If you want to continue to learn more and more about the craft of recording and producing music, magazines are a great place to start. Between gear reviews, tips and interviews with top producers in the music business, there’s almost always something you can find to expand your skills and understanding.
Here are three top publications about recording, mixing and mastering you should check out.
Tape Op
Tape Op magazine just recently hit its 100th issue and featured a primer on British recording legend Joe Meek and a killer article on the future of the production industry technology. (Hint: think Minority Report meets a virtual reality studio.)
A new issue is put out every two months and usually has a nice variety of content: gear reviews, artist interviews, recording tips… If that doesn’t pique your interest how about the fact that subscriptions are FREE. Seriously, if you live in the US they will mail a print edition at no cost. How can you pass that up?
Sound On Sound
Sound On Sound consistently publishes some of the most in-depth gear reviews you can find. In addition to that, they’ve got a ton of great content on mixing and mastering tips as well as recording techniques. A recurring gem is their “Inside Track” series that gives you an in-depth interview from the producer of a hit song about how he recording and mixed the track. It’s the next best thing to being a fly on the wall in one of the world’s top studios.
New editions come out monthly and subscriptions cost between $36 and $85 depending on how you want your content delivered (print, web, tablet or combinations thereof.) While it’s a bit pricier you certainly get your money’s worth.
Electronic Musician
Published monthly, Electronic Musician is geared toward indie artists. With accessible articles on recording techniques and artist interviews, it’s easy to find something practical that will enhance your studio chops. You can also get a print + digital subscription for under $30.
The recording industry isn’t rapidly changing. It’s in warp speed. Technology has launched us into an era where production, promotion and distribution can be done with a laptop. The only certainty right now is that it will continue to transform as technology allows. One of the best ways to keep up with the pace is reading magazines like the ones recommended above. The tips and knowledge you’ll gain will be invaluable.
Make Pro Songs
There are 8 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. 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’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. 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio 1:1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us to answer all your questions and receive unlimited advanced mixing feedback directly from us.
- Unlimited direct access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve your mixes and masters.
- Unlimited advanced mixing feedback with detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Fast communication to answer all your questions and get tailored guidance that’s specific to your needs.
3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited mixing feedback so you can improve your mixes quickly.
- This is highly valuable - giving you access to a thriving community of mixing engineers who can provide feedback about what you can improve before sending your mix to be professionally mastered.
4. 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.
5. Mixing and Mastering Competitions
- Compete in Mixing Competitions and Mastering Competitions to win prizes and connect with friends and colleagues.
- This is a great collaborative way to improve your skills alongside both aspiring engineers and seasoned industry professionals.
6. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
7. 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.
8. 700+ Video Catalog
- 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.
