The Power of Stepping Outside Your DAW

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The Power of Stepping Outside Your DAW

With only a few short days until our highly anticipated workshop with pop production legend Phil Harding at School Farm Studios, my thoughts are already focused on the next big step: building our mentorship platform and the community at its heart.

We know that great production isn't just about mastering a single DAW or plugin. It’s about a vast, shared pool of knowledge. And to truly give you value, we need to bring more of that knowledge into our network.

The Theatre Lesson: A New Kind of Audio Excellence

For the past few months, I’ve been making a point of stepping outside my usual music production circles to network. This past weekend, I met with a group of theatre technicians working with audio in ways that completely blew my mind—and offered some surprising takeaways for music producers.

I spoke with a foley artist who captures sounds for theatre productions by day and mixes front-of-house by night. Another specialises in hiding microphones for performers. They hide mics in wigs, costumes, and scenery—sometimes using three or four nearly invisible microphones to track a single performer walking across the stage.

The real skill, I learned, is the seamless, real-time cross-fading between those hidden mics to ensure a performer’s voice is always crisp and present for the audience.

This isn't a technique we typically use in the studio, but think about the skills required:

• Anticipation and Pre-planning: Mapping out a performance moment-by-moment.

• The Art of Transparency: Making the technology visually disappear to serve the emotion of the moment.

• A Masterful Command of Fades: Treating the simplest audio tool—the fader—as a precision instrument for emotional continuity.

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These are all skills that translate directly to a great music mix. It made me realise we can all gain a fresh perspective by looking at adjacent audio disciplines.

Bringing the Community to You: Real-Life Networking

That inspiring meet-up didn't just give us new module ideas for our platform; it ignited inspiration for physical, in-person community events.

Forums, chat rooms, and Discord are invaluable for a quick fix or question, but nothing beats actually getting out and meeting people face-to-face. The more we rely on technology for our craft, the greater the need for that human, hugs-high-fives-and-handshakes connection.

James and I have already started compiling a list of potential venues—many of which are smaller, regional theatres. They’re often run by passionate volunteers, are relatively affordable to hire, and would make the perfect stage for:

• Local Industry Talks: An inspiring hour from a regional pro.

• Community Networking: Connecting with fellow producers, engineers, and composers nearby.

• Global Access: Live-streaming the talks and Q&As to include our subscribers worldwide.

  
  

This is the next evolution of our network, and community is at its core.

Your Experience Will Shape Our Platform

We're about to start filming for and building the mentorship platform, and your input is critical to ensure it provides the most value. We want to know what challenges you're facing right now.

What is the single biggest question or challenge you have in your music production career that you wish you had a mentor for?

• Is it a technical challenge like advanced compression?

• Is it a business challenge like acquiring or pitching to a client?

• Is it a creative challenge like fighting writer's block?

  
  

Hit reply and tell us your #1 question. Your answer will directly inform the modules and mentors we build into our platform and guide where we host our first community events.

Let's build this together!

See you next week.

Lots of love,

Mark