There are just three days left to register for the upcoming 180 Day Music Licensing Challenge starting next Monday, June 12th. If you want an in depth training on
how to make money licensing your music in tv, films, ads and more, be sure to register by Sunday, June 11th at midnight EST.
Register here: http://www.180daymusiclicensingchallenge.com/
Today's blog is the third in
a three part series on the topic of mixing and mastering your tracks for licensing, written by my producer, Gary Gray. Gary is offering a free Skype session and music critique to everyone who takes The 180 Day Challenge. Gary has also contributed over 12 hours of training to the program on the topic of music production!
Over to you Gary....
In the
first two blogs of this series, I discussed the importance of A/B’ing. I described in detail, six specific scenarios of successful A/B’ing that you can immediately use to improve your chances of getting your music licensed:
1. Choosing appropriate commercially released reference tracks, and then A/B’ing those reference tracks to each other before even starting your project. I suggest using at least 3
reference tracks. This one step can be a life-changer.
2. A/B’ing individual mix elements. Since individual mix element reference files are rare, I’ve made a library of mix elements available to you for free. Email me at gary@learnaudioengineering for your free library. (Many of you have emailed me for the library and are successfully using these elements already). Detailed instructions on how to A/B
professionally, and more than 7 hours of video instruction on three music production courses are included as free bonuses as part of The 180 Day Music Licensing Challenge.
3. A/B’ing Group and Stem files. These are also included in the free reference library.
4. A/B’ing Your Mix to other Pre-Mastered Mixes (also
included in the free reference library), and A/B’ing Your Mix to Commercially Mastered Recordings.
5. A/B’ing Your Mix to Your Previous Mix. Rarely done, but saves major time as well as frustration and produces amazing results.
6. A/B’ing Your Master to a Commercially Mastered Track. Though this procedure is done
most often, it’s usually misunderstood and not done thoroughly enough.
I invite your attention to number 6 above, A/B’ing Your Master to a Commercially Mastered Track. This will be the focus of today’s blog.
While mentoring songwriter/composer/producer/engineers on the subjects of mixing and mastering, I first teach mastering. I’ve developed a
revolutionary and very workable sequence of teaching audio engineering and music production. The proof is in the pudding.
My students are getting their music licensed and their confidence is rock solid.
Learning how to mix should come after learning how to master, in my opinion. So, that’s how I mentor and how I teach.
Why would I do such a thing, when mastering “is supposed to be left to those extremely rare individuals with magical ears, untouchable knowledge and hundreds of thousands of dollars-worth of very special equipment?”
Well, as you will learn in The 180 Day Music Licensing
Challenge, the truth about mastering is shrouded in myths that have very little (or nothing) to do with the truth or with workable techniques. This is the case in several areas of music production and audio engineering.
Mastering is 10 times easier than mixing. Ask any of my students. And if you learn mastering, you will become a much better mixing engineer. You’ll know why you are
making each adjustment you make, and you’ll know the consequences of each move you make while mixing. You’ll stop second-guessing yourself so much, and as a result, your confidence will greatly increase.
A vital part of mastering is A/B’ing. By using commercially mastered and released reference tracks, you’ll be comparing how your track stacks-up to professional tracks during the mastering
process.
While I could go on for pages explaining all the details involved in A/B’ing for mastering, I want to focus on one incredibly effective technique that you can start using right now:
Checkerboard A/B’ing.
Not only will your mixes and masters sound remarkably better, but you will be
developing your ear and increasing your confidence in the meantime. And that’s a very good thing.
It comes from a technique I developed years ago, which I call “Checkerboard A/B’ing.” You don’t need special equipment or extensive training or experience to do it. You can do this right now. Here is an excerpt from the training included in The 180 Day Music Licensing Challenge,” a 6:31 video explaining in detail how to set up and carry out “Checkerboard A/B’ing.” 
