Electronic Dance Music

Mixing & Mastering Club Music

Cross the finish line.

You’ve spent days, weeks or months pouring blood, sweat and tears into your latest track only to be let down by poor mixing decisions and a master that is so restricted it sounds flat and uninspiring.

This personalised one to one mentoring course walks you through all of the key stages from what to listen for right through to how you can master a track louder while also maintaining dynamics, giving your track the best possible chance of being signed by a great label.

For the course, you will take a track you have previously written and with the help and advice of an apple approved mastering engineer, we will teach you what to listen for as you mix.

Towards the end of the course, your track will also be mixed and mastered here, at Altar studios, through our iconic hardware so you can compare mixes.

EDM Mixing and Mastering

What to expect

Personal, one to one session every week where you and your instructor will work on your track and walk though how to mix it to a professional standard, with in detail explanations of every move.

Learn about EQ, processing and effects, and how to employ them to full effect in your mixing to add size, weight, depth and width.

Learn about acoustic properties of your room, and your monitors restrictions and how to work around them to get the best mix results possible.

Work with a professional, experienced mix engineer and Apple Certified mastering engineer to ensure all the techniques you see are fully understood.

Learn the techniques from a professional mastering engineer and see how he employs processing to ensure maximum loudness but maintain the dynamics of your mix.

Make your music sound thicker, wider, smoother, deeper and exhibit more punch so you stand a better chance with record labels.

Access to over 300+ hours of how to video tutorials to watch at your pace over 6 months. Covering different genres and techniques and abilities.

Access to a dedicated learning to listen platform for 6 months to develop your listening skills. And the opportunity to interact with your peers on a private community group.

How the course works

1

8 Core Modules

Over a period of 8 weeks you will have 8 90 minute one to one sessions with an industry professional, learning the key elements for mixing and mastering.

2

The Reference Text

Before the course starts, you’ll receive a free paperback copy of the award winning Dance Music Manual textbook through the post.

3

Supporting Material

You will get 6 month membership to 2 learning platforms to support your training and future development, alongside weekly feedback from your instructor.

4

Meet every week

You will work simultaneously with your instructor as you both mix and master your track, comparing the differences as it progresses.

5

Self Study

You will perform over 16 hours of self study that is then reviewed with your instructor at your weekly meetings.

6

Final Mix & Master

Your track is mixed and mastered at Altar so that you can have a reference track of a professional mix as you continue to build your skills after the course.

Course Requirements

You will require a computer (PC or Mac), a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), an audio interface and headphones or monitor speakers. You can use the processors and effects that come free with your DAW, but depending on your DAW, you may need to invest in further plug-ins. If you need further advice on this, use the contact page to talk to us before applying.

You will require a subscription to audiomovers. This is a software plugin that works with DAWs permitting you to transmit high quality audio via the internet. We require this to hear your work and progress.

NOTE: This is an advanced course. To take part you should have experience in producing music and have finished a number of tracks, including one that is fully arranged and can be used for mixing and mastering purposes.

You will require a webcam, microphone and zoom installed on the computer for the group and one-to-one sessions.

The course layout

For this course you will need a completed track. Over the period of 8 weeks you will learn the different skills required to mix and master.

Acoustics & Hardware

Part one focuses on different monitoring conditions and how these effect what you hear. You’ll learn how to improve your room on a budget and examine the different software you can use to allow for limited acoustical conditions.

By the end of this first session, you’ll understand the effects your room is having, the limitations of your monitors, how to treat your room and the basics of listening to a mix.

Reference

In this module you will learn about reference tracks, why we use them, what makes a great reference track, the common mistakes producers make when choosing a them and more importantly how to use them correctly during the mixing and mastering process.

At the end of this session, you’ll be more confident in choosing your reference tracks for mixing, and prevent yourself from falling into the usual traps that result in bad mixes.

Plug-ins

All plug-ins are not equal and they can make a significant difference to the quality of the end result. In this module you’ll learn about the problems we face with some plugins and which you should be looking at to create a great mix, alongside how to properly use sends and inserts.

By the end of this module you’ll understand about the limitations of plug-ins and how to avoid problems such as frequency cramping and overloading from sends and inserts.

Stem Mastering

In this module, we get practical and look at the first part of mixing and mastering music with stem mastering. You will learn about this industry secret and how many of the big names in the industry use this in their tracks.

By the end of this module you’ll know all about stem mastering and how it can help you produce better music.

EQ

EQ is one of the most important tools for any mix engineer yet a large percentage of producers don’t know how to use it properly in the context of mixing. Here, we’ll examine the ways you can use EQ in a mix and how to listen for its side effects.

You’ll leave this module knowing about the different EQ types and which to use for any given situation, you’ll also be aware of resonances and how to use EQ properly.

Dynamics Processing

Dynamic processing is vital to a mix but if under or over-used it will quickly destroy a good track. In this module you’ll learn about controlling dynamics to ensure that your mix sounds thick and wide but maintains its natural depth and peak ratio.

At the end of this module you will know how and when to apply dynamic processors to make your mix sound solid and thick but without restricting the movement of the mix.

Mix Effects

For this module we’ll look at the use of effects to add depth, width, height and size to your mix. You’ll learn about how to use the different type of reverbs and delays, alongside other effects, and how to apply them without clouding the mix.

At the end of this module you’ll know how to apply effects to make your mix sound larger than life but without making it appear muddy or indistinct.

Mastering

You will learn from a professional Apple certified mastering engineer how to master your music. You’ll learn about peak ratios, RMS values and maintaining dynamics while increasing loudness. You’ll also receive a professional mixed and mastered version of your music to compare to your results.

By the end of the course, you’ll know how to mix a record professionally, and how to master it, as well as receiving a radio ready copy of your mix, performed here, and ready to send to a label.

What are you waiting for?

We don’t believe in peer groups, relying solely on pre-recorded videos or group meetings.

Courses that are based around a series of pre-recorded videos are not helpful in speeding up your development. Online groups where you are reviewed by your “peers” leave you with misguided dogmas, and meeting with an instructor in groups limits your time to ask questions or prevent you from asking what you think may be an embarrassing question.

These all reduce your natural development to a grind or halt.

All of our courses are personalised, with direct one to one mentoring between you and your instructor. Sitting with and learning with a true qualified and experienced professional will expedite your learning process, helping you specialise in your genre and bring you closer to your releases much faster.

Note: Due to the nature of these courses and personalised one to one time, places are extremely limited.