Template Mixing and Mastering

Audio production is an incredibly rewarding craft. To take the raw, basic tracks of a fledgling idea and shape them into one glorious stereophonic sound wave is an amazing feat. The transformation from analogue to digital dominance has brought many advances in sound quality and new techniques, but producing digital music with only a standard computer and DAW can be problematic, time-consuming and sometimes disappointing without the right approach and skills.

In Template Mixing and Mastering, renowned mix engineer Billy Decker tackles the challenges of in-the-box production through his innovative template approach. He shares his passion and knowledge from over twenty years of industry experience, including an introduction to templates and a step-by-step guide to their set-up and a discussion of drum replacement technology. Channel and setting information for each of the drum, instrument and vocal sections of his template is discussed along with the master channel and his methodology of mixing and mastering. Finally, he gives professional advice and best practice.

About the Authors

Billy Decker has been a leading mix engineer in Nashville, USA, for more than twenty years. Billy mixes quickly using a mix template, completing around 1000 songs each year. He has mixed multiple Billboard No 1 singles and accredited sales of albums containing his mixes total over 25 million copies. Simon Taylor is a British music creator and educator. He has been a member of the music industry for over twenty years and has qualifications in music technology and advanced recording techniques.

60 colour photographs and 12 colour diagrams