Book Review – basic Mixing Techniques

basic Mixing Techniques | Paul White | Kindle | 2010 | 190 pages | $6.99

I’ve been on a serious bang-for-buck kick when it comes to buying books lately. That’s because, like most starving artists, I’m ballin-on-a-budget right now. Still, I’m on a serious mission to level-up as fast as possible. I’ve been feeling that my mixing skills aren’t as consistent as they need to be so I went looking for a cheap book that could help me out. I was looking for something that would reinforce some of the basics that I had forgotten and teach me a couple of new things. This book gave me that and much more.

The water’s fine

Paul White takes the “jump right in” approach in this book. I was expecting the usual stories of the author’s personal experience and studio set-up. As I read past the short intro, I found that I was learning things immediately. You may be able to read the first chapter in a day (or the entire book), but you will feel like you should be taking notes, and you’ll definitely have to go back and reread sections later. It is that chuck-full of information.

How does he get so much information into such a small book? The answer is no fillers. This is not a reference book but you’ll be using it as one. The book covers the mixing process from start to finish in detail. It seems like an impossible thing to do in 190 pages but it happened. Paul covers decision making in multiple scenarios and environments.

There were a few typos, but nothing crucial. The amount of typos would have been distracting if it weren’t for all the information that I was getting. Honestly, when you come to a sentence with a typo, you’ll probably forget about it by the time you’ve finished the sentence. You’ll be too focused on the info. I wouldn’t mind learning a bit more about the author, but that’s a small thing.

See what I did?

Like I said earlier, when I started reading this book, I started to immediately identify weak areas in my own personal mixing style. I was excited to start putting what I was learning into practice. Not many books give me that feeling. I created my last beat “The 5^th” after reading this book and there is a noticeable difference between the quality of that track compared to most of the once I’ve done in the last two years. I also felt more confident in making my mixing decisions, better understanding “why” things weren’t sounding so great at times.

Do you hate getting better?

If you’re a beginning producer/beat-maker, then you NEED this book. If you’re looking for a cheap reference book to have while you’re mixing, then you WANT this book. If you’re already the hottest producer/beat-maker on the planet, then why are you reading this review? I’ve read mixing books before and the big ones tend to be very boring, but you know you need to learn the stuff. Since this book was so short, I was pretty much done with it before the low attention span set in. Anywho, buy this book if you don’t already have a good mixing book. Your future skills will thank you. Basic Mixing Techniques

Till tomorrow, thanks for still being interested in books bonus +300

Music Promotion and Marketing – Make Money Selling Beats

Frank Muster | Kindle | Sept 6, 2012 | 25 pages | $2.99

Bang for buck

This book is short. There, I said it! Yes, it only has 25 pages, but the information held in those few 25 pages is well worth the few $2.99 that it costs to purchase this mini guide.

Short and LET’S GET TO WORK!

Musicians are notorious for our short attention spans. That’s how I know that this was written by a true musician. Although this book is short with a purpose. You can think of it as more of an outline than a how-to, but it does have some elements of how-to in it.

An outline was exactly what I was looking for. When I was shopping for this book I was thinking “I need a book that is going to guide me in the right direction.” That is exactly what it did without holding my hand.

I finished this book in the first day that I bought it, which isn’t a bad thing. Reading and doing are two different things. After my first read, I started back at the top and started doing. In about a week I had everything that I needed to start selling my beats with mad confidence. The gems where good enough to light a fire and my a$$ and get that groove moving (all puns intended). An unexpected side-effect that also made the book worth the price.

Oops…

There are a couple of issues with the book. The first one is actually pretty big. The beginning of the book is about acquiring free software to get started making beats. I think the author would have done better to omit that part all together, especially since the free software that he recommends is no longer available. Also, I don’t think that he is doing business anymore as the main website for the is no longer available.

Other than that, the book is great and definitely worth the buy. If you feel that you think that you are ready to start selling your beats but have little idea of where to start then check this one out. It will definitely set you on the path. Put it on your Kindle NOW!
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Thanks for reading my first book review bonus +500,000