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.
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.
