MIXING – is balance.
A mix engineer starts with a finished piece of music and provides a considered balance of all the parts (or stems). Adding cohesion, fixing problems and not only giving the track the sound of a ‘record’ but also helping it translate to as many different sound systems as possible. From a festival PA system all the way down to a bluetooth speaker.
It’s the mix engineer’s job to help the musician/producer realise their artistic vision for a project. Utilising their experience to deliver careful use of equalisation, saturation, compression and effects.
Book your track for mixing.
MASTERING – is the final process before release.
A mastering engineer starts with a single stereo stem, or bounce of the final mix (sometimes called a pre-master). Using small amounts of equalisation and limiting etc. the mastering engineer will produce the final version of the track, ready for commercial release.
You will get a pristine 24 or 16 Bit file, plus separate files suitable for itunes, streaming platforms etc.
Book your track for mastering.
STEM MASTERING
If you have a mix that is almost but not quite right you may prefer a stem mastering service.
This is a mini mix on five or six stems that allows a little more room for improvement than a stereo master.
An example of stems bounced for a stem master might be as follows:
1 – Vocals
2 – Bass
3 – Kick/Bass Drum
4 – Drums
5 – Synths/Guitars
Book your track for stem mastering.