There’s never been a time more favorable for do-it-yourself producers and musicians. New technological advancements of the past decade have given the industry better sounding recording gear at more affordable prices.
Because of this, it can be easy to become caught up in buying more and more gear for your studio in search for a better mix.
It’s important to remember, however, that a great album often has more to do with imagination and how it was recording than what it was recorded on. You can’t of course forget about marketing – from news and radio appearances, to buying a million YouTube views , to local concerts and mentions.
For proof, here are two albums that were recorded almost entirely with a $100 Shure SM57 dynamic cardioid microphone.
Bon Iver, "For Emma, Forever Ago"
Armed with just an Mbox and a limited “M-Powered” version of Pro Tools, Justin Vernon spent a winter in his family’s hunting cabin in the woods of Wisconsin tracking and layering guitars, vocals and horns with his SM57.
The resultant work, For Emma, Forever Ago , quickly gained viral notoriety and became an iconic indie album, launching Bon Iver's career. Among it’s praises, the album most commonly has been lauded for it’s aesthetic, organic sound–something many believe came from his use of just one SM57.
Sufjan Stevens, "Greetings from Michigan"
With very little recording knowledge and no professional studio space Sufjan Stevens produced his breakout album,Greetings from Michigan , using two SM57s and a Roland VS-880 Digital Studio Workstation.
He tracked guitars, woodwinds, drums, banjo, horns and vocals with the SM57s using only the preamp on board the VS-880. Even more, he set the workstation to record at 32 kHz (as opposed to Redbook standard 44.1 kHz) in order to save space on the internal hard drive, not knowing he was losing quality.
Stevens mixed Michigan on a pair of AKG headphones and had it mastered professionally by Alan Douches, who ran the mix through a Pendulum 6386 Tube Limiter/Compressor. The result was an indie album that is still revered 10 years after its release.
Both Stevens’ and Vernon’s albums are refreshing reminders that you don't always need expensive gear to produce a nice-sounding mix. With that right blend of performance, creativity and solid mastering, a great album can be made on the simplest of recording rigs.
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 >
