Top 5 Free Resources for Online Music Mixing (Metal Edition)

Trying to level up your skills with online music mixing can feel like you’re blindly navigating a minefield. You watch one video that tells you to scoop your guitars at 400Hz, and another that says boosting there is the secret. It’s a mess of conflicting info.

Don’t worry, we get it. Sifting through the junk to find the gold is half the battle. To save you some time and headaches, we’ve put together a list of five actually useful, totally free resources that will genuinely help you make your metal mixes sound heavier, punchier, and more professional. No fluff, just the good stuff.

1. The URM Academy YouTube Channel

We are obviously biased since this is our channel, but come on– you know we’ve got to put ourselves on, right? We’ve got several hundred clips up there from Nail The Mix, URM Enhanced Courses, and a few other random things. Honestly, you could get a pretty great education in mixing just from watching our free videos. Maybe that’s bad for business, but we think everyone should have access to this stuff regardless of their financial situation.

Why It’s Killer

You get condensed, high-impact tutorials on very specific topics. Think less "how to use a compressor" and more "how to use multi-band compression to tame cymbal harshness in your overheads." There’s something like 300 clips from Nail the Mix up right now, with more added all the time.

What To Look For

• Amazing artists: We’re not going to be modest, our lineup is ridiculous. We’ve had everyone from Nickelback, Gojira, and Lamb Of God to Lorna Shore, A Day To Remember and Meshugghah on and there’s dozens more.
• The best mixers: Will Putney, Nolly, Joey Sturgis, Dave Otero, Buster Odeholm, Machine, Tom Lord-Alge, Chris Baseford, David Bendeath… The list goes on. We’re incredibly proud of the great mixers we’ve worked with.
• Advanced basics: They go deep on things like setting up parallel compression buses to add weight to your drums without sacrificing transient punch. If you dig their approach, we have a whole guide on parallel compression on your drum bus that expands on these ideas.

Check out URM Academy on YouTube

2. Free Multitracks from Cambridge Music Technology

You can watch tutorials all day, but you can’t learn to mix without actually mixing. The problem? Getting your hands on pro-quality, well-recorded multitracks is tough. Enter the "Library of Multitrack Audio" from Cambridge MT.

Why It’s Killer

This is a library of complete sessions from real bands, recorded in real studios, available for you to download for free for educational purposes. They have a huge range of genres, including a healthy dose of rock and metal. Practicing on these tracks is infinitely more valuable than trying to mix poorly recorded bedroom demos.

What To Do With Them

1. Download a session that looks interesting. Don’t just look for djent—a well-recorded punk or hard rock session is an amazing tool for learning how to balance aggressive drums and guitars.
2. Import everything into your DAW (Reaper, Logic, Pro Tools, etc.).
3. Start with a static mix. No plugins. Just get your levels and panning right. Does it already sound like a song?
4. Now, start your processing. Carve out space with EQ. For a full breakdown on where to start, check out our hub on equalization in modern metal.

Check out Cambridge Music Technology’s multitracks

3. Spectre Sound Studios (Glenn Fricker's YouTube)

Love him or hate him, Glenn Fricker knows his stuff. We’ve known him for years, and we think he’s great. His channel is a no-BS zone for all things heavy music production. He’s famous for his rants, but underneath the persona is a wealth of practical, real-world advice that cuts through the fluff.

Why It’s Killer

Glenn’s philosophy is all about getting it right at the source, which is a lesson every producer needs to learn. He’ll show you exactly how different mics, speakers, and amp settings affect your final tone before you ever touch a plugin.

What To Look For

• Mic Shootouts: Want to know the real difference between a Shure SM57 and a Sennheiser MD 421 on a Mesa Boogie cab? Glenn has probably done that video (and if you want more, we’ve done our own 10-mic shootout for metal guitars).
• DI Processing: He has tons of content on how to take a dry DI guitar signal and turn it into a monster tone using different amp sims and impulse responses.
• Common Mistakes: His "Things Musicians Screw Up In The Studio" series is required viewing. You’ll learn what not to do, which is just as important.

Check out Spectre Sound Studios

4. Free VSTs from Ignite Amps

You need the right tools for the job, but you don’t need to spend thousands on plugins to get a pro sound. Ignite Amps creates some of the best free plugins for metal available today, and they’re just the start when it comes to powerhouse free VSTs. This isn’t cheap-sounding freeware; these tools are used on professional records.

Why They're Killer

They specialize in high-gain tone. Their plugins are meticulously modeled to capture the aggression and nuance of hardware, and they’re designed specifically for the demands of metal.

The Ultimate Free Guitar Tone Chain

1. The Amp: Download the Emissary 2.0 Amp. This thing is an absolute beast, capable of everything from tight, crunchy rhythm tones to searing leads. It’s a two-channel amp with a built-in clean channel that’s actually usable.
2. The Cab/IR Loader: Get the NadIR Impulse Response Loader. An amp sim is useless without a good cabinet. NadIR is a simple, zero-latency convolution plugin to load your cabinet IRs.
3. The IRs: To feed NadIR, search for the "God’s Cab" pack by Wilkinson Audio or the free "Redwirez Marshall 1960A" pack. These are classic, industry-standard IRs that will give you a professional starting point, but choosing the best impulse responses is a skill in itself.
4. The Signal Chain: In your DAW, set up your DI track like this: TSE 808 (another great free tubescreamer) -> Emissary Amp -> NadIR. Boom. You have a mix-ready guitar tone for $0.

Check out Ignite Amps

5. The Gearspace "Music Computers" Forum

Formerly known as Gearslutz, Gearspace is basically the library of Alexandria for audio engineers. It’s a massive forum where everyone from hobbyists to Grammy-winning mixers hangs out and talks shop. If you have a super-specific question about online music mixing, the answer is probably buried in a Gearspace thread from 2011.

Why It’s Killer

The sheer volume of information is staggering. You can find detailed discussions on esoteric gear, complex routing in Pro Tools, or why someone chose to use a FabFilter Pro-MB instead of a standard EQ on a vocal.

How to Use It Effectively

Don’t be the person who posts "how 2 mix metal?" You’ll get roasted. Instead, use the search function like a surgeon.

• Search for specific problems: "Taming cymbal fizz without losing air" or "Best low-pass filter settings on heavy guitars."
• Search for specific engineers: Look up threads about Andy Sneap, Jens Bogren, or Adam "Nolly" Getgood. You’ll find people dissecting their techniques and the gear they use.
• Lurk and learn: Just read the "High End" and "So Much Gear, So Little Time" forums. You’ll absorb an insane amount of knowledge.

Check out Gearspace

Taking The Next Step

These free resources are fantastic for building your foundation and learning the individual techniques of online music mixing. You can piece together a ton of knowledge this way.

But what if you could skip the guesswork? What if you could get the actual multitracks from a band like Lamb of God or Periphery and watch the producer who mixed the record mix it all over again, right in front of you, explaining every single move? That’s what we do.

If you’re ready to see how all these pieces fit together in a real-world, album-quality mix, it might be time to go beyond presets and random tutorials. See how Nail The Mix can help you unlock your sound and learn directly from the best in the business.