When your song is written and your tracks are recorded, do you want to hand it off to a stranger?  If you're like many artists, you want creative control until the recording is mixed and finished.  Suddenly, you're not a musician anymore - you're trying to understand EQ, multiband compressors, stereo widening and so on.  

Mixing your own tracks can be overwhelming and discouraging.  Often the manuals are hard to read and the explanations are mathematical, instead of musical.  Making a great mix requires 2 core skills - learning how and why to use EQ and Compression.  This course will explain how these powerful tools work and allow students to look over an engineer's shoulder as a raw collection of tracks is transformed into a cohesive and compelling final mix!

• Mix and remix using downloadable projects and audio files (stems)
• Keep it simple by focusing on EQ and Compression
• Discover how when and why to use automation... in 2 modes

Make It About the Music.

All Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) contain an overwhelming collection of plugins and instruments, these days.  Which ones do you need?  Not only will this course help you create a shortlist of the most useful plugins, but you'll also get a headstart with downloadable presets for the plugins you need most.  This course is designed to make the processing of mixing your track feel more like music and less like engineering.  You'll learn how EQ and frequency spectrum monitoring work together to help you make the right musical choices for each track in your mix - visually.  Also, you'll learn what to listen for when using a compressor.  With these skills, you'll be able to stay focused on your music without having to compromise on a half-baked final mix.

Content and Overview:

This course has cherry-picked the best features from Cubase, including pitch-correction with VariAudio, reusable FX chains and automation.  You can get up and running with the most valuable mixing tools and benefit from watching them being used in a real world mixing situation.  Plus, you'll discover that Cubase offers more flexibility than many people realize.  Find out how to widen your stereo mix by creatively using FX channels to setup a powerful Mid-Side bus.  Then, watch as we apply different FX to different spatial elements in your mix!

In the first major section of the course, we'll cover the individual features and controls that you'll want to use for every mix you ever do.  You'll also develop a well-rounded understanding of topics related to Cubase (and all DAWs, really).  We'll cover everything from licensing and 64-bit plugins to master channel FX and optimizing your project for a better organized workflow.

The course continues with 2 sections about mixing drums and instruments.  Each instrument and drum will get its own dedicated lesson, so that you can see how they differ and how each instrument needs unique consideration in your mix.  The range of tracks in our multitrack collection offers a huge variety of challenges.  For example, you'll see how and why an 808 drum sometimes needs a longer attack, while the frequency rich content in an FM synth pad can be sculpted to play well with others.

• Mixing individual HH, Snare, Kick and Percussion
• Blending organic-sounding Fender Rhodes with a brash FM synth
• Learn how to record a vocal, pitch-correct it and even create a 3-part harmony!

Rough Mix vs. Final Mix:

Professional mixing engineers often divide their workflow into 2 distinct phases: a rough mix and a final mix.  This course will teach you an optimized workflow, starting with simple fader mixing, then leveraging automation, panning and side-chain compression tricks to create a robust and professional rough mix.  Discover how mixing in mono can help diagnose mix flaws and even add creative edits - like automating a delay to create a stutter/echo effect on the last musical note of the outro.

Many dedicated musicians have created a decent rough mix - after weeks of struggle, dozens of web searches and thumbing through incomprehensible audio engineering books and manuals.  But, the professionals have some tricks up their sleeve that usually make the audible difference between a home studio mix and a pro "final" mix.  In the last mixing section of this course, students will walkthrough setting up Mid-Side processing using Cubase's built-in audio routing features.  Students will also get a chance to see how and why a multiband compressor can be used to elevate and enrich any mix (although it is best applied to a completed "rough" mix).  Finally, we'll cover export options and important considerations for preparing your final mix file for hand-off to a mastering engineer.

• Maintain creative control over your music
• Learn the ART of mixing, not just the science
• Develop good habits, understand the pitfalls
• Use hotkeys and optimize workflow
• Get the most out of your computer with CPU optimization tips