the score of a big-budget film in Abbey Road Studios, though the process wasn’t necessarily straightforward. Amon was instructed to begin the score for the film without seeing any footage, instead being given a brief summary of the plot of the film, and being instructed to create scores for ideas including “darkness,” “spiritual” and “light.”
Amon was encouraged to use nontraditional instruments and sounds sources for the score, and ended up using baboon noises, mosquitoes hum and Tuva throat singing. All of which sounds like a liberating experience to create the sounds for a sci-fi thriller. Of course, he also got to go into the aforementioned Abbey Road Studios to record the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
“I remember walking into the studio thinking, ‘What am I doing here? Why did they let me in the door?’” Amon said, which I think nearly anyone that knows the history of the famed studio would think upon entering. He recorded in Studio One, which he took to calling the “‘Star Wars’ room,” because of its huge sound and the epic scores that have been recorded there.
Though these type of discovery stories are not common in the film score industry or any audio industry, for that matter it is refreshing to see relative unknowns being brought to the main stage, particularly when part of their appeal is using nontraditional methods to get the sounds needed.
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.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
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 >
