module specification

This module introduces the fundamental knowledge and practices surrounding the mixing and mastering of music and audio projects in digital audio workstations. By taking this module, you will be introduced to professional tools, plug-ins and practices, as well as strategies for mixing music more efficiently and effectively.

You will learn through engagement in a series of workshops, developing your skills in frequency equalisation (EQ), compression, gain staging and balancing levels and panorama, ultimately working towards a final mixing and mastering project.

You will have the opportunity to breakdown existing multitrack mixes, investigating how professional mixing engineers approach mixing different styles and genres, in order to get the best results. You will develop both critical and analytical listening skills through the analysis of reference songs and examples, allowing you to apply creative approaches more effectively in your own music.

By exploring mastering, you will have gained a solid understanding of the quality control process in the final stages of music production, ensuring that your audio projects across your studies will hold up to professional levels and technical standards.

On completion of the module, you will have gained the basic knowledge, skills and practices of studio-based audio production, allowing you to develop them further at level 5.

Aims of the module:
• To provide students with key knowledge in managing gain staging and audio levels within a digital environment.
• To develop students’ understanding of the processes of mixing and mastering with professional level DAW’s (digital audio workstations), including compression, EQ and balancing of signals.
• To develop students’ ability to describe working processes and to present work-in-progress for different audiences.
• To develop students’ ability to be analytical, reflective and critical.
• To introduce career pathways in audio engineering, such as mixing and mastering.

• Practical applications of acoustics and digital audio principles in approaches to mixing and mastering music. (LO2)
• Mix preparation, audio editing and gain staging. (LO2, 3)
• Methodical approaches to mixing music, breaking down the steps required. (LO2, 3)
• Dynamics processing: compression; expansion; limiters; noise gates. (LO1, 2, 3)
• Frequency Equalisation: filters; noise reduction; balancing; creative EQ. (LO1, 2, 3)
• Spatial processing: reverbs; delays; wideners; Haas effect. (LO1, 2, 3)
• Describing audio projects in technical and critical terms. (LO1, 4)

Students will learn in a series of lectures and seminars and workshops, focussing on the fundamental principles of mixing in the first 6 weeks. These sessions will develop in complexity, gaining more practical exercises as the module progresses.

By breaking down the processes of frequency equalisation, compression and gain staging into separate tasks, a scaffolded approach to students learning is taken. This will ultimately allow them to complete a major project in mixing and mastering, through a step by step, methodical approach developed.

Students will be introduced to examples of multitrack projects in a range of DAW’s exploring existing mixes and reflecting upon the approaches taken. The VLE (Weblearn) will be used as a repository for audio projects and exercises, with which the students will engage with each week.

Blended learning is achieved through engagement with the VLE, online reading lists, lecture recordings and weekly exercises.

On completion of this module, students should be able to:

LO1. Demonstrate the evaluation and analysis of reference examples, working towards mixing and mastering audio and music projects of their own.
LO2. Apply understanding and knowledge of theoretical principles in mixing and mastering. 
LO3. Demonstrate effective strategies working independently with multitrack audio projects.
LO4. Describe their work technically and critically, with context to wider issues relating to music production.

https://rl.talis.com/3/londonmet/lists/48D14420-AF2F-DE5C-4116-D4CDF7879452.html?lang=en&login=1

Core Reading:
• Corey, J. (2017). Audio production and critical listening: Technical ear training (Second edition.). Focal Press.
• Gibson, D. (2019). Art of mixing: A visual guide to recording, engineering, and production (Third edition). Routledge.
• Göknar, E. (2020). Major label mastering: Professional mastering process. Routledge.
• Huber, D. M., & Runstein, R. E. (2018). Modern recording techniques (Ninth edition.). Routledge.
• Owsinski, B. (2017). The mastering engineer’s handbook (Fourth edition.). Bobby Owsinski Media Group.
• Owsinski, B. (2022). The mixing engineer’s handbook (Fifth edition.). Bobby Owsinski Media Group.
• Moylan, W. (2015). Understanding and crafting the mix: The art of recording (Third edition.). Focal Press.