• Introduction (01:24) - The sound of analog hardware is still the Holy Grail of music production, but digital audio is realistically the way most music is done today. And it can sound legit for engineers with an effective method and knowledge of the roots of the analog days. In this master class, we're going to work completely in-the-box to design our virtual, old-school, amazing studio. We're going to select some of the best plug-ins available today, whose sound is getting closer and closer to analog by the day, and build the whole virtual studio in a DAW, paying homage to some of the legendary outboard pieces that made history.

• Session Overview (13:29) - Join Alberto Rizzo Schettino as he explains the type of session he chose for this course. The whole song was tracked with analog hardware on most of the tracks and on the instrument busses, but all of this analog outboard has been removed for this version. This means that all the analog color and vibe imparted before is now missing. This session is the perfect challenge to build our own, virtual dream studio, ITB.

• Drums (14:49) - Let's design a comprehensive structure and signal flow that will allow our kit to rock the foundation of the mix and drive the song. EQs, dynamics, and box tone from the plug-ins Alberto has chosen really prove how much can be done with modern, digital emulations.

• Bass & Keyboards (09:33) - It's time to add bass and keyboards to the mix, making sure the rhythm section works as intended. Amp emulation, distortion and saturation, along with some amazing classics for EQ and dynamics, are going to shape the mix as we prepare to move on to guitars.

• Guitars (10:50) - Some simple, yet powerful touches are going to build the wall of sound we need for these electric guitars to design our soundstage, reworking the different takes through some of the classics and some new entries.

• Vocals (19:15) - Alberto walks you through some solid choices for your lead vocal tracks and their treatment, which include some of the most famous devices used for this task and the occasional twist that modern productions have taught him to appreciate. With the singer sounding like the star, the whole mix will get pulled to a much higher quality standard.

• Resource Management (24:56) - Knowing how to manage your DAW and computer resources is vital to a professional mixing environment. Working completely in-the-box can be hit-and-miss if you do not know how to optimize your session. It's now time to commit to the moves we've made while retaining the possibility of going back one or two steps, if necessary.

• Bus Processing (10:01) - Alberto demonstrates some elegant - sometimes classic, other times 'boutique' - treatment for your busses. This phase blends the well-known classics with some newcomers that are guaranteed to take the emotional factor of the mix (the real focus of any production) to a whole new level.

• Effects (12:39) - The style of entire bands, records, and even eras revolves around the effects utilized more than we know. In this chapter, we build an effective and streamlined group of effects that are going to be readily available to enhance the sound of the song. This can easily become a template that you expand on (or even modify) to tailor it to your future sessions.

• Mix Bus & Tape Emulation (19:22) - Last but not least, we dive into mix bus choices and reel tape emulation. Alberto takes you through his decisions and explains how his chain works, up to the final touch of choosing the 2-track machine that will (virtually) print the mix.

• Multi-Buss Vocal Treatment (23:55) - Now that the session is in place, we can expand on it by taking the lyrics and tone from the lead vocals to a whole new level. Alberto uses what he's learned from working with some top-shelf engineers and makes it his own to turn the singer into the real star.