As you’ve been learning about mixing and mastering, there’s a good chance you’ve come across the term “summing.” We’d like to give a short overview of what summing is and how it affects your mix.
When you’re mixing multiple tracks, everything will eventually be mixed down into a two-channel stereo main mix that it can be exported. That process of combining multiple tracks into a main mix is called summing.
Different Approaches to Summing
Most likely you’re doing your summing already in your digital audio workstation (DAW) like Pro Tools or Logic. All of your tracks are eventually running to your main two channel output. In this scenario, your software is digitally summing the tracks together.
While this is completely normal and probably the most common way to sum tracks together, there are some producers who believe that digital summing does a poor job of actually blending the tracks together.
The alternative to digital summing is analog summing. If you’re working in your DAW, you would need a piece of analog hardware, like the Dangerous D-Box. You would connect your interface’s analog outputs to the analog summing box and then return two summed channels back into your interface from the analog box.
Analog vs. Digital: Which Is Better?
The difference in analog summing and digital summing is like the normal debate. Analog summing is said to make a warmer, well-rounded sound. Digital summing has been described by some as harsh and cold. However, it’s important to note that there are great records being produced both ways right now.
If you can afford it, looking into an analog summing box might add some warmth to your mix, but there’s still a great sound to be found in digital summing. What’s important is to take the time to get your mix right, and that often doing a lot of trial and error.
One of the best ways to get a good summing of your tracks to a stereo mix is to listen to mixes that you like and compare and contrast them to your own. By studying great sounding mixes–how they were summed and mastered–you’ll hone your ear and become better at producing a great stereo mix.
Make Pro Songs
There are 6 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. 20 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 20 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. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited mixing feedback so you can quickly improve your mixes fast.
- This is highly valuable - giving you access to a thriving community of mixing engineers who can provide you with feedback about what you can improve first before sending your mix to be professionally mastered.
3. 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.
4. Sage Audio Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers that can provide you with real-world mixing feedback, discussions, mix competitions, networking, collaborations, and more.
5. 700+ In-depth Sage Audio Mixing and Mastering Videos
- 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.
6. 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.