Hi everyone — I’m teaching beginner production students about the vocal chain, and I’ve been using parts of your EQ and compression videos as teaching material. They’ve been incredibly effective — my students really started to hear what those tools are doing, so thank you for that. Now I’m moving on to saturation, and I’d love some advice from the community on how best to teach this concept at a beginner level. Here’s my challenge: Many of my students are working in GarageBand or BandLab (free version), where there isn’t a plug-in explicitly labeled “Saturation.” Instead, we’re relying on Overdrive or Distortion plug-ins and using them very subtly to achieve a saturation-type effect. I'm going to emphasizing that: - Saturation is about harmonic richness and warmth, not audible distortion - Less is more, especially for vocals - If you can clearly hear distortion, it’s probably too much That said, saturation feels more abstract to students than EQ or compression, and I want to make sure I’m explaining it in a way that clicks — especially when the tools don’t look like what they see in professional DAWs. Could you give me some advice on - How do you explain saturation in simple, musical terms? - Do you recommend introducing it early in the vocal chain, or waiting until students have stronger ears? - Any tips for demonstrating saturation effectively when using overdrive/distortion instead of dedicated saturation plug-ins? Appreciate any insight — I want to make sure I’m setting my students up with solid fundamentals without overwhelming them. Thanks again for all the great educational content.

Hi everyone. I’ve just finished mastering this mix and I’d really appreciate some constructive feedback. The main issue I encountered was a lack of high-end, so I added some using the Clariphonic. However, I’m not sure if I pushed it too far. I’d also love to hear your thoughts on the overall balance. Please note that this is not my song—I don’t have access to the multitracks, so I’m unable to go back to the mix.Thanks.

I end up creating a quick mix of tracks for my students and often with headphones, but when I listen back in the car, it's just not the best. (sigh). Please give me any advice possible from the type of headphones I should use to any tricks with the volume balance. I have 3 different headphones, Sony MDR-7506, DT770pro80d7 and HD280Pro.

Joining this community was truly one of the best things I did in 2025. We still have a couple more hours until midnight here in Los Angeles, and I’m feeling so grateful. Here’s to all the new knowledge, inspiration, and production/mixing techniques I’ll be learning in the year ahead 🥰

Welcome to any new members! Introduce yourself below and tell us about: - Why you love music - Where you’re at in your audio/production journey - What you can help people with - What you’re looking to get out of this community Take it away!