Mixing and Mastering
Balance, space and loudness — decisions in the right order
Created by Clara Benedetti
What you will learn
- Build a static balance that already sounds like a record
- Use EQ subtractively before reaching for anything else
- Apply compression with a reason you can state out loud
- Create depth with reverb and delay without washing the mix out
- Master for streaming loudness normalisation rather than against it
- Reference and revise without losing perspective
Course content
14 sections · 124 lectures · 18h total length
- What this course covers, and what it does notPreview04:00
- How to get the most out of itPreview04:00
- Setting up and downloading the exercise files06:00
- Gain stagingPreview08:00
- Gain staging in detail04:00
- A closer look at gain staging11:00
- Worked example: gain staging07:00
- Where gain staging goes wrong15:00
- Exercise: gain staging11:00
- Gain staging in practice06:00
- Two approaches to gain staging14:00
- Gain staging — questions from previous students06:00
- Reviewing your work on gain staging14:00
Topics covered
Requirements
- You have produced tracks before
- A DAW and stock plugins are sufficient
Description
Mixing goes wrong when it becomes plugin-first. This course fixes the order: balance, then space, then tone, then the corrective work — and treats mastering as the final small adjustment it should be rather than a rescue operation.
Your instructor
Producer and mix engineer
Clara has mixed records in proper studios and in a spare bedroom, and is honest about how much of the difference is the room rather than the gear. She teaches production as arrangement first, plugins last.
Learner reviews
- 5 star73%
- 4 star22%
- 3 star3%
- 2 star1%
- 1 star1%
- LSLucas S.5 February 2026
Very practical. I applied something from module four at work the same week.
- OEOlive E.6 June 2026
Worth it for the section on common mistakes alone — I recognised two things I have been doing wrong for years.
- BSBen S.10 May 2026
Very practical. I applied something from module four at work the same week.
- EMElena M.2 December 2025
I came in knowing a bit and still learned plenty. The middle third is the strongest part.
- QBQuentin B.3 July 2026
Good balance between theory and doing. I would have liked a couple more exercises, but that is a small complaint.
- ATAisha T.25 May 2026
The instructor answers questions properly rather than pointing you at the documentation.
- KSKemi S.6 January 2026
The pacing is right. Nothing is padded out, and the exercises are short enough that I actually did them.
- GMGrace M.16 March 2026
I came in knowing a bit and still learned plenty. The middle third is the strongest part.
- PFPetra F.1 March 2026
Good balance between theory and doing. I would have liked a couple more exercises, but that is a small complaint.
Showing 9 of 1,483 reviews.
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