Mixing and mastering music are two separate but equally important parts in the audio production process that can often become blurred and hard to differentiate between. Basically, mixing is the step before mastering that involves adjusting and combining individual tracks together to form a stereo audio file after mixdown. The stereo file is then mastered, which ensures that the various songs are clearly polished and form a cohesive whole on an album. This defines mixing and mastering in their simplest forms. Let's take a deeper look at the numerous other differences between mixing a mastering.
Mixing Steps
After all of the individual tracks of a song have been recorded, a mixing engineer steps in to work their magic. They begin by labeling and organizing the tracks into their similar groups. The song is often Normalized to ensure that the tracks are all at similar volume levels and no tracks peak. The engineer will then EQ each individual track to get the best tones out of the instruments and use high and low pass filters to eliminate any unneeded frequencies. The general goal of EQing is to make adjustments that allow all of the tracks to inhabit their own frequency areas. This allows the song to be clear and each instrument distinguishable. The same idea is also applied to panning the tracks to get a full, wide sound. Compression, reverb, delay, and other processors can be added to each track to get the desired tones for the instruments as well. Manipulating fades and effects throughout the songs with automation can help the engineer control the emotion of the song sonically. A lot of engineers will switch between headphones and the studio reference monitors to get a consistent sound for their mix on various sources. After hours of tweaking knobs and faders, and the song sounds as best as it possibly can: It's time for the mastering engineer to step in.
Mastering Steps
The mastering engineer receives the stereo track along with some notes and reference songs from the engineer and/or the artists. This will help give the engineer an understanding of the sound that they are going for and so that the mix isn't altered in areas that are intended to sound a particular way. Then, the finishing touches are added to the song by making slight adjustments primarily to the EQ, compression, limiting, and stereo enhancement. All of the songs mastered on an album are brought to similar levels so the album flows and is cohesive throughout. Spacing and fades are added to the beginning and endings of the songs. Usually the Red Book standard of 2 seconds is added in between songs unless otherwise specified. Audio mastering engineers often offer sequencing services for albums to put the songs in the desired order, label track names, as well as encode the tracks with ISRC. The mastering engineer's primary goal is to provide a high fidelity, high clarity, professional sound that can be enjoyed by listeners on any source.
You could have a great mix without a great master, or vice versa, and still be unable to achieve a professional sound that can compete in today's music world. The line between mixing and mastering should never be blurred. Attempting to combine these two steps into one will only hinder your music and prevent it from reaching its full potential.
Make Pro Songs
There are 8 unique value-points inside the Sage Audio membership, so let’s go over each one so you can decide if it’s the right fit for you.
1. 50 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
- You’ll get your own dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer to create custom masters that are specific to you and sound exactly how you want.
- Unlimited revisions with your dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
- All masters are delivered as commercial, industry-standard high-resolution 24-bit HD WAV masters so they will sound clean and clear on every platform.
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2. 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio 1:1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us to answer all your questions and receive unlimited advanced mixing feedback directly from us.
- Unlimited direct access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve your mixes and masters.
- Unlimited advanced mixing feedback with detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Fast communication to answer all your questions and get tailored guidance that’s specific to your needs.
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3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited mixing feedback so you can improve your mixes quickly.
- This is highly valuable - giving you access to a thriving community of mixing engineers who can provide feedback about what you can improve before sending your mix to be professionally mastered.
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4. Sage Audio University™ (SAU) — (Mixing and Mastering Education Platform)
- SAU is a modern audio engineering education platform that includes in-depth mixing and mastering course curriculums that match the new music industry.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from first-time mixing engineers to advanced engineers. The techniques and concepts taught can be applied to any DAW to create industry-leading mixes without expensive software or plugins - and free plugin alternatives are suggested throughout every course curriculum.
- SAU course curriculums include Start-to-Finish session walkthrough lessons for multiple genres so you can follow along with your preferred genre.
- SAU Certification Document, which can be downloaded and showcased on your website, and social channels.
- New course lessons are added every week with the latest knowledge and techniques so you can continually build and refine your audio engineering skills as the industry evolves.
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5. Mixing and Mastering Competitions
- Compete in Mixing Competitions and Mastering Competitions to win prizes and connect with friends and colleagues.
- This is a great collaborative way to improve your skills alongside both aspiring engineers and seasoned industry professionals.
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6. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
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7. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content, Including:
- 36 multitrack sessions spanning multiple genres for mixing practice.
- 57 un-mastered mixes spanning multiple genres for mastering practice.
- 62 Recommended Free Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 39 Recommended Paid Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 71 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.
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8. 700+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into playlists so you can take a deep dive into all aspects of audio engineering with thousands of hours of concise, expertly crafted Sage Audio videos to continually improve your mixing and mastering skills at your own pace.
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