Many seasoned music engineers and producers will tell you that one of the biggest losses from analog music production to the era of digital music is not having physical knobs, faders and buttons to engage with in the recording / mixing process.
With modern DAWs offering the ability to do just about everything that professional recording studios with costly gear and invaluable boards could do, the interface of recording has gone from tweaking knobs and faders to clicking a mouse.
As a nod to the physical interfaces of old and respect for their part in the music making process, many manufacturers have continued to develop standalone physical products to drive their digital technology. Just this year, Roland re-released an updated version of its infamous TR-808 drum machine from the ‘80’s despite the fact that samples of it can be had for free online.
One of the best, and most affordable, devices to have come out to blend the analog interfaces of the past with today’s digital audio workstations is the $130 PreSonus FaderPort. The FaderPort is a small USB device that gives you one high-quality physical fader, along with multiple buttons, a playback transport and a panning knob for controlling your DAW.
The FaderPort fits easily on your desktop and allows you to do several of the functions you need to run your DAW, including recording and toggling between windows. However, the real benefit of the device is the fader itself, which you can use to lay down realtime automation on your tracks.
By riding each track in real time with the fader, with some practice you can start to make each of your tracks sound more expressive and musical. Also, the physical fader provides just enough control over the nuance and detail of your automation that you can really perform your mixing rather than just clicking point with your mouse.
Finally the FaderPort is simple enough that you can learn its interface and configuration fairly quickly. Once you get it down, you’ll likely be able to boost the speed of your mixing workflow significantly by having less clickable functions and more buttons to use.
Digital production makes music creation more and more possible with a keyboard and a mouse. Products like the FaderPort will continue to be relevant and important tools for maintaining the human expression, control, detail and fun of the original analog interfaces.
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.
