Mix a full band under control in 10 minutes flat
A field-ready system for live audio beginners and newer FOH engineers to get a full band patched, gain-staged, and sounding controlled in 10 minutes flat — without chasing EQ endlessly. Dynamics first, EQ second: the pro workflow made teachable.
"Dynamics before EQ, every single time — that one discipline will do more for your mixes than any plugin or gear upgrade ever will."— Matt Jones
What you'll learn
What you'll be able to do
- Patch and label a full band's channel list and complete a disciplined gain-staging pass in under 10 minutes
- Apply high-pass filters, gates, expanders, and compression as the first line of defense to stabilize every source before touching EQ
- Build a working fader balance and establish source priority so the mix is intelligible before any EQ is applied
- Execute source-specific dynamics and EQ playbooks for vocals, kick, snare, bass, guitars, keys, and backing tracks
- Use subtractive EQ surgically and correctly — as a second-pass cleanup tool, not a crutch — and control feedback systematically
- Build a repeatable show file and pass a timed 10-minute mix challenge that simulates a real fast changeover under pressure
How it works
A school that adapts to you
This isn't a set of static videos. Every lesson is generated live and tuned to where you actually are.
We learn your level
A quick placement check tailors your starting point so you're never bored or lost.
Lessons adapt as you go
Each lesson is written for your pace and your goal, adjusting as your skills grow.
Your AI coach keeps you moving
Checkpoints, feedback, and gentle nudges turn progress into a real result.
The curriculum
What's inside your school
7 modules · 25 lessons
The 10-Minute Live Mix Workflow
Establishes the mental model and operational framework behind the Fast Live Mix System. Students learn why speed and discipline matter in real-world live audio, map out the full signal chain from source to speaker, and internalize a listening hierarchy and decision-making sequence that every subsequent module builds on. This module is the prerequisite lens through which all technical skills are applied.
- 1.1Why the 10-Minute Standard ExistsIncluded
- 1.2Signal Flow Fundamentals for the Working EngineerIncluded
- 1.3Workflow Mindset: Listening Hierarchy and Decision SpeedIncluded
Patch, Label, Gain Stage, HPF
Covers the first physical and technical actions taken at the start of every show: building a clean channel list, physically patching and labeling inputs, executing a disciplined gain-staging pass, and applying high-pass filters across all channels as the fastest single cleanup step available. By the end of this module, every channel is named, leveled, and filtered — ready for dynamics and fader work — with no guesswork, no unlabeled faders, and no gain fights.
- 2.1Building a Fast, Bulletproof Channel ListIncluded
- 2.2Gain Staging: Setting Levels That Don't Fight YouIncluded
- 2.3High-Pass Filters: Your First and Fastest Cleanup ToolIncluded
- 2.4The 10-Minute Patch and Prep: Putting It All TogetherIncluded
Fader Balance and Source Priority
With channels patched, gained, and filtered, students now build the first working mix using fader position alone — no EQ, no effects, no final dynamics. This module teaches the discipline of establishing a rough but intelligent balance that makes the mix intelligible before any additional processing. Students learn which sources carry the mix, how to set relative levels by priority, and how to monitor the result accurately with ears, meters, and reference points.
- 3.1Source Priority: What the Audience Actually Needs to HearIncluded
- 3.2The Rough Balance Method: Faders Up, Mix WorkingIncluded
- 3.3Monitoring the Mix: Ears, Meters, and Reference PointsIncluded
Dynamics First: Gates, Expanders, and Compression
The core technical module of the Fast Live Mix System. Students learn to apply dynamics processing as the first line of defense — not as a final polish — using gates, expanders, and compressors to stabilize every source before EQ is considered. Covers how each processor works in a live context (not a studio context), starter settings by source, the critical sequencing rule (HPF → gate/expander → compressor → EQ), and how to execute a full dynamics pass on all sources under time pressure. This module directly delivers the course's central doctrine.
- 4.1How Dynamics Processing Works in a Live ContextIncluded
- 4.2Gates and Expanders: Silencing What Shouldn't Be HeardIncluded
- 4.3Compression: Controlling Dynamics Without Killing FeelIncluded
- 4.4The Dynamics Pass: All Sources, All at Once, Under Time PressureIncluded
Source Playbooks: Vocals, Drums, Bass, Guitars, Keys, and Tracks
The applied reference module. Students receive a complete, field-ready playbook for every source type they will encounter: what the source sounds like raw, what it needs in terms of gain staging, HPF, gate/expander, compression, and initial fader position, and what the most common problems and fixes are. This module is designed to be memorized and recalled under pressure, not read during a show. Each playbook follows the same structure — patch and gain, HPF, dynamics, fader priority, common problems — making it fast to internalize across all sources.
- 5.1Lead and Backing VocalsIncluded
- 5.2Kick Drum, Snare, and TomsIncluded
- 5.3Bass Guitar: DI and MicIncluded
- 5.4Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Keys, and TracksIncluded
EQ Second: Subtractive Cleanup and Feedback Control
EQ is applied last, surgically, and only to fix problems that dynamics and fader balance could not resolve. This module teaches the subtractive EQ mindset, source-specific cut targets, and a systematic feedback control process. Students learn to hear a frequency problem before reaching for the EQ, make narrow targeted cuts rather than broad boosts, and leave well enough alone when the mix is already working. This module also delivers the feedback control protocol — the most urgent EQ skill in live audio.
- 6.1The Subtractive EQ Mindset: Cut Before You BoostIncluded
- 6.2Surgical EQ by Source: Cuts, Carves, and NotchesIncluded
- 6.3Feedback Control: Systematic, Fast, and PermanentIncluded
- 6.4EQ Discipline: When Not to Touch ItIncluded
Fast Changeover Drill: Show File and Timed 10-Minute Mix Challenge
The capstone module. Students synthesize every skill from the course into a repeatable, deployable system: a show file template that can be loaded, adapted, and executed under real-world time pressure. The module culminates in the timed 10-Minute Mix Challenge — a simulated fast changeover where students must patch, gain stage, apply HPF and dynamics, build fader balance, and deliver a listenable, controlled mix within 10 minutes. Passing the challenge is the course's proof-of-outcome and the deliverable that earns the student their Fast Live Mix System certification.
- 7.1Building Your Repeatable Show FileIncluded
- 7.2Changeover Communication and Stage ProtocolIncluded
- 7.3The Timed 10-Minute Mix ChallengeIncluded
Who it's for
Is this you?
Church AV volunteers
You're running sound every Sunday without formal training — this system gives you a repeatable, professional workflow you can trust week after week.
Musician-turned-tech
You know the music but not the console — this course translates your musical ear into disciplined FOH decision-making with real technical structure.
New FOH engineers
You've landed your first real gigs but still feel like you're improvising — this workflow ends the guesswork and replaces it with a field-ready system.
AV company crew
You're deployed to fast turnaround events where changeovers are tight and there's no time to experiment — this is the system that lets you deliver every time.
Self-taught engineers
You've pieced together skills from YouTube and trial-and-error, but you have gaps in gain staging and dynamics — this course fills exactly those gaps.
Venue and club techs
You're the house engineer facing a different band every night — the Fast Live Mix System gives you a show-file framework and changeover protocol that holds up under that pressure.
Questions
Frequently asked
Your teacher
A note from your teacher
Matt Jones
If you've ever stood behind a console with a band waiting, a clock ticking, and no clear idea of what to do next — I built this course for that exact moment.
I've been there. Every working engineer has. The difference between a confident FOH engineer and one who's drowning in a fast changeover isn't raw talent — it's having a system. A repeatable, field-tested sequence of decisions you can execute under pressure without having to think about what comes next. That's what the Fast Live Mix System is: not a collection of tips, but an actual workflow with a defined order of operations, from the first mic check to a fully controlled mix.
Here's what I see most often with newer engineers: they go straight to EQ. Something sounds wrong, they reach for a frequency, they boost, they cut, they boost somewhere else — and twenty minutes later the mix is more broken than when they started, the band is frustrated, and the show is behind. The fix isn't more EQ knowledge. It's learning to solve problems in the right order. High-pass filters first. Dynamics pass before EQ. Fader balance before anything else. This sequence isn't a theory — it's how working engineers actually move through a show file.
Every module in this course is built the way I'd walk a new engineer through it at the console: precise, direct, with real-world numbers and actual decision criteria. The source playbooks for vocals, drums, bass, guitars, keys, and tracks give you starting points that work — not vague suggestions, but specific approaches to dynamics and EQ for each source. And the timed 10-minute mix challenge at the end isn't a quiz; it's a simulation of a real gig scenario, with a clock running and no safety net.
You don't need years of experience to follow this system. You need the right framework, applied with discipline, and enough reps to make it automatic. That's what I'm here to give you. Come in, do the work, run the drill — and walk out knowing you can handle a fast changeover on any stage, for any band, with any console in front of you.
— Matt Jones
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- 7 modules, 25 lessons
- AI-adaptive lessons tuned to your level
- Quizzes & checkpoints to lock in progress
- Your own AI learning coach
- Learn on any device, at your pace
- Full access for as long as you're subscribed