The Benefits of Professional Mixing and Mastering

Thanks to music streaming and digital music platforms, independent music artists have the ability to make and release their albums, from creating the music to releasing it for licensing or streaming. Working with a record label has become a thing of the past for many music artists. Musicians also have the advantage of keeping all rights and ownership and deciding where they want to submit and distribute it. 

When it comes to mixing and mastering your music, this is where many artists can fall short in the quality of sound. Sound engineering knowledge is not easily accessible. The most technically savvy and professional audio experts understand how the most subtle alterations and modifications can affect the overall sound, tone, and message within a piece of music. 

Some musicians may not realize the importance of professional mixing and mastering. However, as an independent musician, even if you have a DIY approach to your music, you should research and look into the benefits that investing in professional mixing and master can offer for your music career.

WHAT IS MIXING AND MASTERING, EXACTLY?

Music mixing and music mastering are two different things but typically are combined since they complement one another. Mixing is the adjustment and combination of audio files together, while mastering is the fine-tuning of the entire audio to give it the best sound when listening.

Many music artists, even those with the equipment for good sound quality, don’t always know what they are listening to or looking for when attempting their own mixing and mastering. The mixing process being the first step is one of the most vital parts to creating balance with instruments, electronic sounds, and voices. Mastering is the final step before making your songs ready for distribution and licensing.

To provide a little more explanation, let’s break down each element:

Audio Mixing: The process of mixing involves taking the recordings of individual tracks, be it voice or instrument, and converting it into the stereo or multichannel format, or more plainly, blending all of the individual parts that make up a song and creating a “put together” version.

You will be doing the most editing with the mixing since this is where you will blend chopped-up, recorded parts and layer them together. If you have a good ear, you might attempt to do this yourself, but you have to understand voices and instruments to reach the correct highs, lows, mids, and everything else in between. 

When creating the audio mix, you will utilize audio software and the main objective is to balance all of the individual tracks together. It may require:

• Applying filters, such as highpass, lowpass, fades, EQ, reverb, and compressors to create a balanced mix;

• Adjusting pitch and tempos to match up timing and correct keys;

• Balancing the track levels (may require you to listen between speakers to develop the stereo sound); and

• Ensuring every track can be heard when played together.

Depending on the audio software you are using, you may need some filters and plug-ins, possibly even a bundle, to obtain all of the filters and changes you can make in the recordings. Then, once your mix is complete, you can move into the mastering.

Audio Mastering: Mastering is the final process of polishing the mix into the best presentation for distribution. The main objective with mastering is to enhance and advance your already well put together mixture in a final form for listeners. 

When developing the mastering, you will utilize more fine-tuning skills with your audio filters, such as EQs, stereo wideners, and saturation, giving the mix a streaming-friendly sound. Mastering is a separate process from mixing, but sometimes engineers, especially more expert sound engineers, can do some mastering while they are mixing. It is the stage where a track is assembled and adjusted for its final, cohesive flow. Don’t forget in this stage to add Fade-ins at the beginning and end of the track, as well as labeling and noting your metadata.

If you are a beginner, this production process can be highly time-consuming. You need to wait until your mix is finished before doing any of the mastering so that you have the opportunity to listen to the track multiple times on different devices and be sure that you are ready for that next step. Of course, the better option would be to utilize a professional in mixing and mastering. 

GET A LEG UP ON THE COMPETITION

With internet music streaming and a plethora of music libraries and playlists out there for people to listen to, musicians are always looking to find ways to stay ahead of the trend. One of the most effective ways to help your music stand out above other independent musicians is by working with professional sound engineers who have vast experience with the most updated technologies and audio hardware. 

Professionals in mixing and mastering can provide your tracks with more than just more precise sound. You will need those types of results to ensure that your tracks are the ones people listen to and say “wow.” 

Many sound professionals understand what it takes to ensure that your music ends up being featured and distributed through a library of music to license for your videos. They also have the know-how to correctly format your music digitally to give you all the most searchable terms for creatives to choose your music for their projects.

LEARN ABOUT IMPROVING YOUR AUDIO

Sound engineers spend countless hours listening to sounds and can detect unwanted noises, hums, or other changes that affect the overall quality of your music. So you should do yourself a favor and find out if you can sit in while they work or listen to the quality from the rough recording you made versus the finalized product after being mixed and mastered. You will be surprised at how different they will sound.

Many mixing and mastering services or engineers understand all of the terminologies that go into their craft. If you want to ensure that your musical tracks are being taken care of properly, you should too. 

It can help you know things like depth, volume control, EQ, reverb, and more since these are the tools used when creating the master recording. Even though you may not be using them right away, if sound engineering interests you and you have an excellent ear as a musician, it doesn’t hurt to learn something new.

SAVE YOURSELF TIME AND (WASTED) MONEY

If you do not know how to mix and master yourself, don’t try it blindly. The process of mixing and mastering tracks can take time, and it requires a good ear and a lot of dedication and patience. In addition, if you are not trained in the art of how to utilize audio programs and plugins, you will spend way too much time trying to get it right when it comes to your music.

Not every piece of audio hardware or software is the same, either. Based on things like your music style or genre, you may not know what the best type of equipment is to buy, and you could end up wasting your money on programs that do not benefit the sound you desire. Instead, save yourself time and money by putting it towards hiring and working with a professional sound engineer.

GAIN CONSISTENT SOUND QUALITY AND RECOGNITION

Many independent artists and musicians dream of the day when their songs can be immediately recognized when just the first few notes or bars are played. One thing that hiring a sound engineer can do for your music is just that - give you that perfect level of dynamics and achieve that sound that people will be able to recognize right away.

Engineers will create smooth transitions to make it sound like it was recorded in just one take. But, of course, sound quality can vary depending on multiple factors, even if you have a decent home studio setup. Also, when you’re not recording it all in one session, it is sometimes easy to detect when things are cut off or changed. But, with a mastering expert on your side, they can eliminate all of that for you.

ENHANCE YOUR STATUS IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

While you can always attempt to mix and master your music on your own, there are many added benefits to working with a sound professional. The mixing and creation of a master recording are some of the most vital pieces of music production, and they can make or break you as a true musical artist. 

From understanding the need to create the best high-quality sound to provide you with a format that will ensure your music gets heard, there is no excuse not to utilize a tech-savvy sound engineer for your tracks. They can help you learn more about the importance of audio and create the big picture sound that reflects your music in the best light.

Written by Nicole McCray

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If you need further help creating your own music, we offer audio production and online mixing and mastering services that will help you elevate your sound and bring your song to life!

We look forward to being a part of your success.

Andrew Scheps Mixing Tips

Grammy-winning mix engineer Andrew Scheps, is one of the biggest recording and audio engineers in the industry today. Andrew has a background playing the trumpet and completed a Recording Engineering Degree at the University of Miami.

His career began interning at two studios in New York and California, before becoming a synclavier specialist working on the road with big acts like Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder and it only went up from there.

Moving to LA in 2001 he began working closely with another incredible producer Rick Rubin (stay tuned for another Industry Legend Spotlight Blog) where he made news mixing the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s album entirely in analogue.

Since then he has worked with a star-studded list of artists including Adele, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, U2, Iggy Pop and more! 

Since then Andrew Scheps again ruffled industry feathers by going the opposite direction and making the decision to mix entirely “in the box”, that is, without any analogue gear, entirely on a computer. Despite such a drastic change, Andrew still maintains the top quality sound and music philosophy that got him success originally. 

To be such an incredible and experienced engineer and still being willing to share his insights is really inspiring to us at Jony Studios, and it is our pleasure to share some of our favourite tips he’s shared over the years. 

*With all mixing tips, there is no one size fits all. These recommendations come from one of the best mixing engineers working with some of the best musicians and recording engineers therefore if your samples don’t work quite as well don’t worry! Using your own ears to find the sound that YOU love is much more important than copying a legend exactly. Even Andrew Scheps won’t have the exact same settings or plugins on any two projects* 

Vocal Mixing

Vocal mixing can be one of the most intimidating aspects of a new song. Regardless of if it is your voice, a friend or a client, the vocals are (almost) always front and centre in the mix, and you just know they have to be perfect. 

Just getting your vocals to cut through and be in front is the first step, and Andrew Scheps, known for using a lot of parallel processing in his work, has just the ticket. This tip features only techniques “in the box” so it’s very easy to recreate at home even if you’re just starting out. 

The first chain is very simple: 

First

Cut low end at around 100hz with a very wide shelf cut of less the 3.0db and boost the high end at around 8khz of around 3.0db

Second

Heavily compress the high end with a threshold around -36.0db above 1khz with a soft knee and ratio around 4.0/1. Your attack and release should be quite high as well, around 10ms and 120ms respectively

Third

Boost the low end with another eq at 100hz at around 2.5db and cut a little top end at 10khz, around 1.5db

With this technique, a vocal can cut through even the more dense mixes with clarity. Using just the first two steps in the chain, you are essentially compressing just the high and mid of the vocal chain. These areas greatly affect the presence and comprehensibility but also add in a lot of air, or harshness. In order to level the vocal out again and remove the harshness while maintaining clarity, the last step of the vocal chain eq’s a slight low pass, low boost filter leaving you with a hyper-compressed but pleasant and stable vocal. 

Bass Mixing

As always, the first step to getting a guitar/bass tone that you like is making a great sample. Recording and playing a great take is essential, there is a lot you can do while mixing, but fixing a poor sample will always turn out worse than polishing a great one. 

Again, Scheps is a big fan of parallel processing to produce the sound he wants. In the case of an aggressive and fast bass, it is a common misconception that heavy distortion is what brings the energy. Scheps argues that the attack, or actual sound of the physical strings (in a recording) provides much more character, rhythm and energy. If you’re looking for the feeling that bands like Green Day get with their punk bass, try this parallel processing technique. 

First

The first chain is a simple eq boosting the mids by 5-7dbs around 1.75khz

Second

The next independent chains are where the distortion really comes in (you didn’t think we forgot about it did you?). Using several different amps, or characters also help to fill out the booming low end of a good bass section, therefore layering these should be the next step. 

Third

Finally, all three should be fed through a final processing chain, first drive some of the low end with a multiband compressor. Follow that with another multiband compressor, this time slightly leveling the whole frequency range, and finally top it off with an eq bringing up some more low end at around 700hz boosting around 3.0db

Guitar Mixing

Guitar’s are also unique in that they are often a focus of a track alongside the vocal. Especially in the case of rock or metal, a heavy distorted power chord or triad can often fight with the vocal for space in a mix, another difficult challenge for any mixing engineer. 

For Andrew Scheps, compressing and eq are also essential, but the final solution in some cases is panning. 

To start, it’s important to remember that certain plugins, or analogue gear for that matter, are meant to be used around a certain frequency. There are a very large amount of vocal processing plugins including enhancers, compressors and eqs. For the exact same reason why your guitars and vocals might clash, those same plugins might work just as well on guitar! Guitars occupy a very similar frequency space to vocals therefore some of the vocal processing tips gone over earlier can also work here!

Another thing to remember is that guitars inherently are an extremely resonant instrument. Here more than ever it is essential to get a great take because trying to take out too much fuzzy distortion during the mixing process can be difficult when so many other clean frequencies and the sound of the pick are up there as well.

Parallel compression can again really help mixing guitars without changing their sound too much and there really isn’t any single chain or tip here. 

First

Boosting some low end around 600hz slightly can really bring the tone of a guitar to life, but again be sure not to get too heavy with this as it can significantly change the energy of a take.

Second

Using very minimal parallel compression next is necessary in some cases to level the sound again but again, too much will be very detrimental. As stated regarding bass, the attack of an instrument is very responsible for the energy groove or aggression (depending on what you’re going for) so a flat guitar part can just feel lifeless. 

Once you have all this down with a solid take and the energy you want it’s time to position it in the mix. Especially with a busy or heavily distorted guitar part you might again notice the guitar and vocals fighting with each-other. While more eqing can help, Andrew Scheps has also come up with a unique solution. 

You guessed it, panning. An unbalanced mix is far from pleasant but by panning the guitar part, or other mid range heavy element, you leave more room for the star of the show, the vocals to shine through. Using this technique is very tricky and should only be used when absolutely necessary however using some reverb panned to the opposite side will greatly help keep imbalances to a minimum. Try panning other elements including backing vocals opposite the main guitar part as well to make sure the mix has a perfect balance at the end of the day. 

How to prepare for a session

Preparation is another one of those things that most professionals would just say takes practice. Getting ready for your first, fifth or even 100th recording session can always be stressful. 

Take it from the words of Andrew Scheps himself from an interview with Your Audio Solutions 

“Preparation.

You can never do enough preparation.

You need to have everything in your head and written down. For example, which microphones to use, placements, which preamps to use and where to put them all so you can get to the vocals really easily.

Where to put the musicians and one of the most important things, their headphones. How are they going to hear and see each other because that is the biggest thing to get a good recording - making the band feel comfortable. If they can’t hear what’s going on they can’t play. Every single aspect of that has to be right. 

Show up early, be completely ready to go, so if someone walks in and sits down by the drum kit you are ready to hit record.

You can’t decide everything in advance because the session goes how the session goes. But it’s good to have planned out as much as possible beforehand so you can react to the chaos and still be able to record. No matter what changes. For example, if they decide to record the drums in the control room, you can do that and make it work because you have everything under control. “

Conclusion

By taking just a few minutes to hear Andrew Scheps speak about his craft it is so clear just how passionate he is. It is that kind of energy that greatly inspires us at Jony Studios, and I hope it inspires you too. All these tips and many more are available on the internet through countless interviews, videos and online courses, mostly for free! We would like to thank Andrew Scheps for his great contribution to the industry, not least of which through the sharing of his expertise but also through his work on some of the most famous, and well-loved albums in the past 20 years. 

If you are interested in hearing more music, mixing, and marketing tips be sure to keep up to date with us on social media and keep checking our website for more blogs like this. In addition, check out our services page for more information on what we can do for your music career. 

- By Erik Steiner

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If you need further help creating your own music, we offer music production services that will help you elevate your sound and bring your song to life!

We look forward to being a part of your success.

Contact us here to get started.

7 Mixing Tips By Award-Winning Engineer Miles Walker

Miles Walker (@mixedbymiles) is a Grammy-winning, multi-platinum record selling sound engineer who has been a staple of the music industry ever since 2003. That year he graduated Berklee and began his career by moving to Tennessee to work with Music Row Records and quickly found a calling in pop music.

He found himself surrounded by the vibrant hip-hop R&B and pop scene and moved to Atlanta where he began to work at the famous Patchwerk Studios. Already music industry veterans like Bryan Michael Cox, David Banner and Leslie Brathwaite began to take notice, but soon he transitioned to another studio to work for Usher at Ush records.

By this point, his fate was sealed and countless massive artists and other industry professionals were inspired by his hard work including Britney Spears, Enrique Iglesias, Rhianna, Katy Perry and Wiz Khalifa. In 2010 Miles won his first Grammy for Beyonce’s “I am… Sasha Fierce” and in the following years, he would win 2 more.

Lately, Miles has been generously offering some of his golden mixing wisdom to the people of Instagram and we here at Jony Studios have been incredibly inspired. From inside tips to realities of the music industry, Miles Walker has given us an insight into what it takes to be an award-winning sound engineer. 

Here are some of our favourite #TuesdayTips, from the past few weeks in the words of Miles himself:

Project Preparation

“As a mix engineer, you have to honour whatever decisions the artist might have made before the record makes it to you. Mixing decisions start getting made early in the process—your job is to work with them, not against them.”

“Although file prep isn’t glamorous, and if we’re being honest, this is probably about 50% of the work of mixing. And it happens before you even lay a single finger on a fader.

For me, here are a couple of rules for file prep and some tips to make it easier for the entire crew:

1. I want the exact session that the rough mix came from:

   This is so I can have all the choices from the mix they sent over. Many times I’ll get a rough mix and it won’t match the session. This is tough because I don’t know the decisions that were made to take something out. To me, stems limit creativity. That’s why I always want the session.

2. I want to meet you in the space where you were creative:

   I don’t ever want a client to have to move their session over to PT or something else. I’m happy to do that. I’ll work that into my process–I never want someone to have to work theirs into mine.

3. Please send me the files zipped up from a service that DOES NOT require an account

   If you’re going to send the files this way, then please send your mixer a zip via a link. My favourite is WeTransfer and I can’t tell you how much I love them. I’ve had problems with corruption with many other services, but not them.

   It’s free, secure, and if you have a pro account you can send something up to 20gb. The best part is the fact that you get an email confirmation when I download it. You can see I’ve downloaded it, which means I’m about to start on it, which means that you can move to the most important step…

4. Communicate!

   After you’ve sent everything over, be in communication with your engineer. Don’t just send a link and then go radio silent. After you pass along the files, follow up to make sure that it’s everything that's needed.

   Delaying the start delays the finish. This saves everyone time, and time is money. We can fix small things quickly, so I can get back to mixing and you can get back to creating.

Keeping everyone happy

“Producers, mix engineers, recording engineers–we’re all stewards of the creative process. Meaning we help move that process along by filling crucial supporting roles to the artists. And if you believe your boy Plato, art is imitation. So at one point or another, each of us has been asked to utilize methods, techniques and styles from other artists.

For mixers, that most often comes in the form of a reference track. Artists will send you a list of tracks that they like something about. It could be the sound of a drum, the stereo separation or a track or something else.

It’s the same thing as asking a recording engineer to help your guitar sound like David Gilmour’s solo on Pink Floyd’s “Time” or maybe to get the bass tone that James Jamerson laid down on What’s Going On.

So when do those come in to play?

For me, I don’t even listen to them until I’ve gone through my first pass at the mix. When I’m building the essence of the song up, I am working with that specific performance. As I said, I’m picking the winners with the magic they created. And just like I don’t listen to an individual track when I’m setting up the session, I don’t listen to reference materials either. Even if I’m familiar with the song or the artist, I’ll try and keep it from influencing my first mix.

Now after that? Absolutely. We can definitely talk about reference tracks. But for me, I use them as a communication tool to help decode what the artist wants versus a template to try and copy.”

“Whenever I get the files for a mix, I do everything in my power to NOT listen to the files. I’ll usually have my amazing assistant @jumperatl set them up. It’s on purpose. I don’t want to hear the parts, I want to hear the song. Before I had the luxury of having an assistant, I would set them up myself (obviously.) But I would do it at the very end of the day when I’m burnt out.

Why?

Because by turning the process into something strictly mechanical, I’m able to tune it out (so to speak) & keep my ears fresh to hear the WHOLE song the next day. And that’s what I ultimately want to do. Hearing each part out of context could cloud my judgement as a mixer, & I think my judgement is one of the things people use me for.

When you as a mixer (or even as a listener) hear something the first time, you INSTANTLY react to it. "That’s a cool bass line, the vocal hook is good here, the drums lock in nicely"–you’re instantly making these notes, whether you want to or not. After my session is set up, I listen to the ruff mix. I make these mental notes, assigning a level of importance to each element–drums, vox, synth, etc.

And then I follow my most important rule–you have to pick one winner for each part. And like the Highlander, THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE. And the mix needs to reflect that.

That’s not to say there can’t be a different winner in each section of the song. And look, you can have runners up–they can share the podium. But there can only be one winner. And that’s what I think about when I’m listening to it the first time. Because that’s how fans listen to it–something hits them. And what hits me is what I’m going to mix. I want to pick the winners from the magic they made.

Of course, artists and producers can & will disagree. But one of the reasons you hire a mixer is because you’re too close to it. This outside perspective is valuable.”

Presentation

“You’ve put all this work into a mix, and it’s time to send it back. How do you present it?

Well, there are a couple of things that I’ve learned over the years. The most important thing is this: conveying your excitement about the work you did. Bottom line? If you can’t be excited about what you’re doing, nobody else is going to be. If you can show your excitement and point out what you did to highlight those moments to people will be more receptive. So how do you do that?

Three is the magic number.

Like we talked about earlier on, you have to pick a winner for each section of the song. This is similar. Pick your three favourite moments and then talk about what you did to highlight those. Part of mixing a track is changing what they have. And for artists, these are very personal things.

If you change just to change, it comes across as you messing it up. But if you tell them what you were excited about and what you did to highlight that excitement, they’ll understand that. You liked the drums so you lifted them up in the chorus. You thought that vocal melody was AMAZING so you made sure it stood out.

And they’ll agree, or disagree. But like I’ve said over and over, they come to us for an opinion. So be confident in what you chose. Because if you don’t believe in it, why should they?”

Finishing the mix isn’t the end of your day

“If you’re gonna start, you need to be committed. But that’s not enough. If you’re going to finish, you’re gonna need consistency. Keep growing, stay hungry, be focused, and outwork everyone else around you.”

“There’s always this perception that when you’re a musician or a creative, that’s all you’re doing. You’re writing music, making beats, mixing records. And while this is true, the part that you don’t see a lot (especially on social media) is just how much of the grind is spent on your business.

Taxes, bills, marketing, business planning, accounting are just as paramount as being good at your craft. I once saw an interview with a brewery owner who talked about how everyone thought he had the best job–dreaming up beers, tasting them and seeing them make it to stores and bars. He said that way over half of his job is chemistry and cleaning, and less than 10% was all the “glamorous” stuff.”

Conclusion

All these great mix tips and more can be found on Miles’ Instagram including some incredible mixing memes. Jonathan the owner of Jony Studios is a big fan of Miles and highly recommends him! You can work with Miles Walker on your project by filling out the contact form on his website here.

There are tons of great audio engineers in the music industry today, who are some of the mixing and mastering pros that inspire you in your music? Let us know in the comments below!

- By Erik Steiner