7 Steps to Pro

Mixes at Home
Get the Complete Framework for Making
Radio-Ready Music in Your Home Studio
ROB MAYZES
• Professional musician &
engineer

• Founder of Musician on a
Mission

• Recording and mixing at home

for almost 15 years
ROB MAYZES
• I help musicians to make
professional sounding music at
home…

• So they can have the

confidence to share their music
and in many cases take the next
step towards a full-time career

• To help people do that really fast

I focus on keeping it simple,
breaking everything down so it’s
straightforward and easy to
understand
My goal on this webinar…
Is to outline every single step
between your current level of
quality and radio-ready mixes.
So you know precisely what you
need to do in order to improve.
 Most people are missing a
FRAMEWORK, so that’s what I’m
going to give you today.
 TODAY’S WEBINAR
• The7 fundamental steps that every home studio owner must go through in
order to produce professional sounding music

• The only 3 things that matter if you want to reach studio quality

• Why people get stuck on “bedroom demo” quality and can’t seem to improve (but
don’t know why)

• The only 7 plugins you’ll ever need

• How to find the right frequency to boost or cut with EQ (using my weird technique
called “turning it up to 11” which I’ll demonstrate in my DAW)

• At
the end of the webinar, I’ll invite you to work with us on a deeper level and give
you more info about that
 I’m giving this information away
today because it’s my goal to make
it possible for ANYONE to make
professional-quality music at home.
But you might be wondering…
 “Who the hell is this Rob Mayzes
guy and why should I listen to him?”
I could tell you my whole story…
 But this isn’t about me, it’s about
YOU and my goal is to help you as
much as possible over the next hour.
Still, I understand that you need to
see at least some of my credibility…
So let me just play some mixes real
quick so you know you can trust
what I’m telling you.
www.robmayzes.com
I get results for other people too.
With that out of the way, let’s
dive in…
This will all make sense in a few
minutes.
But first, why record at home? Why
not just go to a studio?
You already have your reasons…
But there is an even bigger shift
happening in the music industry.
 The New Music Industry
• There’s an industry paper called the “IFPI Global Music Report”.

• Accordingto this year's report, digital revenues (like streaming and downloads) now make up 58.9% of the
entire music industry. In 2019, that was $11.2 billion.

• For
comparison, in 2004 digital revenues only accounted for $0.4 billion. And at the start of 2003, downloads
and streaming didn’t even exist.

• The music industry has completely changed in the last decade.

• In
the old industry, to make a living you had to have a record deal and huge sums of cash, or you had to be a
really high profile engineer/producer.

• Now? You can distribute your music and start collecting revenue from downloads and streaming for just $1
(using a service like LANDR).

• Or you can offer services to the countless independent musicians out there.

• Home recording fits in perfectly with the new music industry. Anyone can make music, share it and get noticed.
So, home recording is awesome. But
that doesn’t make it easy…
A lot of people seem to get stuck at
“bedroom demo” quality and aren’t
sure what they’re doing wrong.
 In my opinion, this happens because
people get distracted by tips and tricks,
advanced techniques, and shiny objects
like plugins and new gear…
When it’s actually the fundamentals that
matter most.
 All of this, combined with huge
number of people teaching this stuff,
makes it all incredibly overwhelming.
 This is called shiny object syndrome
and it’s the #1 issue that self-recording
musicians face today.
 Shiny Object Syndrome
• Constantly getting distracted by new techniques and tricks, new
plugins, new gear, and a host of other distractions.

• Trying to learn absolutely everything.

• Most people are only doing this in their spare time, so it becomes really
challenging.

• Instead, you need to have FOCUS.

 It’s about doing less, not more. It’s
about focusing on 1 thing at a time, not
1001 different things…
So, when it comes to making high-
quality music at home, you want to
focus on 1-3 things. And that’s it.
In fact, here are those three things…
First, what does “source material
mean”?
The tracks that you’re working with
when you start mixing.
 i.e. vocal recording, any other recorded
tracks, drum samples, any other
samples, dry guitar tracks, amp
simulator settings, synths, sound design
Get all of this sounding awesome
BEFORE you start mixing.
Now, we don’t have time to go DEEP
into every 7 steps…
 So instead I’m going to give you an
overview of each step, and we’re going
to dive deeper into the mixing step
when I open up my DAW.
STEP 1 - Gear
 When it comes to setting up a home
studio, you need to avoid shiny object
syndrome.
Recommended Gear
• Any DAW 
 • Headphones 


• Audio Interface 
 ◦ Samson SR350 


◦ Sennheiser HD600s 

◦ Focusrite 2i2 

• Monitor Speakers 

◦ Apollo Twin 

◦ KRK Rokit 5 

• Microphone 

◦ Yamama HS80M or HS8 

◦ Rode NT1

◦ Focal Solo6 Be 

◦ Se2200a switchable 

• Software 

• Microphone Cable 

◦ Amp sim - Bias FX and AMP, Scuffman S-Gear 

• Microphone Stand 
 ◦ Drum software - EZdrummer, SSD5 

• Pop Shield ◦ Virtual instruments - Native Instruments
 For most people here, I'd imagine
you've already got those things. If not,
it's going to be pretty easy and
affordable.
STEP 2 - Remove the Room
Your room is holding you back because it
wasn’t built to be a studio.
You should add acoustic treatment your
room, but also do whatever you can to
remove the room from the equation.
 Removing the Room
• Use drum samples and software instead of recording drums.

• Use amp simulators instead of recording real amps.

• Use virtual instruments and VSTs (e.g. piano) wherever possible.

• Use guerrilla acoustic treatment to kill the reverb in the room when recording (we’ll come back to
this later).

• Usecardioid microphones, as they reject sound from the rear and effectively remove half the
room.

• Then, when it comes to mixing, use headphones as well as monitors.

• Withall this being said, the best thing you can do is buy or build acoustic treatment for your
studio. Go to GIK Acoustics and get a free assessment or search “DIY acoustic panels”.
STEP 3 - Vocal Recording
Since this is such a focal point within the
song and the mix…
 Getting the lead vocal right can have a
SIGNIFICANT impact on the rest of the mix.
There are no “shortcuts” here, so this is
something you need to get right if you
want your mixes to sound pro.
 Studio-Level Vocals
• Get it right in recording phase instead of focusing on mixing. A poorly
recorded vocal will never sound professional.

• Back off the mic to get a more consistent tone and make the vocal
brighter. I tell this to about 2/3 of students when I hear their raw tracks.

• Use a big room and get away from walls. DO NOT use your closet.

• Then use guerrilla treatment to kill the reverb in that room and get a
drier sound.
STEP 4 - 7 Plugins
After you have the right gear, you remove
the room as much as possible, and you
record great sounding vocals…
You have good source material.
But now you need to mix the track - and
this is where most people stumble.
 So, this is the step we’re going to spend
more time on, because mixing is the most
complex part of the process.
Let me open up my DAW for this step…
STEP 5 - Mix Philosophy
So, focus on mastering those 7 plugins.
Then, all you need to do is approach the
mix in the right way.
The most important thing here is to have a
workflow. A “system” that you can apply to
every mix.
 You also need to have a clear
understanding of the goals of the mixing
process…
GOAL #1 = Balance
GOAL #2 = Emotion
STEP 6 - Focus Mindset
Make sure you're spending your time and
energy on the right things.
You also need to focus on the right things
in the learning process. These 7 steps are
the framework. But there’s more…
STEP 7 - Learning Loop
If you want to get to pro mixes FAST, you
need these 4 key aspects.
1 - Framework
2 - Practice
3 - Feedback
4 - Guidance
1 - Framework 2 - Practice

4 - Guidance 3 - Feedback
 Framework
• You need a proven workflow for the production process.

• You also need a plan or “blueprint” for the learning process.

• So, focus on the things we covered today, and don’t get distracted by
shiny objects.

• On top of everything we have covered here, you also need a

framework for using each tool (instead of a bunch of tips and tricks).
 Practice
• “An ounce of practice is generally worth more than a ton of theory” -
ERNST F. SCHUMACHER

• None of it matters if you don’t execute.

• Watching YouTube videos and never implementing what you learn is

like trying to learn guitar without ever picking up a damn guitar.
 Feedback
• You need a professional to listen and say “this is what you’re doing
right, this is what you’re doing wrong”

• If you ever feel like you’re doing everything right, but it doesn’t sound
like in your head, and you have no idea why… you need to get
feedback from a pro.

• When you’re too immersed in your own mixes and music, it’s impossible
to be objective. But it’s easy for somebody else.
 Guidance
• This one is tricky because it’s really hard to find now, but ideally you need
to find somebody who can help you with the really specific stuff.

• Sometimes it’s hard to apply what you learn to your own music, and your
own genre or style, so it helps to have a professional you can ask
questions.

• Music is so subjective and varies so much that it’s impossible to cover

every genre and situation when teaching.

• So you need some who can cover those areas that cannot be covered in
any form of mass teaching. Basically, you need personal guidance.
1 - Framework 2 - Practice

4 - Guidance 3 - Feedback