For Home Studio Musicians and Bedroom Producers Looking to Solve the Two Most Common Problems Plaguing Their Productions...

How to Create Punchy Drum Mixes and Professional Vocal Productions, Even If You Don't Have Expensive Equipment

 

Most home studio musicians and bedroom producers struggle with two things:

  • 1. Getting a punchy and powerful drum mix.
  • 2. Producing a professional, clear and full vocal sound.

If you’re tired of dealing with shitty drum sounds and weak vocals and want to know exactly how to mix your drums and produce your vocals, then you might relate to this story:

When I was in a band in high school, we produced our first album by ourselves. We set up a recording studio in our rehearsal space, got a few mics, a mixer and got to work.

During the year-long process of recording, two things stood out as the biggest problems:

  • 1. Our drum sound
  • 2. Our vocal production

As a rock band, we wanted a powerful, punchy and thick drum sound like the rock bands had at the time. However, with our limited mixing knowledge, it was hard to replicate. And when we had finished the production, even with subpar drum sounds, we struggled to get a good vocal sound. 

We would set up a vocal session without having a clue what we needed. We had the worst budget microphones. We had no idea where to position the mic and it often sounded thin and harsh -  a far cry from the powerful rock vocals we were looking to emulate.

If you’ve ever gotten a drum recording from a band and you’re immediately exhausted just thinking about how to transform those crappy drums into powerful drum mixes...or have foud yourself pulling your hair out because the vocals were out of tune and uninspiring then you know how we sounded. We were that band...

Luckily, things have changed since then and I've quite a bit about drums and vocals, but it's still a huge problem my audience faces.

Maybe you can relate?

Drums and Vocals - Your Two Big Home Studio Problems

Problem #1 - Shitty Drum Sounds

You start with the kick drum and no matter what you do it just sounds flabby. The boominess overpowers the low-end and gives no room or definition to the bass guitar. You can't find the right compression setting to keep the kick under control without making it sound over-compressed and lifeless.

Once you finally have your low-end under control you still can't get the snap of the beater to cut through the high-end, leaving you with a kick drum that's all oomph and no punch. 

When you turn to the snare drum you immediately hear tough problems jumping out at you. 

There's an annoying ringing resonance that you just can't find. Whatever you do with your EQ, the snare either sounds too boxy or too thin. The hi-hat bleeds into the snare drum mic so much that it's almost impossible to get the snare to sit well without the hi-hat dominating your drum sound.

All you want is a powerful snare that drives the song forward, but all you're left with is a ringing snare that sits on top of the drums.

When the drummer plays a fill you hardly hear it because the toms are drowned out. When you push the volume up they just get in the way and sound detached, like somebody added a weird tom sample from another drum recording on top of the mix!

When you work on the overheads you can't get a good balance between the kick, snare and the rest of the kit. The drums were recorded in a boxy-sounding room so you try your best to EQ out as much of that hollow room sound but it always feels messy in the low-mids.

Every track you work on has that obvious amateur room reverb tail that you can't get rid of!

When you try to get your drums to sit forward in the mix they just end up getting in the way of the rest of the arrangement. Adding reverb just makes it worse, muddying up the drum sound and leaves it sounding distant and under the rest of the mix.

After all that trial and error you might have a good beat going, often the rest of the instruments seem to fall into place.

At that point, the only thing left is producing the vocals. And that brings up a whole host of new problems.

Problem #2 - Weak Vocals

Chances are, you don't know if you're using the right microphone for your vocal. You might not even be sure whether you're getting the correct levels on your interface when you're getting ready to record.

And when you place the mic in front of the singer, you get a small and noisy voice instead of the round, warm, and present vocal sound you hear on your favorite records

Even though you've experimented with different mic techniques, you either end up with a muddy, honky sound (like you're speaking with your hands over your mouth)...or you'll get a thin, sibilant voice that sounds too far away.

Once you think you got a decent vocal to work with, you still don't know how to use tuning, aligning, and editing to make your vocals sound tighter and more professional.

In the mix, you wish you could get the music and vocals to sound balanced. You wish you could find that perfect middle ground of big vocals that don't muddy up the mix.

Instead of full, rich, and thick vocals that pop out of the mix, you end up with a thin and harsh mess that's buried underneath the instruments!

Although you've tried all the Youtube tricks, like parallel compression, duplicating tracks and applying different processing on each vocal track, your vocals still don't sound like the professional recordings you like so much. 

Maybe you've all but given up trying to get great drum mixes and produce professional vocals in your home studio?

If that's the case, please don't give up yet!

 

Hi, I'm Björgvin Benediktsson

In case you don't know me yet, I'm an author, musician and engineer; and the audio educator behind Audio Issues. I'm here to help you turn your amateur demos into professionally produced mixes you can be proud of.

I've helped thousands of musicians like yourself make a bigger impact with their music by teaching them how to produce themselves in their home studio. 

Since 2006 I've written over 1,000 articles and tutorials on audio production, both on Audio Issues and for other audio publications such as MusicTech magazine, SAE Institute, Audiotuts+, The Pro Audio Files, and Recording Revolution to name a few.

It’s been a while since I was in that first band, and in the last decade or so I’ve learned a lot about tackling those problems.

I learned how to fix muddy drum sounds with specific EQ cuts. I discovered how to add punch and dynamics to the drum bus with multi-band compression. I figured out how to gate the drums to get rid of unnecessary bleed (GOODBYE HI-HAT HISS!).

And I learned how to blend the right drum reverbs into the mix to keep the drums present while staying out of the way of the arrangement.

Transient designers allowed me to add attack to dull-sounding drums. They helped me get rid of the room reverb in my home recordings and gave me tighter tracks to work with. And when that didn’t work, I turned to advanced drum sampling techniques to get whatever sound I wanted.

As for vocals...I learned to use EQ and compression to make the vocal come alive. If I needed to subtly tame the vocals to fit in a dynamic ballad, it was easy. If I wanted the vocals aggressive and in-your-face for a rock recording, that was no problem either.

And with the right processing, I could find the exact point where the vocals would fit with the instruments without sounding glued on top or buried underneath.

After solving these problems for so long I realized that I had created my own type of toolkit to tackle each of these tricky situations. Whenever I ran into a specific problem I had a tool that would solve it.

Imagine if you could bypass a decade of learning, a year of audio engineering school, and countless hours of trial and error...and start creating professional, studio-quality drum mixes and clean and powerful vocal productions from your home studio, even if you don't have expensive equipment.

Turns out...you can!

Introducing: The Drum Mix Toolkit and Expert Home Vocals Production Bundle

Your Solution to Mastering Punchy Drum Mixes and Powerful Vocals

Take a Look Inside the Drum Mix Toolkit and Expert Home Vocals Production Bundle

As soon as you join, you'll have instant access to the course materials on both your computer and mobile device. All modules have both video and written content.

 

Here's What You'll Learn From Drum Mix Toolkit

Your Drum Mix Toolkit is your one-stop-shop to getting professional sounding drums from your home recordings. If you've been needing to learn how to mix acoustic drums or breathe new life into your programmed samples, you'll discover new techniques and a solid foundation of knowledge to do just that.

  • 9 Steps to a Greater Drum Mix
  • How Your Polarity Switch Can Mean the Difference Between "Thin and Weak" or "Thick and Tight"
  • How to Simplify Your Drum Sound to Make Your Mixing More Efficient
  • How to Use Bus Processing and Parallel Compression to Glue Your Drum Sound Together
  • How to Use Sample Replacement to Save a Shitty Drum Sound From Itself
  • How to Use the Secret Weapon of the Transient Designer to Shape Your Drum Sounds Into What You Hear in Your Head
  • How to Blend Multiple Reverbs Together in Your Drum MIx, Making the Drums Sound Larger than Life
  • How to Fit the Kick Drum and Bass Guitar Together in the Low End
  • How to Use the Volume Faders to Get the Correct Balance From Your Drums (WHAT A NOVEL IDEA?!?!)
  • How to Take Full Advantage of the Phase Relationship Between Your Tracks to Make Every Track Sound Tighter
  • 4 Different Ways of Grouping Your Drums for Easy Mixing
  • What Processing to Use When You Don't Have Drum Replacement or Transient Designers at Your Disposal
  • Where to EQ Drums to Get Rid of Boxiness, Muddiness, and Harshness
  • Why Your EQ is Kind of Like the Jedi's Trusty Lightsaber
  • Your 6 Step Process for Using Drum Compression for Tighter Drums
  • A Behind the Scenes Look at How the Ratio of Your Compressor Affects Your Drum Sound
  • When to Choose FET, OPTO or VCA Compression Styles
  • How to Use Multi-Band Compression for a Tighter, Yet MORE Dynamic Drum Sound
  • How to Use Gates to Get a Cleaner Drum Sound
  • What to Avoid When Gating the Kick and Snare
  • Why You Should Use Analog Summing and Saturation to Add More Warmth and Depth to Your Drums
  • Why Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" is the Reason I Use This One Plug-in on ALL My Mixes
  • How to Use Parallel Compression to Add Power to Your Drums
  • Specific EQ and Compression Guides for Kick, Snare, Toms and Overheads
  • How to Side-Chain the Bass to Get the Kick to Cut Through
  • How to Get a Thunderous Tom Sound in Three Steps
  • The Difference Between a Drastic and Subtle Overhead EQ (And When to Choose Which)
  • Adding Space to Your Drum Mix Without Making Your Drums Sound Distant
  • How to Use Two Separate Reverbs on the Snare to Get it to Stand Out
  • How to Select the Right Reverb Mode For Your Song
  • How to Use Gated Reverbs Without Sounding Like You're an 80's Cover Band

Includes Practical Training Videos that Show You Exactly How to Transform Your Drum Sound From Puny to Powerful

11 Drum Mixing Videos that Help You Get a Great Drum Mix Right Away

How to Get Rid of Ringing Drum Sounds

The quick and easy way to find those annoying resonant frequencies that are making your drums ring.

How to Get the Kick and Bass Guitar to Move Together in the Mix

The kick drum and the bass guitar will clash and clutter up your low-end. This video will teach you how to easily separate the two with a simple compression trick.

9 Simple Steps to a Great Drum Mix

Shows you a fast and efficient way of getting a great drum sound, in only 9 easy steps.

Full-Band VS Multi-Band Compression Shootout

You'll learn the versatility of the multi-band compressor and when to choose it over the traditional full-band compressor.

How to Shape Your Drums With Transient Designers

A transient designer is the secret weapon of your toolkit. You'll learn to tweak, shape and transform your drum tracks.

The Importance of the Attack and Release on Your Compressor

You'll learn exactly what to listen for when you're finding the perfect attack and release settings for your kick and snare.

Two Different Overhead EQ Approaches

Depending on the type of sound you're looking for, you can approach the EQ process of your overhead sound very differently. In this video I compare the two approaches and when to use each.

How to Get a Thunderous Tom Sound

If your toms sound boxy and buried in the mix, this video will teach you to make them big, punchy and powerful.

How to Use Sample Replacement Without Sacrificing the Human Feel

Replacing your drums with samples can be scary. You don't want your drummer to sound like a robot. In this video you'll learn how to get the best of both worlds.

Complete Drum Mix Walkthroughs

There are multiple ways to mix drums of course, but knowing how all the tools work will help you create a killer drum sound regardless of style or genre.

Complete Drum Mix Walkthrough With Home Recorded Drums

This video combines every trick in the book, taking a boring home recorded drum sound and transforming it into an exciting and powerful drum mix.

Bonus: Drum Mix Walkthrough Using Drum Replacement

This video expands on the previous one, but this time you'll learn to replace the kick and snare and mix the samples back into the drum mix.

Listen to How a Student Transformed His Drum Sound After the Drum Mix Toolkit

Peter Thompson of The Magic Es remixed one of his songs, "Headrush," after learning the techniques inside the Drum Mix Toolkit. He made the entire kit sound punchier, more present and powerful after the remix.

 

"Drum Mix Toolkit is a fantastic resource. Not only is it a well written book full of tips, tricks, and workflow methods that you can implement today, but to me, the best part is that it also contains video examples by Bjorgvin himself so you can actually hear the techniques in action! It's one thing to read about audio, but it's another to see exactly how to use these techniques in a real session, and more importantly, to hear the differences made through the process. To top it off, Bjorgvin has provided the practice tracks he used in the videos for free as well! Absolutely fantastic and highly recommended! What I've learned in this package will be used on my bands/brothers drum tracks for years to come!"

Jonathan Timpe
Musician/Engineer

Here's What You'll Learn From Expert Home Vocals

Expert Home Vocals combines everything I know about producing pro vocals in the home studio. Expert Home Vocals helps you bypass the mistakes I made so that you can get professional sounding vocals from your home studio in less than a week (as opposed to years).

The workbook and the videos will show you the exact process you need to follow to get commercial quality vocals from your project studio.

You can be secure in knowing that whenever you need to record, edit, or mix vocals you'll know that your methods will work every time, giving you professional quality vocals even if you don't have high-end equipment or a fancy studio.

Effective Vocal Pre-Production to Make the Best Song Possible

  • The gear junkies told you that you needed a $1,000+ microphone if you EVER wanted to record professional vocals? WRONG! Learn how to stop worrying about high-end mics and start using the one you already have to easily get solid, quality vocals
  •  Many musicians feel like their vocals sound distant and thin. This simple mic techniques will work every time to give you a full-bodied and balanced vocal sound
  •  What The Beatles can teach you about pre-production when you haven't quite nailed the lyrics yet. (You can literally sing gibberish to transform a melody that doesn’t work into a great production that captures the listener)
  •  How to create interest with harmonies and counter melodies to keep the listener interested and engaged throughout your production
  •  How to get a great vocal performance from a singer, even if they’re insecure and anxious about recording their voice
  •  What your singer should never do if you’re EVER going to get a great performance (You'll waste money, time and respect if you ignore this #1 rule of recording)
  •  How to communicate with your singer about the vices they need to avoid if you want them to perform at the top of their abilities

Getting Your Home Studio Ready and Making Your Singer Comfortable

  • Many pop productions are recorded on the road, in noisy hotel rooms on tour. Learn the .two crucial techniques to reduce background noise and unwanted reflections in your vocal sound that the pro vocalists use when they need to nail that vocal now!​​​​
  •  The single most overlooked method for making your room vibe so the singer doesn’t feel like they’re recording in a stale office or a boring bedroom
  • The reverb and parallel compression technique for a good headphone mix so your singer gives you their best performance, making them feel like they’re recording a finished track instead of an amateur demo
  • Simple tips on making first-time singers feel more comfortable...and how to coax a great performance out of an inexperienced studio musician by making them feel more confident
  • Why the Red Hot Chili Peppers used this inexpensive dynamic mic for vocals when they had the budget for any microphone in the world
  • How to use your microphone’s bass roll-off to remove low-end rumble, control low-end overload and remove unwanted pop noises.
  • How to use a pad to avoid clipping and obnoxious digital distortion that can destroy your vocal sound
  • A nerdy way to find the right mic for your singer by analyzing its frequency response, making it easier to EQ and fit into the mix from the start
  • How to use the right vocal mic technique to avoid sibilance and plosives with just a piece of cloth
  • The two techniques to control your breath sounds during recording so you don't need to do as much editing to remove unwanted inhales and exhales in between phrases
  • Why some singers are one-take wonders and others need more time and how that’s fine and you shouldn’t be afraid of doing punch-ins and multiple takes
  • The essential equipment you need to record professional vocals, even if you don’t have a huge budget or a pro studio

Easy Recording Techniques to Get a Great Vocal Sound Right at the Source

  • How to use microphone polar patterns to get the best vocal sound in your project studio, whether you’re recording one singer, a duet or a vocal group
  • Simple mic placement techniques to get a good sound right away
  • How to use mic positioning to help the singer reach higher notes by making them unconsciously open up their diaphragm to give you a better performance
  • Important things you need to keep in mind to get the perfect mic placement for your vocalist
  • How to use your pop filter as a target to keep your singer in the right spot for the best vocal sound, especially if your microphone placement feels weird, but sounds good
  • An alternative way to record vocals that can instantly fit them in the mix
  • The disadvantages of recording your vocals too close to the microphone
  • How to find the right levels to record your vocals into your computer through your interface; the silver lining in digital audio recording and why you don’t have to worry about recording too low to the noise floor, or recording too loud to distort
  • How to handle really loud, screaming rock singers that may distort your microphone, give you annoying digital clipping and overload your interface
  • Great starting points for compressing your vocal sound on the way in. As much as you’re scared of committing to a compressed sound you can’t take back, you can follow these guidelines without ruining your vocal sound
  • How to record live in a loud room when there are multiple instruments playing at the same time without worrying about bleed because additional mics will add depth to your recordings instead of ruining them
  • The downside of using sensitive condenser microphones during a live recording session, and what type of mic and polar pattern you should use instead
  • How to get an incredible master performance by using multiple takes to get the best final vocal from your singer
  • How to use leftover takes to make tight doubles that make your lead vocals much stronger and adds professional depth to your vocal sound
  • An alternative way to double vocals by using two microphones at the same time that not only gives you a perfect double, but also some ambience and space
  • Advanced techniques for recording multiple singers at the same time, such as using the polar patterns to record tight duets or big punk rock group vocals
  • How to use stereo microphone techniques to record vocal ensembles and choirs

How to Comp, Edit, and Tune Vocals for a Larger-Than-Life Vocal Track

  • The four crucial things to keep in mind when comping vocals so you end up with a perfect composite that sounds better than any individual take
  • Why crying is the best indicator of which vocal take gives you the best emotional impact to move the listener
  • The important but overlooked aspect of editing your vocals that you need to do if you ever want to achieve a produced vocal sound
  • Why attention to detail is a must when editing breaths and adding fades to your vocal takes
  • How to edit your vocals so that they cut through the mix consistently throughout the track and don’t get lost in busier parts of the arrangement...so that you create a more uniform and balanced vocal performance that reacts better to compression
  • How to edit doubles so that they’re as tight as possible using your DAWs elastic audio capabilities
  • How to use pitch correction without making your vocalist sound like a robot
  • Why “Perfect Pitch” isn’t always the best way to tune your vocals because it will affect the vocal delivery of the performance
  • How to analyze the phrasing in-between notes for accurately tuning your vocals so that they sound natural
  • How to tune sustained notes so that they sound more powerful and have a bigger impact on your listener
  • How to mix your music and what workflow to follow for your instruments before you add in your vocals
  • Why mixing the vocals during the busiest part of the song can help you make them fit better with the instruments
  • How to get the vocals to sit in the mix and stay present while feeling balanced with the rest of the instruments.
  • How to “mult” vocals if your arrangement requires separate vocal processing in different sections of the song

How to Mix Pro Vocals That Fit With All the Instruments in Your Mix

  • Surprising and counter-intuitive panning guidelines for lead vocals, doubled lead vocals, and harmonies. My students never even thought about using these at first, but they are getting great results after trying them out
  • How to get a rough mix before you focus on the vocals by building your mix so that your vocals can fit into it from the start
  • How to apply EQ, compression and other plug-ins in the right order to get the vocal sound you’re looking for without abusing the vocals, causing them to lose all emotion and crispness
  • The one video you need to watch if you want to create powerful vocals that cut through the mix with EQ...tighten up the low-end, eliminate boominess...and add thickness and weight to your vocal sound
  • How to get rid of honkiness that sounds like the vocalist is singing with their hands over their mouths
  • If you've ever felt like your singer sounds like he has a cold, even if they recorded in perfect health, you're going to love this EQ technique to get rid of nasal sounding vocals
  • The exact frequency areas where you can add presence and punch to your vocal mix, eliminate sibilance, and use masking EQ to hide problematic frequency areas that won't leave your vocals alone
  • How to find where the instruments are clashing with the vocals so you can use EQ to create pockets for the vocals to fit with the rest of your mix
  • The reverse-EQ method my students love that helps them find the exact frequency and instrument that’s clashing with the vocal sound so that you can make more room for your vocals in your mix
  • How to EQ backup vocals to keep them out of the way of the lead vocals
  • Why separation in your vocals isn’t always the right move and what to do when you want a bigger “wall of vocal sound”
  • Why you should not start compressing your vocals before you do this one very overlooked technique to make your compressor react more musically to every vocal phrase
  • How to use compression on vocals to get a smoother sound that cuts through the mix without feeling like it’s tacked on top
  • A walkthrough of the three most common compression styles and how they can change your vocal sound
  • My favorite (and simplest!) vocal compressor I use on every single vocal track.
  • How to use compression to tame your vocals so that the louder parts sound laid back and the quieter parts are audible, so that you can get fat sounding and properly compressed vocals that don’t muddy up the rest of the mix.
  • The difference between aggressive compression and subtle continuous compression and how it changes your vocal sound
  • How to use serial compression on your vocals to tame the peaks of your transients while increasing the overall level, resulting in a present and punchy vocal sound that cuts through the mix
  • How to know whether you should use compression before or after EQ to get the best vocal sound
  • The four reasons you may need a de-esser on your vocal track and why you may need more than one depending on how aggressive your vocal processing is...and my go-to setting for de-essing vocals without crippling the high-end
  • The go-to method for EQ’ing and compressing backup vocals to fit with the lead vocals in a mix
  • How to use parallel compression to make your vocals sound big and powerful
  • How to use multi-band compression to zero in on problematic frequency areas that are making your vocals sound boxy, honky, or sibilant
  • My three-bus effects chain I use for every vocal mix to add depth, space, width, and punch to my vocals. These three effects busses are permanently in my mix template because I use them on every single vocal track to make my vocals sound larger than life
  • How to create automatic double tracking to make your vocals sound doubled if you don’t have a real-life double
  • Why it’s a good idea to have a separate bus just for your vocal reverbs and delays so that you can process them differently than the rest of your instruments
  • How to make your vocals REALLY WIDE
  • Two effective ways to use saturation on vocals to create a little bit of warmth or grit
  • Why you shouldn’t be afraid of experimenting with amp simulators and distortion on your vocals to make them stand out in a mix
  • A step-by-step workflow for fitting your vocals into the mix, that helps you cut your instruments with EQ in a busy mix so that you can make the vocals fit with plenty of space without making the rest of your mix sound weak
  • The three things I automate on vocals after I'm 95% done with the mix to make the vocals sound dynamic and "alive" with the rest of the mix

Everything You Need to Know to Produce Professional Vocals

Expert Home Vocals combines everything I've learned in the last decade about vocals. It helps you bypass the mistakes I made so that you can get professional-sounding vocals from your home studio in less than a week.

The workbook and the videos will show you the exact process you need to follow to get commercial quality vocals from your project studio.

You can be secure in knowing that whenever you need to record, edit, or mix vocals you'll know that your methods will work every time, giving you professional quality vocals even if you don't have high-end equipment or a fancy studio.

"A great, well rounded source of information of dealing with vocals from start to finish. I’m mainly schooled in the “analog years” and still working through the digital age. In everyone’s case, there is always something else to learn or grasp. [Expert Home Vocals] added clearer information on gain staging, especially when using plug-ins, added more information on signal processing and in general added more explanations of possibilities to use plug-ins in different situations, such as recording group vocals, harmonies, and micing...What surprised me most was the amount of precise information included, as well as very helpful examples of using what is explained. Björgvin does an excellent job of explaining concepts, and uses “real world” situations to convey concepts. A well thought-out and planned resource!"

Pat Cycz
Musician/Studio Owner, Silver Moon Productions, Massachusetts.

Free Bonuses if You Buy Today

Bonus #1: Drum Mix Toolkit Resource Sheet ($19 Value)

  • 25 Drum Mixing Resources to Improve Your Mixes Even Further
  • An Overview of Popular Sample Replacement Tools 
  • Where to Find Transient Designer Plug-ins
  • Resources for Practice Materials
  • Advice on Making Your Mixes Translate to Every Speaker

Bonus #2 - Practice Tracks ($50 Value)

  • In case you don't have any multi-tracks to practice your drum mixing, I've included a drum recording you can use to try out all the tips and tricks you read about inside the Drum Mix Toolkit.
  • Drum tracks include a drum track recorded in a home studio setting, with a kick, snare, under-snare, two tom mics, stereo overheads and a room microphone.

Bonus #3 - Percussion Toolkit: Make Your Percussion Shine Through ($29)

  • How to Use Arrangement Techniques to Make the Most of Your Percussion Sounds
  • Where to Pan Your Percussion to Make Your Mix Sound Wider
  • How to Use EQ and Compression on Shaker, Tambourine and Hand Drums
  • Three Easy-to-Use Effect Techniques to Create Depth and Space With Your Percussion and Make it Fit With Your Drum Mix

" found a lot of tricks and tips for mixing drums. I also realised that I had totally misunderstood what compression ratio is. Now everything is clear. I think that the book is easy to read. You did a serious and really good work...it helped me understand the way of thinking when mixing drums. And I think that was the most important. Every detail was helpful because I had previous knowledge for mixing drums but I was missing some important information on EQ and Compression which is now clearer. Transient Designers rock!!! I honestly can’t find something that I did not like. From the book and the way the content is presented in clear chapters to the incredible videos. Everything was great. Really good value for money.”"

Louis Georgiou
Musician/Engineer

Bonus #4: Vocal Effects Masterclass - Top 10 Vocal Processing Techniques for Pro Vocals ($49 Value)

The easiest way to make your vocals stand out in a song is the clever use of vocal effects to make the singer jump out the speakers.

Whether you’re looking for parallel processing tricks for larger vocals, cool slapback echoes, advanced double-tracking or aggressive megaphone effects, you’ll learn them in here.

The video will show you exactly what to do, and in which genres certain effects work better in than others. This masterclass is a collection of ten different vocal production tricks I use in multiple different genres – folk, rock, and punk to name a few – that help me make vocals stand out and sound more professional.

Bonus #5: Vocal Microphone Buyer’s Guide ($19 Value)

  • How to Find the Right Vocal Recording Microphone If You’re on a Budget.
  • The essential equipment you need to record professional vocals, even if you don’t have a huge budget or a pro studio

"...this is an excellent course in one of the most important aspect of recording, getting the vocals right. I like how in this course Björgvin goes through the whole process of recording vocals without skipping a beat, so to speak. He does not just talk about mic technique and mixing, although he has plenty of excellent tips on these subjects. He also talks about the importance of pre-production and making sure that the vocalist is comfortable in the studio, and how things that some engineers might not think about, like the lights, or the quality of the headphone mix can affect the mood and therefore the vocal performance. Overall this is an excellent course in one of the most important aspect of recording, getting the vocals right."

Haukur "Hawk" Palmason
Recording Engineer (Credits include symphony recordings for the TV show Vikings), Iceland

Frequently Asked Questions

As soon as you sign up you'll get access to the members area where you can access both the books, videos and bonuses. You can access the area from your computer or your smartphone.

Not at all. Follow the courses using whatever DAW you're most comfortable with. All of the mixing and production techniques I show you can be done with any DAW.

You sure can! But it'll mean a lot of searching for the right videos, wading through poorly explained techniques and watching a bunch of ads. You're more likely to bounce from one video to another, learning a lot of random, contradictory techniques (and watching a lot of ads), instead of one method to make better mixes. Instead, with the Drum Mix Toolkit and Expert Home Vocals, you'll get the most valuable techniques I've learned in the last 11 years of mixing drums and producing vocals, all in one place! With both your reference book and complementary videos (that are quick, concise and immediately practical), you'll get your one-stop-shop of solving the two most common problems in your home studio stud instead of wasting time on Youtube.

This focuses specifically on the two most common problems that are hindering your productions from sounding like the professional songs you compare your songs to.

Expert Home Vocals and the Drum Mix Toolkit do not require a huge time commitment but they will 100% improve the quality of your productions. All you need are a few hours to go through the eBooks and videos and you'll instantly have the knowledge you need to make better sounding music.

If you're booked with work, studies or other projects at the moment, you should still join the course today even if you're going to take it at a later date. I'm not sure when I'll offer it at such a big discount again and the course structure, bonuses or price may all be different at that point.

Imagine how much time you'll save in the future being able to easily mix drums and produce vocals? I would argue that you're wasting more time trying to figure this stuff out on your own instead of learning from somebody with over a decade of mixing experience.

Not at all. You can use any plug-ins you have in your DAW. EQ, compressor, reverb, delay and saturation plug-ins you have available. I use a combination of a few plug-ins which you probably have similar versions of so you can use whatever you have access to in your DAW to get great results.

Absolutely! The same processes apply when it comes to using EQ, compression, transient designers, reverb and other processors to make a good drum mix.  I use some one-shot kick and snare samples in one of the videos as well. In addition, sample replacement is pretty close to making things midi or using samples in a way. I use the home-recorded drums analogy and that type of recording in the tutorial because it's maybe a little harder to get a good sound from them than midi drums or samples. So if you can do that, you'll definitely be able to really level up your midi drums and hip-hop samples.

This is for anyone wanting to produce professional vocals and make better drum mixes. If you don't learn anything new because you're too advanced, you can always get your money back through my 100% satisfaction guarantee.

My students have used my materials to mix every style of music, from rock, country and folk to EDM, hip-hop and pop. 

You can use the tips and tricks inside the Drum Mix Toolkit for every genre. I mostly mix rock, folk, punk and metal. If you're an electronic music producer that only uses loops and samples you might not get as much out of the videos, although the practical production tips will help you improve the sound of any drum, electronically sampled or otherwise recorded.

Whatever genre you're working in, if you're recording, producing, editing and mixing vocals, Expert Home Vocals will help you out. 

A hobby is something you’re passionate about. An "amateur" musician is a lover of making music. If you want to be proud of the mixes you make in your free time as a hobby, you should know how to do it properly.

I started out doing live sound so I understand where you're coming from.

Even in live sound you have to get good drum mixes and powerful vocals, so this will definitely give you some pointers to take to the venue with you.

"Your training bundle helped my mixes a lot! Two techniques that come to mind are subtractive EQ and the proper use of reverb. I am currently working on a project with 20 plus tracks, many in the mid zone of the EQ (several string tracks, piano and a few guitars clean and dirty). With the help of your books I have cleaned up most of the mud. Anyway thanks for sharing your recording knowledge with us...have helped my recordings immensely! Before reading this material my mixes were dull and muddy. Thanks to this knowledge I have pulled them out of the muck and they sound more professional than ever.""

Paul Ranson
Project Studio Engineer

100% Risk-Free 365-Day Money-Back Guarantee

 

As with all of the Audio Issues products, Expert Home Vocals comes with a 100% risk-free money-back guarantee.

I promise that following the workflow inside Drum Mix Toolkit and Expert Home Vocals will make every drum mix and vocal production session easy to work on because you'll know exactly what to do to transform your amateur demos into powerful and professional productions.

There is a reason my students have told me that my training has "instantly improved their mixes." Your fans will love the new professional sounds you're releasing, and you'll impress every new client that comes to your studio because you'll easily show them how good you can make them sound.

You can go through all of the materials, watch all the videos and browse all the bonuses before you even make up your mind. You can try all the tricks and even keep the training for a full year before deciding whether you like them or not. If at any point you decide that Drum Mix Toolkit and Expert Home Vocals didn't skyrocket the quality of your productions, simply email me for a full refund, no questions asked nor strings attached!

"I take my guarantee very seriously. I am not interested in keeping your money if you don’t learn anything from what I’m creating for you.

So if you’re not happy, I’m not happy. Simple as that."

You Have Two Choices for Your Drum Mixes and Vocal Productions

Choice #1 - Improve Your Productions

If you join today, you'll learn a proven method I've used throughout my career to make professional-sounding drum mixes and vocal productions in my home studio, often using budget microphones and cheap gear. 

If you join today, you can say goodbye to any insecurity you may have about drum mixing. or vocal production from your home studio.

If you join today, you'll be a whiz at drums and vocals...GUARANTEED or your money back.

The worst-case scenario of learning from Drum Mix Toolkit and Expert Home Vocals? Pro vocals and punchy drum mixes from your home studio in less than a week.

Choice #2 - Do Nothing

If you do nothing, you'll keep getting the same shitty drum sounds and amateur sounding vocals that sound thin, harsh and uninspiring

If you do nothing, you won't know what to do when you need to knock that drum mix out of the park or coach an insecure singer to overcome their performance anxiety.

If you do nothing, you'll keep making the same mistakes over and over instead of following a proven method for professional drum mix and quality vocals.

The worst-case scenario from doing nothing? Feeling just as insecure about the quality of your songs six months from now, instead of publishing your productions and proudly sharing them with your friends and fans

 

"Some really good tips in there. All from small things as how long from or how close to the microphone should you be singing, and what does the different positions mean to the audio sound and quality. There are also great ideas on how to use EQ and compression to make the vocals sit better in the mix. Also more complex ideas like using side chaining on vocals is useful. I would say its and great overall guide that gives you an idea on how to record better vocals....you'll get some very great tips here.""

Kjell-Vidar Teig
Home Studio Musician, released Bag of Bones in 2019

"I just realized that, especially considering you have focused SO much time on recording/mixing/producing, that there's GOT to be some golden nuggets I'm gonna get from this class to really make my vocals more amazing. My only doubt was whether I would really learn something new. Well, in the email you sent out where you showed an example of your vocal bus, using the Stereo Spread plugin as a side-chain had never occurred to me! So that convinced me that, as usual, I don't know what I don't know, and for $100 I'm gonna get better. Actually, I already used that Stereo Spread on the side chain last night and I like the results better than having it on the main channel's bus (like I've always done before).”"

Rebecca De La Torre
Recording Engineer and Musician, Topkat Studios, Tempe, AZ

"You write and teach in a way that completely makes the concept or the task easy to understand. I just wanted to tell you that. Even though I have known these techniques for a while and are very familiar with them and I was looking for something more advanced, I found myself saying "wow, that's a great way to look at that" a lot...I think you are a great teacher and a great musician. Thank you for reminding me that I have at least grown a bit, but even more so, thank you for inspiring me and helping me to push forward, grow, organize, plan and to stay positive so many times through the writings in your emails. I really appreciate it!"

Daniel Po
Musician

My Promise to You: In Only a Few Hours You'll Learn Audio Techniques that Took Me Over a Decade to Learn...

No boring theory, just practical advice on how to create kick-ass drum sounds from your home recordings, taught with both written advice and supplemental videos.

Whether you're a novice beginner or a professional veteran, the techniques inside Drum Mix Toolkit and Expert Home Vocals are sure to give you brand new ideas to try out in your mixes.

Ready for Awesome Drum Mixes and Professional Vocals?

Once you finish the checkout process you'll be emailed your log-in information to access the members' area.

Drum Mix Toolkit and Expert Home Vocals

$97

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Drum Mix Toolkit ($49): In-Depth Reference eBook, drum mixing video package and two drum mix walkthroughs

Expert Home Vocals ($97): Detailed course workbook and video course with my step-by-step workflow on producing, recording, editing, and mixing professional vocals from your home studio, with easy to use techniques and detailed supporting images.

Free Bonuses ($166 Value): 

  • 25 Drum Mix Resource Sheet
  • Practice Drum Tracks
  • Percussion Toolkit
  • Top 10 Vocal Effects Masterclass
  • Vocal Microphone Buyer’s Guide
Click Here to Get Drum Mix Toolkit and Expert Home Vocals

Drum Mix Toolkit, Expert Home Vocals and EQ Strategies - Your Ultimate Guide to EQ

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Drum Mix Toolkit ($49)

Expert Home Vocals ($97)

Expert Home Vocals and Drum Mix Toolkit Bonuses ($166 Value)

PLUS:

  • EQ Strategies - Your Ultimate Guide To EQ eBook and Video Course ($147 Value) 

With Additional Free Bonuses Valued at $147:

  • Free Bonus Guide: How to Use EQ for Mastering Your Mixes ($19 Value)
  • Free Bonus Masterclass: 10 Ways to Use Compression Effectively ($29 Value)
  • Free Bonus Course: Quick Mixing and Mastering With Stock Plug-ins ($99 Value)
  • Free Checklist: 110 Mixing Tips to Create Awesome Mixes From Your Home Studio
Get Expert Home Vocals, Drum Mix Toolkit and EQ Strategies - Your Ultimate Guide to EQ
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