Traditional education is failing musicians.
Truth bomb: having a degree won’t improve your chances of having a successful music career.
The only thing that matters is that your music holds up to industry standards. Traditional education has failed to adapt to the rapidly evolving music industry, resulting in outdated curriculums and overpriced degrees. We focus on what keeps students ahead of the curve: results-driven education, one on one mentorship with real industry experts, and community driven support. Our students achieve better results quicker, and more affordably than they would through traditional academia.
The problem with being self-taught:
Most musicians get stuck at an intermediate plateau.
For many creatives it’s tempting to jump right into a DAW and start making music. However, without a proper understanding of the technical, left-brained side of music (frequencies, dynamics, etc,) it’s impossible to actually achieve the sounds we imagine in our minds. Countless artists and producers plateau at an amateur/semi-pro level because of this. They have great creative potential, but lack the tools to consistently achieve industry standard results.
The tips and tricks found on Youtube or in cheap online courses lack the depth needed for us to develop the deeper understanding that sets us apart as professionals.
We train Full-Stack Artists,
and we start with Mastering.
Seems backwards, right? Well, we believe this is how audio education should have been structured all along, and that it will be the new standard in the future. We start with the hard objective principles that underly music production first, and then work our way towards higher levels of creativity and abstraction.
How Our Students Learn
Mastering
- Accurate Listening Environment
- Pro Level Ear Training
- Objective Mindset
Mixing
- Connect Left and Right Brain
- Develop Instincts/Process
- Master the Tools
Producing
- Unlock Creative Flow
- End in Mind Perspective
- Emotional Connection
This approach works.
Learning how to master teaches you essential audio skills that help inform your ability to mix properly. Mixing and mastering skills in turn allow you to produce with the end in mind, preventing common audio mistakes and blunders before they even happen. When it’s time to unlock your creativity, there are no technical stumbling blocks in your way. You are free to express yourself and truly create what is inside your mind.
Meet Your Personal Mentors
Devvon Terrell
Devvon is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer and creator of multiple billboard charting songs. Devvon has a youtube channel for his music with nearly 900k subscribers and a music education youtube channel with nearly 200k subscribers. Devvon is a passionate teacher and highly talented producer/engineer.
Warren Huart
Warren is an English record producer, musician, composer and recording engineer based in Los Angeles, California and a multi-platinum producer/engineer for artists like The Fray, Daniel Powter, Marc Broussard, Trevor Hall, Korn, Better Than Ezra, James Blunt, Matisyahu, Ace Frehley, Aerosmith and Howie Day.
Rob Mayzes
Lifelong musician, engineer and owner of Stratfield Studios. Rob has dedicated his life to teaching producers and engineers how to hone their craft and do what they love for a living, originally under the Musician on a Mission brand before re-branding to Mastering.com.
Caleb Loveless
A 25 year veteran in the industry and Co-owner of The Ffelt and Black Fox Mastering, Caleb has worked as a songwriter, producer and mix/mastering engineer for charting artists, some of the world’s largest brands and major film/TV studios.
Kevin “Black Pearl” McCloskey
Kevin “Black Pearl” McCloskey is a Grammy nominated, multi-platinum mix engineer based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has worked with the brightest rising talent in Charlotte to some of the biggest names in the industry including DaBaby, Joji, Rich Brian, August08, 88rising, Dreamville, almondmilkhunni, RVSSIAN, Anuel AA, Juice Wrld, Electric Feel, HDBEENDOPE, and many more.
Daniel Grimmett
A top-tier educator, Daniel Grimmett is the guy that major label record producers rely on when they need more financial stability in their career. He runs a private business network for music professionals called Dark Label.
Jake Kodweis
Jake Kodweis (sounds like “cold rice”) is an American music producer, songwriter, musician, educator, and founder of Valhalla Mastering. Signed to a record label before hitting his twenties, Jake has licensed over 1,500 original tracks, works with talented artists from all over the world as a producer/mix/mastering engineer, and has helped thousands of musicians kickstart their music careers.
Dane Holmes
For the past 10 years, Dane’s obsession for composition and sculpting sound has lead him to production, composition and engineering work for some of the worlds largest brands, budding artists and film/tv projects. As half of The Ffelt and Black Fox Mastering, Dane’s unique strengths in composition and crafting cutting edge sound design has secured him a strong foothold in the music industry.
Here’s what students are saying:
How It Works
The Reverse Engineer is a 24 month training and mentorship program designed to connect the technical left-brain with the creative right-brain to unlock true creative potential and give students pro level skillsets in mastering, mixing and production.
One-on-one
Mentorship
Our mentors will guide you through every part of the process and provide tough feedback on your projects. This one-on-one mentorship will shape both your skill and mindset.
Training
Platform
Our comprehensive and continuously updated curriculum is design to stay ahead of the fast-paced music industry and help you develop the skills and instincts needed to compete with anyone in the industry.
Active
Community
When you join, you get access to our thriving community of artists, producers and engineers. You will learn from hundreds of supportive,
like-minded individuals who have already walked the path.
ready to join us?
The Reverse Engineer advantage
Engineer
Education
online courses
Price
- Yes
- Maybe
*Financing available
Discount for faster payment
Curriculum Breakdown
Part 1: Mastering
- Welcome To The Reverse Engineer
- Goal Setting Worksheet
- Choosing Your Path
- The Only 3 Things That Matter
- Concepts Come First
- Choosing Your DAW
- Introduce Yourself
- Your First Coaching Call
- Your First Mastering Assignment
- Order Sonarworks Sound ID Reference
- Feedback
- What is Mastering?
- Mastering Exercise
- Moving Away From The Loudness Wars
- Getting Inside Your Client’s Head
- Referencing
- Referencing Deep Dive
- How To Get References
- Virtual Audio Routers
- Capturing References From Streaming Services
- Importing References
- Mastering with References & Notes
- File Distribution
- Mastering: Amateur Mix vs. Pro Mix
- File Formats
- WAV vs. AIFF
- MP3 vs. WAV
- Sample Rate & Bit Depth
- Bit Depth: A Bit Deeper!
- Client Checklist
- Build Your Form
- Practice The Process
- Week 1 Recap
- Feedback
- Week 2 Overview
- Getting Organized
- Buy a Hard Drive
- Get Cloud Storage
- File Hierarchy Cheatsheet
- Create a Resources Folder
- Organization in Action
- Mastering Session Setup
- Translating for your DAW
- Create Your Mastering Template
- Know Your Shortcuts
- Getting Your Volume Right
- Achieve Volume Consistency
- Mastering Exercise
- Week 2 Recap
- Feedback
- Week 3 Overview
- Room Acoustics
- Basics
- Setting Up Your Room
- Setup Your Room
- Speaker and Subwoofer Setup
- Get Correct Speaker/Sub Settings
- Sonarworks Overview
- Sound ID Reference Tutorial
- Get First Sonarworks Reading
- Listen to a Frequency Sweep
- Acoustic Treatment 101
- Treatment Deep Dive
- To Build or To Buy?
- Advanced Room Acoustics
- How to measure your room with REW
- How to interpret the data/graphs in REW
- Amroc Room Mode Calculator
- Use The Amroc Room Mode Calculator
- Dane’s Room – Amroc and REW in Action
- How thick should my treatment be?
- Advanced Room Acoustics Resources
- Room Construction and Soundproofing
- Studio Gear Overview
- Studio Gear Options
- Week 3 Recap
- Feedback
- Week 4 Overview
- Training Your Ear
- Start Your Daily Training
- Frequency Matching
- Beyond The Cube
- Cube Listening Exercise
- The 5 Truths of Mastering
- Reverse Problem Solving
- Master Jimmy Eat World
- Master Any 5 Songs
- Bridging The Gap
- Transformation Cheatsheet
- Identify The Gaps
- Master 10 Songs
- Master Project 2
- Week 4 Recap
- Feedback
- Week 5 Overview
- Campsite Lingo
- Frequency Balance Chart
- Home On The Range
- Frequency Range Cheatsheet
- Mastering EQ Arsenal
- EQ Arsenal Cheatsheet
- Global vs. Local
- Local EQ
- Global EQ
- The Process: Mastering With EQ
- Live EQ: Single Song Sessions
- EQ 35 Songs
- Live EQ: Multi Song Sessions
- EQ 5 Albums
- Week 5 Recap
- Feedback
- Week 6 Overview
- Peaks & Transients
- How To Hear Compression
- Enhancement Compression
- Bringing Things To Baseline
- Advanced Mastering Compressors
- Advanced Compression – Character
- Mastering Compressor Arsenal
- Compressor Arsenal Cheatsheet
- Live Compression: 35 Singles
- Mastering Compression Flowchart
- Compress 35 Singles
- Live Compression: Multi Song Sessions
- Compress 5 Albums
- Week 6 Recap
- Feedback
- Week 7 Overview
- Making It Loud
- Inter-Sample Peaks & True Peaks
- The End of the Loudness War
- How To Get Your Masters Loud AND Dynamic
- Mastering Limiter Arsenal
- Limiter Arsenal Cheatsheet
- Live Limiting: Single Song Sessions
- A ‘Lil More About Loudness…
- Limit 35 Singles
- Live Limiting: Multi Song Sessions
- Limit 5 Albums
- The Big Picture
- Master Project 7
- Week 7 Recap
- Week 8 Overview
- Final Delivery
- Final Mastering Cheatsheet
- Finalize Project 7
- Handling Revisions
- Become a Mastering Engineer
- ISRC
- Masters for CD & Vinyl
- Total Mastering Workflow
- Mastering For Vinyl
- Stem Mastering
- Live Stem Mastering
- Stem Master 5 Songs
- Analog Gear
- Listening Levels
- Find Your Preferred Listening Level
- Week 8 Recap
- Feedback
- Shadow Mindsets
- Shadow Mindsets Worksheet
- Making A Living In Music
- What You Should Know
- Journey To Full-Time
- Music Industry Podcasts
- Landing Your First Client
- Prime Your Profile(s)
- Find People
- Meet People
- Offer Value
- Week 9 Recap
- Feedback
Part 2: Mixing
- Week 10 Overview
- Your First Mixing Exercise
- Adventure
- Collecting Client Info
- Mixing Client Checklist
- Bouncing Multitracks
- How To Be A Good Dentist
- Mixing Transformation Cheatsheet
- Mixing Is Not Editing
- Editing Tools & Processes
- Editing Exercise
- Prepare To Succeed
- Gain Staging
- Gain Vs. Volume
- Polarity Vs. Phase
- Live Session Prep
- The BOING Method Cheatsheet
- Prep Your Mixing Session
- Week 10 Recap
- Feedback
- Volume Is Everything
- Mixing With Zero Plugins
- Live Volume & Panning
- Volume & Panning Cheatsheet
- Volume & Panning Exercise
- Initial Automation
- Live Initial Automation
- Initial Automation Cheatsheet
- Initial Automation Exercise
- Bringing It All Together
- Prep, Edit, & Balance Cheatsheet
- Part 1: Live Prep
- Part 2: Live Edit
- Part 3: Live Balance
- Prep, Edit, & Balance 5 Tracks
- Week 11 Recap
- Feedback
- Week 12 Overview
- Back To Camp
- Sonic Characteristics Chart
- Groups vs. Tracks
- Mixing EQ Arsenal
- Problems
- Relationships
- Balance
- Enhancements
- 4 EQ Phases Cheatsheet
- Live EQ
- EQ 5 Tracks
- Week 12 Recap
- Feedback
- Week 13 – Overview
- Problems
- Enhancements
- Compressor Types
- Dynamics Processing Cheatsheet
- Live Compression
- Saturation
- Mixing Dynamics Arsenal
- Compress 5 Tracks
- Week 13 Recap
- Feedback
- Week 14 Overview
- Reverb Exercise
- Delay Exercise
- Reverb Types
- Delay Types
- Listening for Space
- Spatial Processing Arsenal
- Applying Spatial Processing
- Setup Your Mixing Template
- To Send Or Not To Send?
- Inserts vs Sends
- Processing The Process of Spatial Processing
- Spatial Processing Cheatsheet
- Live Spatial Processing
- Add Spatial Processing to 5 Songs
- Week 14 Recap
- Feedback
- Overview
- Vocal Analysis Exercise
- Editing
- Baseline
- Character
- Space
- Observing Vocal Layers
- Observing Vocal Layers Worksheet
- 4 Vocal Mixing Phases
- Putting It All Together (Live)
- Live Vocal Mixing w/Dane
- Live Vocal Mixing w/Caleb
- Live Vocal Mixing w/Jake
- Finalize Your Vocals
- Week 15 Recap
- Feedback
- Overview
- Finishing Mixes
- The Danger of the Car Mix
- Finish 5 Mixes
- Delivering Mixdowns
- Step-By-Step Mixing Checklist
- Mix 5 Songs
- Learning To Drive
- Total Mixing Workflow
- Mix 5 More Songs
- Emotional Intent
- Emotional Intent Live
- Observing Emotional Intent
- Mix Another 5 Songs
- Recap
- Feedback
- Overview
- Breakin’ It Down
- STOP! Gut Check
- Deep Dive
- Sidechain Compression
- Parallel Processing
- Mid Side Processing
- Dynamic EQ & Multiband Compression
- Modulation
- Stereo Imaging
- Other Tools & Techniques
- Build Your Arsenal
- Full Mixing Session LIVE
- Mix This!
- Recap
- Feedback
- Learning To See
- Learning To See Worksheet
- The Market & Your Offers
- The Offer Builder Tutorial
- Selling Audio Services
- Solution Selling Framework
- Solution Selling Practice
- Following Up
- Following Up Practice
- Service Positioning
- Outbound Beastmode!
- Feedback
Part 3: Producing
- Production Overview
- Establishing The Vision
- Pre-Production Cheatsheet
- The Pre-Production Form
- Create Your Pre-Production Form
- Session Setup
- Sample Organization
- Recap
- Feedback
- Overview
- Subjective vs. Objective
- Studying Music
- Musical Diversity
- How To Be A Good Filmmaker
- Building Blocks of Song Structure
- Song Structure Analysis
- Arrangement Elements
- Live Arrangement Analysis
- Arrangement Analysis
- Hooks
- Hooks Throughout History
- Observing Hooks
- Target Analysis
- Recap
- Feedback
- Overview
- Designing Your Blueprint
- Audio Gestalt In Production
- Sound Selection Is The Most Important Thing
- The MOST OVERLOOKED Aspect
- Emotional Intent In Production
- Building Roller Coasters
- Variety Deep Dive
- Initial Vision Walkthrough
- Initial Vision Worksheet
- Recap
- Feedback
- STOP! A Word of Warning…
- Live Sound Sources
- Guide To Microphone Types
- Perfect Mic Placement
- Go-To Mic Positions
- Live Sources Deep Dive
- Recording Assignment
- Samples & Loops
- Samples In Music
- Live Samples & Loops w/Dane
- Sample Yourself
- Samples & Loops Assignment
- Virtual Instruments
- Realistic-Sounding MIDI
- Virtual Instrument Libraries
- Live Virtual Instruments w/Dane
- Virtual Instruments Assignment
- How To Get Great Performances
- Sound Selection Is The Most Important Thing
- Karaoke!
- Bizzarro Karaoke!
- Recap
- Feedback
- Week 23 Overview
- Exploring Movement Live Discussion
- Explore Movement
- Live “Random Emotion Generator” Demo – Jake
- Live “Random Emotion Generator” Demo – Dane
- Live “Random Emotion Generator” Demo – Caleb
- Random Emotion Generator
- Live Production Walkthroughs
- Contrasting Movement
- Week 23 Recap
- Feedback
- Week 24 Overview
- Exploring Atmosphere Live Discussion
- Explore Atmosphere
- Live Atmosphere Collab – Caleb & Dane
- Live Atmosphere Collab – Dane & Jake
- Live Atmosphere Collab – Caleb and Dane 2
- Atmosphere Collab
- Live Production Walkthrough – Jake
- Live Production Walkthrough Dane
- Live Production Walkthroughs – Caleb
- Contrasting Atmosphere
- Recap
- Feedback
- Week 25 Overview
- Character Discussion
- Explore Character
- Live Collab – Hatred
- Live Collab – Pleasure
- Live Collab – Irritation
- Character Project
- Character Walkthrough w/Dane
- Character Walkthrough w/Jake
- Character Walkthrough w/Caleb
- Character Project
- Week 25 Recap
- Feedback
- Overview
- Recording Lead Vocals
- Stacking Vocals
- Editing Vocals
- Vocal Recording Deep Dive
- Vocal Production Project #1
- Live Vocal Discussion
- Explore Vocal Production
- Vocal Production Walkthrough #1
- Vocal Production Walkthrough #2
- Vocal Production Walkthrough #3
- Vocal Production Walkthrough #4
- Deep Dive Walkthroughs
- Vocal Production Project #2
- Recap
- Feedback
- Overview
- Production Process
- Total Production Workflow
- Prepping For Mixing
- Production Deep Dive
- Production Project #1
- Full Stack Producing
- Full Stack w/Dane & Caleb (Part 1)
- Full Stack w/Dane & Caleb (Part 2)
- Full Stack w/Dane & Caleb (Part 3)
- Full Stack w/Jake (Part 1 – Production)
- Full Stack w/Jake (Part 2 – Production)
- Full Stack w/Jake (Part 3 – Production)
- Full Stack w/Jake (Part 4 – Mixing)
- Full Stack w/Jake (Part 5 – Mastering)
- Final Project
- Recap
- Feedback
- Overview
- A Vision For Producers
- Next Steps
