I'd like to set the record straight on my knowledge level  - I AM a qualified idiot.

By qualified, I mean that I have pretty much ZERO clue on ANY aspect of the audio end of things at all, whatsoever, in a nut shell, to sum it up, getting our heads around it, coming to terms with it, and any other way of acknowledgement you can think of.

I DO have what I would call a "player's" understanding of midi - having been around since before it existed.

I also have a computer background, coming from an IT career.

The point of all of the above is that I cannot imagine 1 set of videos being able to reach and teach not only me, but also the guy who comes with an audio engineering degree, and also the guy who has had a 4-track tape deck from the 70's, as well as the 14-year old next big thing who is just getting into all of this.

We ALL have a mixed bag of understanding, and will all walk away from the same presentation of material with a different understanding and opinion of and on what was presented.

I myself would like to see a set of material that is graded - beginner's, intermediate, and Einstein levels.  Could that be combined into 1 book or video - I doubt it.  Would that work from a marketing cost/return stand point - dunno.  I do think that without some sort of way to present the material to different audiences it will ALWAYS work for some and not for others.

In the end, I have found that for ME, what works best is to:

1.  Try to soak up what I can from posts in the forum
2.  Go through available tutorials - those included with the product and additional ones on the web
3.  I bought a book and read it several times
4.  I actually read the documentation for the product
5.  Search for explanations for the things not made clear through the above - I just Google things like 'latency', and now it makes sense
6.  Sit down and TRY things, in combination with all of the above
7.  Post questions in the forum when I need help - AFTER doing some combination of the above, so that I am not just asking for help because I am too lazy to hit F1 and do some reading.

I remain a qualified idiot - but I AM getting better at all of it through education, trial, and assistance, and it seems like it works for me as an approach.

Bob Bone

Good point Bob, you're never going to learn everything you need to know from one source. I'm the same, I soldier on through a combination of books, videos, forums, articles and just plain experimentation. I think that's a more organic way of learning that sitting down to do a "course" from start to finish and expecting to become an expert by the end of it. 

There's some excellent courses on Lynda.com on mixing, if you have a subscription. I don't think they even have to be Sonar based to be helpful. Brian Lee White's Mixing and Mastering course is excellent and well worth watching even though it's geared toward Pro Tools, as are his video courses on EQ and compression. I have watched all of these, but I didn't come away from them thinking that I had nothing left to learn. In fact they just whet my appetite to learn more. 

Currently going through Mike Senior's "Mixing Secrets" book which is superb. 

I should mention that a lot of my understanding comes from blind luck.

I will DEFINITELY look at the Mixing Secrets book - and others - because I TRULY have no idea about frequencies and boosting this or cutting that, and why, or mic placement, or pretty much anything to do with audio, other than making sure not to clip anything.

Lots to learn for me, 

Bob Bone

If it's a good understanding of EQ you're after then I would strongly recommend Brian Lee White's Foundations Of EQ course on Lynda.com. It'll cost you $25 for a month's subscription (tons of great courses) and it's definitely the best lesson on EQ that I've had. 

Somewhere about halfway through this post, I could almost hear my dad shouting out "Don't make me stop this car!!!".

It is most certainly a certainty that there are some slightly different thoughts on presentation of techniques in these videos, and on the techniques presented as well.

Some people liked disco - we tried to root them out, but a few undoubtedly survived.  Same principal - little bit country - little bit rock and roll.

All must find our own path to enlightenment - there are many paths and many destinations, and many modes of transport, and not enough coffee shops.

Bob Bone

I recently purchased the SWA vid Karl and thought it is great (like the reference manual in video form). Only thing I thought was irritating is not having the video broken up into chapters. I think another person brought this up in an earlier post. 9 hrs of straight video is hard to reference if you wanna stop then come back to it later. Just wanted to say on zoomin you did not mention or I did not see it covered that when in the timeline and the pointer changes to the zoom icon you can right click and zoom vertically. Thanks for the nine hour one shot it was very informative and had a couple of ahh haa moments.
                                                                Rob.

Hi dburns, thanks a lot, I've actually been a member for a quite a bit, but have not been able to browse here as often as I'd like. 

BluffinMad


Im sorry you feel that way, when you do a tutorial on a subject such as mixing you are going to get some people disagreeing with your method or your way of explaining it. My Boost 11 use is something really not that uncommon, im surprised it has had the reaction it has, I find the one issue that divides many of us when it comes to mixing, is some rule we all must follow to achieve a good mix. I hope the Mix Clinic does at least give people the opportunity to explore different ideas and not conform to what everyone thinks is right, otherwise new sounds and techniques would not be discovered. If the Boost 11 use is so strange to most people I personally would consider this a good thing and encourage people to experiment. Thanks for your input.  

Hey pippin thanks for coming and explaining your point of view.


I am in absolute agreement with you, experiment, try different things etc what works or one may not work for another and of course how will we find new ways.


Now, as you are aware I was the first to criticise your video, and my criticism is nothing to do with mixing, mix the way you wish. however your video is called Sonar Mix Clinic, which to me implies a certain amount of teaching. This in my opinion means explaining what you are doing. If it were a seminar and you quoted things to me I would put my hand up and ask my questions. In a classroom the same. 


The problem is that your teaching medium is video, therefore I can't ask questions at the time. To my way way of thinking if you are going to teach in this medium you should explain as much a possible. Quoting figures for compressor, EQ and delay settings without explaining your thinking leaves me asking why. Why you like a particular compressor instead of another, leaves me asking why. Why you choose the channel tools Instead of the sonitus delay...... Why. Why you use the EQ boost 11 combination instead of a compressor ...... Why. I could go on, the biggest problem with your videos not your choices, that's up to you, but if you are going to teach something I believe you should explain more. Sure I could use you settings, but, what did that teach me. 


My complain has nothing to do with musical genre, or mixing techniques just lack of explanation.


That is my criticism. I said to myself WHY? Far too many times. 


I'm sorry but that's just the way I felt.


I do wish you luck with your video, and I hope more people are happy with it than are not.

Hi STinGA, 

I completely respect your point of view, and obviously welcome constructive criticism, which you have done. Again I am sorry you did not find the tutorial to your liking, like I said it is difficult to cater for everyone when it comes to a tutorial as specific as this. Maybe in the future if I am fortunate enough to do any more tutorials I will take on board some of what you have suggested. In the meantime I hope the Mix Clinic will help people be introduced into this wonderful world of mixing we all share and help their interest in this subject grow. 

Thanks again for your feedback :)   

Just like to repeat what I already posted on another thread...

Thank you for your feedback on this video!  We appreciate it.  Regardless if the reviews or good or bad, we like to know what people think of our videos so we know what needs changing and what doesn't moving forward. 

Thanks again,  
Chris Hawkins 
Streamworks Audio (SWA).