Free Mixing Course for Beginners: What's Inside + Next Steps
What's Included in David's Free Mixing Course?
In the next few minutes you'll see exactly who this free mixing course is really built for, the real techniques it walks you through, and what to do the moment you finish it. David Vignola built this two-part training as a free download at Home Recording Made Easy, mixing a real Tom Petty cover using nothing but the stock EQ, a stock distortion plugin, and a stock reverb, the same category of tools already sitting inside Studio One, Cubase, Pro Tools, Reaper, and virtually every other DAW.
David treats the two-hour session like one of his paid trainings: real fader levels, real EQ decisions, and real listening calls on a professionally recorded song with actual studio musicians, not a demo built to flatter a plugin. Watch more of his style on the Home Recording Made Easy YouTube channel, or download the free course and its multitracks to mix along yourself.
Table of Contents
- Who This Free Mixing Course for Beginners Is Really Built For
- What You Learn When You Mix a Song Using Only Stock Plugins
- What to Do After You Finish the Free Course
- What Worked, and What to Watch For
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Quick Recap
- Final Thoughts
- Ready to Start Mixing Your Own Songs?
- Useful Links
Who This Free Mixing Course for Beginners Is Really Built For
This free mixing course for beginners is built for one specific listener: someone who owns a DAW, has real tracks to mix, and freezes the moment EQ and compression enter the conversation. David says this plainly early in the training, describing exactly who should press play.
"...confused by EQ and more so compression, and you're a beginner mixer or someone who's just maybe been mixing for a while and that stuff really intimidates you and you're kind of lost..." [1:58]
That framing also tells you who this course isn't for. If you're already comfortable riding a compressor and shaping tone with EQ, David says outright that you're already beyond this course and points you toward his intermediate and advanced training instead, so a total beginner doesn't get lost in options before building basic instincts.
Try This In Your Own Mix
Before you even open the free course, spend five minutes color-coding your own session the way David does here: drums in one color, bass in another, guitars and vocals each with their own, one bus per instrument group. It's a one-time habit that makes every future mix faster to navigate.
If reading about a beginner-friendly path through EQ and compression already sounds like the exact confusion you've been stuck in, the fastest way to see it solved is to grab David's free mixing course and watch him work through it start to finish.
What You Learn When You Mix a Song Using Only Stock Plugins
The clearest proof this is a real mixing course, not just a pep talk, is what happens when David hits a problem most beginners would reach for a new plugin to fix. He wants more presence in the bass guitar's high end, and instead of grabbing a third-party EQ, he shows how to mix a song using only stock plugins you already own.
"So what we could do is instead of using an EQ, we can use a little light distortion to help bring out some of those upper frequencies." [1:44]
He reaches for Studio One's stock Red Light distortion, rolls the low end out of the effect so it only reacts above roughly 5kHz, and lets the harmonics do what an EQ boost alone couldn't: add presence without amplifying mud.
The session also fixes a problem almost every beginner mix has: kick drum and bass fighting for the same low end. David rolls off everything below roughly 90Hz on the bass with a low-cut filter, then nudges a touch back in around 100Hz, giving the kick room to be heard clearly underneath it.
Try This In Your Own Mix
Solo your own bass and kick together and listen for that same masking. If the kick disappears the moment the bass comes in, try a low-cut around 90Hz on the bass first, before reaching for anything more complicated.
If you've been assuming a professional-sounding low end takes an expensive plugin bundle, the free mixing course walks through this exact fix on a real bass and kick pair. Download it and hear the before and after for yourself.
What to Do After You Finish the Free Course
David is upfront that the free course only covers about a third of a full professional mix in its 90 minutes, and he built it that way on purpose, as a foundational course rather than a complete one. What matters most is what he tells graduates to do next.
"You get something sounding great, you go, yeah, but you know, I want something more... well, that's where we get into different courses that we have available for you." [42:53]
The path he lays out is specific. Graduates who want to go deeper on EQ are pointed to EQ Made Easy, anyone confused by compression is pointed to Compression Made Easy, and once both are solid, the next stop is Mixing Made Easy Vol 1, which walks a complete mix start to finish the way this free course only partially could. David also mentions two support options most free courses skip: emailing him directly for a reply within 48 hours, and booking one-on-one Zoom coaching for guidance on your own material.
Try This In Your Own Mix
Before jumping into a paid course, finish mixing the free course's provided song start to finish first. It's the most honest way to find out whether you're ready for EQ Made Easy and Compression Made Easy, or whether you still want the slower, guided pacing this free course already gives you.
What Worked, and What to Watch For
Here's an honest look at what makes this free training worth the download, and where beginners should keep their expectations realistic.
What Worked
- Real multitracks from an actual professionally recorded song, not a synthetic demo built to flatter a plugin
- Zero pressure to buy anything: every technique uses stock plugins already inside your DAW
- Honest scope-setting: David tells experienced mixers upfront that this course isn't for them
- DAW-agnostic teaching, so Cubase, Pro Tools, and Reaper users get the same value as Studio One users
What to Watch For
- 90 minutes across two videos covers roughly a third of a full mix, so treat it as a starting point, not a complete education
- The exact frequencies David dials in, like 2.4kHz on this guitar or a 90Hz low-cut on this bass, are for this recording; your own tracks may need different numbers
- If you already understand basic EQ and compression, the pacing will likely feel too slow
Taken together, the course over-delivers for its actual target listener, a total beginner, while being upfront that it's a launchpad rather than a finish line.
Frequently Asked Questions
A few questions come up constantly about this free mixing course, answered plainly below.
1) Is the Home Recording Made Easy free mixing course actually free?
Yes. There's no cost and no credit card required to download the training and the accompanying multitracks. When you sign up, you'll also receive a discount code by email for other courses on the site.
2) Do I need to buy any plugins to follow along?
No. Every technique in the course, including the distortion trick used on the bass and the EQ moves on the guitars, uses stock plugins that already come bundled with your DAW.
3) Does this free mixing course work if I don't use Studio One?
Yes. David records the session in Studio One Professional, but the stock EQ, distortion, and reverb tools he uses behave the same way in Cubase, Pro Tools, Reaper, Luna, and most other DAWs, so the techniques transfer directly.
4) What do you actually get when you sign up?
You get the two-part video training, the complete set of real multitracks from the session so you can mix along on your own, and a discount code for other courses on the site.
5) I already know some mixing basics, is this course still worth it?
Probably not on its own. David says directly that if you're already comfortable with EQ and compression, this course will feel too basic, and you're better served jumping straight to Mixing Made Easy Vol 1 or one of his intermediate courses.
6) What should I do after I finish the free mixing course?
David recommends EQ Made Easy and Compression Made Easy next if either topic still feels shaky, then Mixing Made Easy Vol 1 once both fundamentals are solid, since that course walks through a complete mix from start to finish.
Quick Recap
Here's the whole free mixing course, condensed:
- It's built for total beginners who freeze up at EQ and compression, not for mixers who already feel confident with both
- Real techniques are inside, like fixing a thin bass with light distortion instead of EQ, and preventing kick-and-bass frequency clashes with a simple low-cut
- It's DAW-agnostic, so the lessons apply whether you're in Studio One, Cubase, Pro Tools, or Reaper
- When you finish, the natural next steps are EQ Made Easy, Compression Made Easy, and then Mixing Made Easy Vol 1
Final Thoughts
This free mixing course isn't trying to replace David's paid catalog, and it says so itself. What it does well is give a genuinely nervous beginner a real, finished-sounding mix in two hours using tools they already own, which is exactly the confidence most people need before they're willing to spend money on the next step.
That's also why the two techniques highlighted above, the distortion trick on the bass and the low-cut protecting the kick, are worth remembering even if you never open this exact course: they're the kind of small, stock-plugin decisions that separate a mix that sounds like a rough demo from one that sounds finished. If any part of this breakdown sounded like your own mixing struggles, that's the signal to download the course rather than keep reading about it.
Ready to Start Mixing Your Own Songs?
You don't need new plugins, a bigger budget, or more experience to get a professional-sounding mix. You need the free mixing course above and about two hours. If you've read this far because EQ and compression still feel like a locked door, this is the fastest, lowest-risk way to open it: no credit card, no upsell before you've even started, just two hours with a real song and real stock tools, plus the actual multitracks so you can hear every decision for yourself instead of taking it on faith.
Once you're through it and want to keep the momentum going, use code ME25OFF for 25% off any single-title course on the site (bundles excluded) to pick up EQ Made Easy or Compression Made Easy next.
Useful Links
A few more resources if you want to keep building on what this free course teaches:
- Get the Free Mixing Course
- EQ Made Easy
- Compression Made Easy
- Mixing Made Easy Vol 1
- Home Recording Made Easy YouTube Channel
- How to EQ a Snare Drum: A Beginner's Guide to Mastering EQ Techniques
- 5 Real Mixing Techniques for Guitars, Keys & Vocals
The techniques shown above reflect one engineer's real, in-the-moment decisions on one specific recording, offered as a starting point for your own ears rather than a rule that applies to every mix.
