Groove 3, “Mixing Rock ”......O.M.G.!!!!!

Let me tell you where you can go to “get your learn on”, find those loops that you need, or find some fun and cool apparel...... Groove 3

Groove 3 has a ton of great training videos, for musicians of all types, and all of which are top, top, top quality!! These training videos cover lots of topics such as some of the most commonly used DAW's, all sorts of plug ins (from Superior Drummer 2.0 and Auto tune , IK Multimedia plugs, right on down to Waves Plug ins, and even Melodyne), and also production, recording, and mixing videos. Heck, they also sell loops and even T-shirts too!

Introducing “Mixing Rock”, from Groove 3. But what is it, and what is included?

A training video, as taught by Multi-Platinum Engineer and Producer Kenny Gioia.

Mixing Rock contains 37 video training tutorials, with almost 7 hours total run time!!!!!!!!!

Mixing Rock is great for the beginner to intermediate producers and engineers.

Mixing Rock viewing Options: Online, Download, Boxed Disc, and iDevices.

“Mixing Rock ” is broken up into “categories”. It is almost laid out as a book might be, and in a perfect working order. The list of categories goes like this:

Introduction

Organize the session

Groups, Busses, and Effects

Technical issues

Basic Vocal/ Drum mix

Bass and keys

Guitars

Piano and mutes

Final vocal mix

Automation and final mix

Each “category” contains video titles underneath of itself. For example, under the category of “Organize the session”, the different training video choices are:

Markers

Track naming

Color coding

Track clean up

Re-Ordering tracks

I have been watching, no, scratch that..... I have been learning a lot as of late. I have been absolutely engrossed in these training videos, and just let me add that for all types of musical know how, Groove 3 is the place to be. The quality of the training videos found there is simply amazing, and the content is wonderful, and jam packed too!
Have you ever wanted to stand behind a rock and roll mixing engineer, and have him explain clearly each and every process as he mixes a song? If so, Mixing Rock is the training video to get.

It is all very well laid out. In fact, it is shot just as Kenny Gioia likes to work through a song mixing session.

Mixing Rock starts with a likely scenario. A mixing engineer (possibly you) gets a song emailed to him from a recording studio that needs to be mixed. Kenny Gioia , then, starts to work. Work begins by “setting it up” in Pro Tools. Learn how to quickly figure out just what is happening in a song, how to label the tracks so that you know what and where they are, and when and where to add some basic panning and volume adjustment.

As a note, I picked something very cool up from the very first video. Right from the start you learn just how important the “quick” keyboard shortcuts are. Making your work as fast and as easy for yourself as possible seems to be the name of the game here. Don't miss-read this, the pace is not too fast for the viewer to catch on, but, instead, Kenny Gioia shows you how to get around your mixes quickly. Weather mixing is a career or a hobby, you will want to make routine edits as fast as possible.

Kenny Gioia speaks as he works. I became completely engrossed in the Groove 3 training videos for this very reason. What am I learning? Well, Kenny Gioia actually tosses in a lot of extra information about just what it is he is adjusting, how it is done, and why he is doing it. Very well done! I am learning a lot of time saving tips, or new and quicker ways to edit my tracks. I am learning how to properly pan my tracks in order to get a nice, full, and exciting mix. I am learning to use busses and sends while mixing, just to make life a lot easier. I am sure that if you spend your days mixing songs as a profession, then speed is your friend. I do not spend my days just mixing, but I will now use these tricks to both speed up my work flow, and make life easier and less confusing while mixing.

Things started to change for me by the fourth video. I was starting to learn bigger things, things that I have been doing myself, but just not as well as I could have been doing them. I learned a lot about using templates, effect sends and returns, and even about the “solo safe” trick found in Pro Tools. Let's not forget all of the things that I did not know too, like the pre/post fader tips that I learned in this one single video. This is all very big for me, as I need to squeeze every bit of power out of my software, and into my mixes! This alone was worth the price of Groove 3 “Mixing Rock ”.

I thought that I knew a lot about using, or creative application of effects. I was wrong. I have now (since watching “Mixing Rock ”) learned four times what I had ever known before. Kenny Gioia is a master of his craft. Not only does he know how to make great effects loops, but he shows the viewer how to make the best effect loops by just being creative with your DAW's features. Brilliant stuff here. This is what separates “Mixing Rock ” from any other training video that I have ever watched.

I get a lot of compression questions here at the Home Recording Weekly blog. I like to think that I have compressors understood, and I still think that I do. However, I learned how to use all types of compression while watching “Mixing Rock ”, as well as how to use multiband compression, and all in order to get that polished professional sound that we all want so badly. This video will take some re-watching, but that is the best part about Groove 3 training videos, and Mixing Rock , you can watch them all again and again.
This sort of intense learning continues on and on, as you continue on with the videos in Mixing Rock. Some of the ongoing topics range from timing issues, and fixing timing issues using elastic audio, and all about fixing them in multi mic'd sessions mind you! Tuning minor vocal issues are addressed, and in the spirit of teaching, the great tips continue. Through out these videos, Kenny Gioia not only opens up most of his favorite plug ins to enhance and/or fix tracks, but he delivers some very solid tips on some of the most commonly used plug inns. Plug ins that we probably all have, or we all have access to. Little tips, and great big tips alike, and these are the things that make Mixing Rock shine.

Kenny Gioia explains why he mixes the way that he does. He mixes the main vocal first, and then he jumps on to the drums. This particular mixing order never made sense to me, but Kenny explained just why he does this, and now I will do it his way too. It is all about getting a great, “matching space environment” sort of feel, and he gets it that way with you looking over his shoulder. Thanks so much Kenny Gioia!!!

Overall, besides learning more than I thought ever existed, Kenny Gioia shows us how to get every single ounce of sound and tone out of our tracks by using every trick and every plug in that he likes to use. He uses and teaches us how to apply sends, returns, tracks of all types, buss tracks, groups, fades, Elastic Audio, all sorts of effects from echo to ping pong delays, delay compensation, Transient modulators, EQ's, EQ's that act as Gates, Compressors, panning, low and high pass filters on EQ's, and just about everything else that you can (or can not) think of.

Kenny Gioia sets up his effects as a template, which I found interesting. He explains why he chooses to do things this way, and then continues on mixing. This comes back and makes perfect sense towards the end of the Mixing Rock training videos, as he automates the effects with us. So, if you don't think things should be done this way, just sit back and let Kenny Gioia show you how, and why he does it like he does.

Not only does Kenny Gioia add the “sonic magic”, but he demonstrates the techniques he has learned along the way as he works. He “tunes us in” to how we can achieve tight, and right sounding tracks using modest effect levels. I loved watching Mixing Rock the first time through, and I will continue to love it as I watch it again and again. I want all of this precious information to stick in my mind!

Some things that I have never done, but now feel confident doing are applying parallel bus compression, adding drum hit samples to multi mic'd drum sessions, using delay compensation, and writing automation. What an incredible look into a great rock mixing session! I really enjoyed learning how Kenny Gioia uses automation to make a song “Breathe”, or to come alive. Kenny Gioia also details the many different ways that he writes automation, which I needed to see. I use automation, sure, but just not as creatively as Kenny Gioia does. I will from now on though!

Here is the bottom line...... Groove 3 has a whole inventory of amazing training videos. A lot of “learning” mixing engineers, right down to hobbyist folks just like You and I, can learn a lot from watching Mixing Rock . The training video is the best way to learn, in my humble opinion, well, other than being able to actually be there and ask questions. The video and the audio quality is top shelf, and the price is very low. You get a whole lot of incredible information, from a professional (Kenny Gioia), for a low price. What could be better?

Last of all, if you can't decide which items you want, or you are like me and want them all, you might want to opt for a subscription, in the form of an “All acess webb pass” from Groove 3 . All acess webb pass start at just 29.99 for a full 30 days! How much could you learn in 30 days? A lot!