Here’s a straightforward mixing tip: monitor your music at a low level. This may seem counterintuitive, as many producers tend to want to crank up their mix to really feel the music, but it works.
Mixing at a low level is something that many successful engineers prefer for two reasons:
More Accuracy
Listening at really loud levels tends to make the bass sound more prominent than it really may be. Turning it down helps you to get above the mix and better hear how the equalization is really affecting things.
Likewise it’s harder to detect compression and other dynamics processing when your mix is very loud. When you’re tweaking these things you can get a much clearer picture of how they’re affecting your mix at a lower volume.
It’s always good to crank up your music periodically while mixing just to get a feel for where things are at different levels, but many producers have found that they hear the EQ and compression most accurately in the mix at a low level.
Less Burnout
If you’ve ever stayed up all night mixing–tweaking a track for hours on end–you may know that when you went back to listen to your work the next day it sounded really different… and usually not in a good way. That’s because your ears burned out after a few hours.
Even the most seasoned engineers know that their ears and brain only can last for so long in the studio before it becomes counter productive. This is called listener’s fatigue. The best way to help your ears stay sharp longer is to keep the volume at a moderate level and take a break at least every couple of hours.
Your ability to distinguish the details of your mix deteriorate as you stay in the studio longer. Keeping your ears fresh is crucial to getting a great sounding mix and master.
Next time you sit down to mix or master, try monitoring at lower levels and see if you can appreciate what many professional engineers and producers have already discovered in having more accuracy and stamina.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
- 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.
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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.
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