14 DAY TRIAL // It's been years since Steinberg became one of the elite software developers in the multimedia and especially audio software. Names like Halion, Virtual Guitarist, Wavelab, Nuendo or the world-renowned and top-choice for music production DAW, Cubase have truly made history.
Now, since not everyone is a sound engineer yet more and more people get their hands on such pieces of software and want to use them to results of grandeur, something more than the Readme's and the F1-pressing was needed.
The Cakewalk YouTube tutorials went one direction while Steinberg went another: rather than issuing small movies in low quality for the popular YouTube, they have built up a serious tutorial on mixing on DVD support which looks very promising as far as the first two volumes are concerned.
While Steinberg clearly stated that this is only the beginning of an extensive series of such text, video and audio materials, I can't but salute the exceptional idea of issuing pro-grade data to popularize and familiarize people with the inner workings of these softwares.
In English, German, French and Spanish, these DVDs contain extremely valuable data regarding Cubase and Nuendo, all in all 340 minutes of HD-filmed content.
Frank Siedel from Steinberg says about the Internal Mixing DVDs that "tutorials offer a huge wealth of information and support learning through highly detailed hands-on training sessions and practical examples. While this series is primarily for newcomers to digital music mixing, old hands will also find helpful hints and tips around workflow, advanced mixing techniques and high-end effect plug-ins."
Below is a chapter-list of the first two Internal Mixing discs, so you may get a bigger picture on what's cooking at Steinberg:
Vol. I (160 minutes)
-Defining the objective of the mix -The three dimensions -Tips for delivering the mix master to the mastering studio -More bits sound better! -The systematic approach - clarity and a good workflow for the mix -Working with groups -Compressing groups to save CPU and increase sound power -EQing groups to save resources and create "space" -Handling groups: What do I control via groups, and what via tracks? -Workflow overview -Summary of panning rules -Preventing phase interference -Breakdown of the frequency bands and their principle zones -Mixing a tight bass range -EQ basic rules -Common basic parameters of compressors and their use
Vol. II (180 minutes)
-Exercises with compressors -Layering with reverb and delay -Native and DSP-aided reverb devices -Pre-delay as a design component -EQing in reverb return as a design component -Layering strategies -Pre-fader or post-fader? -How many reverb devices do you need? Planning depth design -Additional aspect: Design and the use of Mute and Special FX -Automation -Processing single instruments -Microphone tracks -Refining loops (doubling, gating, compressing, reverbing) -Exercise in editing loops -EQing and compressing vocals -Special aspects concerning choruses
Now, I hope music all over the world will be better as these very cool tutorials reach the music production enthusiasts!
