Explore a curated collection of my top recommendations – summaries and notes on books, articles, courses, and videos that rank among the most impactful 10% of resources I've encountered on music. Star ratings are not indicative of quality, but of how strongly I'd reccomend each to people looking to gain new skills. I hope these guide your musical journey as much as they did for me.
"How to Use an Equalizer (9-Hour Course)" video by Mastering.com ★★★★★ Definitive guide to using EQ. Though the course is long, a worse teacher would’ve taken 3x as long to explain 1/2 as much. Couldn’t recommend this more highly - even to people already fairly familiar with how to use EQ. ****Link to My Notes
"How to Use Compression (10-Hour Course)" by Mastering.com ★★★★★ Definitive guide to using compression. Though the course is long, a worse teacher would’ve taken 3x as long to explain 1/2 as much. Couldn’t recommend this more highly - even to people already fairly familiar with how to use compression. ****Link to My Notes
"How to Use Reverb (7-Hour Course)" by Mastering.com ★★★★★ Definitive guide to using reverb. Though the course is long, a worse teacher would’ve taken 3x as long to explain 1/2 as much. Couldn’t recommend this more highly - even to people already fairly familiar with how to use reverb. ****Link to My Notes
“Saturation Series” 3 videos by sseb ★★★★★ An in-depth explanation of saturation, from a scientific perspective. Ties technical process of saturation to practical use cases in mixes. ****Link to My Notes
"You Don't Understand EQ" by sseb ★★★★ An accompanying video to the saturation series. Also goes extremely in depth about how technical information about EQ. ****Link to My Notes
“The Clip-To-Zero Production Strategy” & “Deep Dive Into Clippers, Not Compressors, For Dynamic Control” 2 videos by Baphometrix ★★★★★ There’s a lot to wade through with Baphometrix, but the core concept here is EXTREMELY useful. Baph’s CTZ method completely changed the way I think about mixing. Though I don’t 100% subscribe to all the recommendations she gives, I Highly recommend these, as well as any videos in her CTZ series ****Link to My Notes
“A Deep Dive Into Kick Sub Alignment” & “Why You Should Not Use Band Specific Ducking On Your Subs” 2 videos by Baphometrix ★★★★ Really succinct breakdown of an oft-overlooked, and very important, aspect of the mix. Very important to implement these methods if you have any mix with both a sub & kick in it. ****Link to My Notes
“Mixing With Your Mind” book by Michael Stavrou ★★★★ A very valuable resource offering alternate theories and techniques on mixing from a veteran of the craft. Counterintuitive & very informative. ****Link to My Notes