Template Mixing and Mastering

Billy Decker Simon Taylor
Audio production is an incredibly rewarding craft. To take the raw, basic tracks of a fledgling idea and shape them into one glorious stereophonic sound wave is an amazing feat. 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, time-consuming and sometimes disappointing without the right approach and skills. In Template Mixing and Mastering, renowned mix engineer Billy Decker tackles the challenges of in-the-box production through his innovative template approach. He shares his passion and knowledge from over twenty years of industry experience, including an introduction to templates and 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. This book features the full template used on sixteen No 1 records!
Template Mixing and Mastering by Billy Decker Simon Taylor

About the author

Billy Decker has been a leading mix engineer in Nashville, USA, for more than twenty years. Billy mixes quickly using a mix template, completing around 1000 songs each year. 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. He has been a member of the music industry for over twenty years and has qualifications in music technology and advanced recording techniques.

Press Reviews

This book is a gift of gratitude to anyone that wants to take a step into out-of-this-world sounding songs.

- Rodney Atkins, multi-million selling recording artist

This book is accessible and engaging, with plenty of pithy one-liners that make serious and thought-provoking points. Essential reading for anyone interested in improving their mixing skills, and streamlining their working methods.

- Paul Tingen

Some absolute gems of advice to pick up here. The brilliant and clear way everything is presented and the actual (hallelujah!) settings for your template laid out for you, make this essential for any mix engineer, or anyone striving to be one.

- Computer Music Review

The book is also an excellent reference for identifying frequencies a pro mixer will often cut or boost on certain instruments; I always nodded my head at Billy’s choices. Throughout the book there are a lot of thoughts and practices that will help a mix engineer keep their focus, searching for “feel” as opposed to “perfection.” There really is a lot of information packed into these 126 pages.

- Larry Crane reviewer Tape Op

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