I actually watch all of the videos in the course multiple times so I’ll go ahead and give a very brief review.
Song selection 7.5/10
Maybe it’s just my taste or the fact that I heard the same riff over 1000 times (not to complain I learned a lot and am really grateful. In fact in the video Brian jokingly apologized and mentioned that he’s sick of hearing the same riff over and over, I thought “don’t apologize at all I’d rather familiarize myself with this song/riff and learn a bunch, than have nothing at all)
I know Brian didn’t track the song himself but I just wasn’t into the song all that much. Though they weren’t, the guitars felt a little sloppy, certain vocals were clipping before FX. I kind of wish that Brian not only did track the song himself but the style was a little more of the more popular bands you have mixed. That is the reason my home studio enthusiast friends who purchased the course like myself were introduced t you to begin with.
Mixing Content 8/10
Honestly the content in this course is pretty amazing. Scratch that, It’s indispensable. One of the main things I’ve always played guesswork with is vocals. After finishing the segment on vocals I can honestly say I’m much more confident mixing vocals than I was before the fact.
Couple of “opportunity areas”
-The drum mixing though very insightful are geared more towards mixing the samples in this course and/or the samples that he provides in the course. The course is promoted as a mixing course yet Brian just shows you how he mixed that song and his samples and some VMR samples. As opposed to “This is usually why I like to boost here on snares etc.” He does talk about where he likes to cut all his tracks and a couple more Brian Hood mixing staples but they are brief and seldom. It’s mostly “I did this on this track, I boosted here, I cut here. Next” It kind of leaves you finishing the course thinking “Ok I’ll just mix with these samples, this way save it as a template and adjust from there depending on style”
The same applies to the style of music. At one point he mentions how cleaner pretty boy vocals (paraphrasing) you’d use softer compression and/or different reverb. Which leaves the people who write/Mix that style of music exclusively, at a disadvantage.
Now my biggest gripe is with the guitar editing. Which if you want to get a littler indirect with it, affect’s the perceived guitar tone (as Brian mentioned) when mixing. Which is exactly why I wish he would have covered that more. I know the course is just a mixing course but let’s think realistically. There a probably a majority of people in my situation. I use drum samples entirely. I use a bass VST “FTS Edge” (sick by the way) cause I’m not a bassist but I know what I want to write and record so that tool is indispensable. For guitars I use very good quality guitar, great pickups, and a class A D.I. box because I realized a long time ago the main thing that sticks out of your mix when using samples of drums that were recorded with very expensive microphones on a very expensive console, in a very expensive room, and with a Bass plugin of an expensive Warrick or American jazz; Your $300 guitar with stock pickups and no D.I box sounds like utter garbage. It sticks out of the mix like a sore thumb. So if you primarily a sample based musician/producer/mixer. The main thing you need to take hold of is the quality of your guitar and how you edit it. Since I feel like there a probably a lot of people with that circumstance, I wish Brian would have covered that just a little more than a couple minutes. Again I know it’s a mixing course, I just think it would have been nice to have as well. –Maybe future content?
Guitars- Ok so I’m kind of mixed on my feelings of the guitar mixing course and I’ll tell you why. My guitar tone sounds better than it’s ever been, it’s amazing. But only with Brian’s impulses and the exact settings he used in the anchor tone. I know why Brian EQ’s the low-mids of his cab impulse the way he does because he explains it and talks about how you need to search for the cut (resonant) area in each cab if any. The high cut dip I forget if he explains that but I’m used to sucking out 4k and doing small dips and HP 100/150 and LP 8/9k I’m always wrestling with my guitar tone. His settings on his impulse just work. Using the same settings even in principle (searching for the low-mid cut if any and leaving the high cut dip or sweeping it around if the impulse needs it just sounds terrible on even other mesa Impulses I have. So yes my tone is infinitely better. But only with his impulses ..very ambivalent feeling, wish he covered guitar tone mixing a little more.
Overall course 9.5/10
The course was amazing. I learned so much wishing there was more content when it was done. Great Job Brian!
