Producing an EP is often one often the first step in transitioning from an amateur to a professional music artist. It can also be one of the most rewarding and challenging things you do.
For every artist that actually produces recorded music, there are countless that never get around to getting it done. You don’t have to be in the latter group, though. Here are three tips to help you get your EP finished.
Get It Right In The Recording Process
Imagine trying to cook a delicious meal with only really bad ingredients... Not easy, right? Well, making a great recording is similar; your final product will be a reflection of the quality of the elements it’s made of.
The most important thing you can do to set yourself up for a great sounding mix and master of your EP is to focus on creating the best recordings possible. Take the extra time to make sure your mic placement is correct, or that you’re using the right gear to record an instrument. Invest in a better mic, preamp, interface or room treatments if necessary to enable yourself to produce the best recordings possible.
It will be much easier to get the final sound you want, if you record the music right the first time. Adjustments can certainly be made in the mixing process to correct certain things, although it’s not really a good idea to rely on that.
Have It Professionally Mastered
While there are many amazing things that you can do on your own with a decent DAW, even the best of the best tend to outsource their mastering work for their records. Why is this? Simply put, mastering requires a great deal of expertise, as well as specialized equipment.
With the availability of online mastering today, having your record professionally mastered has never been more convenient, or more affordable. While you can do pretty much all of the aspects of an EP project yourself, having that last step of a professional master for your EP can make the difference of a bright, lively sounding EP compared to one that sounds amateur. You really can’t afford to sound amateur in today’s competitive market.
Do It!
Our final tip is to get out there and just do it! Don’t worry about the things you don’t know. Don’t worry about making it perfect. Let your focus be purely on creating an EP that emotionally connects your music to listeners.
It can be intimidating to create an EP with all of the options today. Perfectionism can be crippling as you wade through the countless possible EQs and reverbs that might further enhance the sound of your tracks. Just remember it’s far more important to create something and put it out there for fans to hear. Besides, some fantastic albums have been made by artists who didn’t have a clue about making a “professional-quality” record.
If you want to make an EP, the key is just to make it happen with the tools you have, focus on getting good recordings, and have fun! When it’s time to put the finishing touches on it, and bring it up to commercial quality, don’t forget to let the pros master it.
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.
