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.
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 >
