Template Mixing and Mastering: The Ultimate Guide to Achieving a Professional Sound

The transformation from analogue to digital dominance has brought many advances in sound quality and new techniques, but producing digital music with only a standard computer and DAW can be problematic and time-consuming without the right approach and skills. Here, renowned mix engineer Billy Decker tackles the challenges of in-the-box production through his innovative template approach. He shares an introduction to templates, a step-by-step guide to their set-up and a discussion of drum replacement technology. Channel and setting information for each of the drum, instrument, and vocal sections of his template is discussed along with the master channel and his methodology of mixing and mastering. Finally, he gives professional advice and best practice.

Billy Decker has been a leading mix engineer in Nashville, TN for more than 20 years. He has mixed multiple Billboard No. 1 singles and accredited sales of albums containing his mixes total over 25 million copies. Simon Taylor is a British music creator and educator. Rodney Atkins is a country music singer and songwriter.