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Mixing & Mixcraft

10 sessions · Tuesdays, Thursdays · 2hr each

Advanced mixing with a real engineer

You know your DAW. You understand signal flow and basic effects. Now learn how to actually mix — decisions about balance, space, dynamics, and movement that turn a tracked session into a finished record.

18 chapters of ground covered

Monitoring and listening — calibrating your room and ears before touching a fader
Mix philosophy — developing an approach to each song, not a fixed chain you paste on everything
Compression in depth — parallel, sidechain, multiband, deessing. Multiple weeks on dynamics because most mixing problems are really dynamics problems
EQ as sculpting — surgical vs. tonal, subtractive first, and when to reach for a shelf vs. a bell
Reverb, delay, and spatial effects — placing elements in a believable space, managing depth without washing things out
Mixing by instrument — drums, bass and low end, guitars and synths, vocals. Each has its own chapter because each has its own problems
Automation and movement — volume rides, filter sweeps, effect throws, and using automation to shape a mix over time rather than setting levels and walking away
Mastering and delivery — reference tracks, loudness targets, and preparing your mix for release

Prerequisites: DAW proficiency, basic understanding of effects and signal flow. If you took Core Skills and the Mix Primer, you're ready.

Building This Class

Mar 30, 2027 – Apr 29, 2027

Tuesdays, Thursdays, 4 PM Pacific | 7 PM Eastern | 12 AM UK

10 × 2hr classes

$620.00 includes 2 mo. residency

I'm a current resident $450.00

What's a residency?

Residency is your Beat Kitchen membership —$85/mo or $700/yr. It includes office hours, gyms, beat challenges, and a community of producers on Discord.

Non-residents can take any class — residency months are bundled into the price. If you're already a resident, check the box above and you'll see the lower class-only price.

Learn more about residency →

Other start dates and times (1 more)

More Dates

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Jan 2, 2028 – May 21, 2028 Sundays, 10 AM Pacific | 1 PM Eastern | 6 PM UK

3 in queue

Building This Class

Mixcraft

Time to MIX! Once you understand the tools, the rubber hits the road here

Sundays, 10 AM Pacific | 1 PM Eastern | 6 PM UK

Jan 2, 2028 - May 21, 2028

20 x 1hr Classes • 4 Seats Available

Are you a current BKS resident?

No Yes

$960.00

* This price includes 6 months required BKS Residency

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Building This Class

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What students say

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In the month of June, I joined a free zoom workshop called “Music Theory for Producers and Engineers” where I got to meet Nathan. I wasn’t expecting much, as I have joined other workshops from other businesses in the past, but I was

—Rich, Switzerland

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Nathan it’s a really great teacher and really cares about people understanding everything he explains :)

—Shantal, Miami, FL

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Great resource! Super friendly! I’ll continue to check out Beat Kitchen offerings.

—Sam, Los Angeles, CA

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great instructor!

—Sunita, California

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I took the “FX, Synthesis, and Mix Primer” class, and it was amazing! This class covers all types of effects, such as EQ, reverb, delay, compression, tremolos, phasers, etc. Not only does the class teach what the effects are and how to use

—Eric, Wisconsin

Explore Classes

Office Hours Weekly. Ask questions, get help, and connect. Included with residency. Production Gym Weekly. Production breakdown of your favorite songs. Included with residency. Theory Gym Weekly. Morning music theory workout. Included with residency. Ear Training Weekly. Test your ears and discuss — music, mixing, and more. Included with residency. Instrument Gym Weekly. Practice and workout on instruments. Included with residency. Weekly Beat Review Weekly. Listen to Beat Challenge song ideas together. Included with residency.

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Electronic Music Kitchen Master electronic music production fundamentals. Learn trance, bass music, EDM composition techniques, MIDI programming, … Hip Hop Kitchen Learn to create unique hip hop beats with professional structure, sound design, and mixing techniques. Master looping, … Orchestral Kitchen Master orchestral production techniques including articulation, arrangement, and realistic programming for brass, … Session Player Kitchen Learn professional session player techniques and realistic instrument programming. Master drums, guitars, bass … Soundtrack Kitchen Learn film scoring and soundtrack composition techniques. Master orchestral production, sound design, and music for … Vocal Kitchen Learn professional vocal recording, production, and processing techniques. Master microphone placement, vocal chains, …

Beat Building Jam Workshop ideas into songs. Peer feedback. Instructor support. Prep for production Mix & Production Incubator Workshop ideas into songs. Peer feedback. Instructor support. Prep for production Recording Incubator Songwriting Incubator Workshop ideas into songs. Peer feedback. Instructor support. Prep for production

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Recording Studio Masterclass Hands-on recording studio masterclass with professional equipment. Learn large format consoles, studio etiquette, and … Songwriter Masterclass Master songwriting techniques with professional composers. Learn melody writing, chord progressions, song structure, … Synthesist Masterclass Advanced synthesis masterclass covering wavetable, granular, FM synthesis, and sound design. Learn professional …

Beat Kitchen At-A-Glance

Beat Ktichen Calendar

See the full calendar
Recent Resident Gyms
- OFFICE HOURS: We talked about some guitar problems that Christian was having, and also we talked about signal processing and gain staging. I referenced an article I wrote about 'The Gear of Shoegaze', as Christian was experimenting with getting that style tone for his guitar. We also discussed arrangements, listening habits, and also what synch agencies are and how they work with music in film.
- OFFICE HOURS: We introduced Hinde to some things about Beat Kitchen, and she got to meet Alee. We talked about what office hours are for, and ways to find things around Dischord. Alee and I talked about her song that she was working on and thinking of songwriting in terms of cycles of the year. Also possible beat kitchen meet ups!
- EAR-TRAINING-GYM: We worked through a full ear training gym this morning covering timbre identification, effects recognition, classic drum machine sounds, and melodic interval training. Students listened to and identified three flavors of electric guitar (dry, amped, and amped with effects), steel-string vs. nylon-string acoustic guitar, reverb vs. delay, and four iconic drum machines — the TR-808, TR-909, LinnDrum, and Prince's LD variant. We closed with a pitch warm-up and interval identification exercise, then applied everything to a brief listening analysis of Herbie Hancock's *Headhunters*.
- PRODUCTION-GYM: We broke down unique production techniques on The Beatles' Tomorrow Never Knows. First analyzing the vocal doubling and stereo techniques, covering a range of tools and approaches — from natural doubles to pitch-shifted harmonies — and discussed how to use doublers to blend a vocal into a mix rather than letting it sit on top. The conversation also touched on cymbal/room mic relationships and how compression choices affect the openness and ring of overhead sounds. Reference listening came up as a recurring thread, with discussion around actively analyzing records to sharpen production instincts.
- EAR-TRAINING-GYM: We set out this evening to explore an ear training exercise built around drum-swap comparisons — taking a recognizable song and replacing its original drum track with drums from other songs to hear how groove and texture shape the feel of a piece. Technical audio-sharing issues prevented the planned playback from happening, so the session shifted into open conversation while troubleshooting was attempted. The drum-swap concept and its creative/educational potential were introduced and will be revisited in a future session once the audio routing is sorted out.
- INSTRUMENT-GYM: We explored the intersection of sight-reading, improvisation, and musical fluency, using a jazz standard transcription as a springboard for discussing how to build vocabulary on guitar. Covered the language-learning analogy as a framework for understanding immersion versus structured study, and talked through practical approaches like slowing down transcriptions, playing over chord changes with single chord tones, and using cover projects as vehicles for deep musical study. Discussed how to narrow down long-term goals into short-term actionable targets, and previewed a future jam exercise where we'd work on improvising melody over moving changes.
- OFFICE HOURS: We worked through the Logic Pro signal chain hierarchy — channel strip settings, plugin-level presets, and the lesser-used Performance patch format — clarifying when and why to save at each level. Covered the general philosophy of starting with a blank slate rather than loading full library presets, and discussed field recording as a creative practice including microphone options for capturing real-world ambience.
- OFFICE HOURS: Covered a wide-ranging office hours session this afternoon that touched on server navigation, class placement guidance, music theory pedagogy, and live song feedback. Worked through a student's original song in detail — addressing chord naming, enharmonic spelling, and how a single unresolved voicing choice was affecting the feel of a key moment. Also spent time orienting newer members to how the school's platform works and discussing how to get the most out of available classes and formats.
- OFFICE HOURS: Worked through practical signal chain troubleshooting for electric guitar in a DAW environment — covering gain staging from interface input through amp and cabinet modeling, and how to identify where level issues are actually originating. Also touched on a music theory question around tonal gravity and key center, exploring why a chord progression built in A tends to pull toward D when it starts on the IV chord, and what techniques can help establish the intended tonic. Discord audio-sharing and screen-sharing workflows came up briefly as well.
- PRODUCTION-GYM: We used Tom Petty's *Wildflowers* as a production study, comparing the original home demo recordings to the final album to explore what restraint and omission look like as intentional production choices. The central question was: when a song arrives nearly fully formed, what is the producer's job — and why did they choose to leave certain things out? We also touched on the folk and blues traditions of shared musical vocabulary, the placeholder nature of demo sections, and the producer's role in helping an artist gain objectivity on their own work.
Learn more about Residency
Upcoming Resident Events
- Office Hours: Nathan
  Apr. 19, 1pm (PT) | 4pm (ET) | 9pm (UK)
- Office Hours: Scott Hampton
  Apr. 20, 9am (PT) | 12pm (ET) | 5pm (UK)
- Ear Training: Cinnamontal
  Apr. 20, 9pm (PT) | 12am (ET) | 5am (UK)
- Theory Gym: Jon Mattox
  Apr. 21, 7am (PT) | 10am (ET) | 3pm (UK)
- Office Hours: Jon Mattox
  Apr. 21, 10am (PT) | 1pm (ET) | 6pm (UK)
- Instrument Gym: Kallie
  Apr. 21, 5pm (PT) | 8pm (ET) | 1am (UK)
Learn more about Residency
Upcoming Courses
- Apr 19, 2026 Theory: Musician Basics
- Apr 22, 2026 Mixing: Effects, Synths & Tools
- Apr 27, 2026 DAW Core Skills
- Apr 27, 2026 FL Studio
- May 23, 2026 Logic Pro 1-Day Intensive
- Jun 10, 2026 Hardware & Recording Primer
- Jul 8, 2026 Hardware & Recording Primer
- Jul 12, 2026 DAW Core Skills
See All Courses
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