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What is the difference between production, mixing & mastering. If I want to share my music with just my peeps, is the mp3 mix the best way to do it? Should I assume that all of my projects need production, mixing & mastering? Should all of these be equally priced, or should I expect to pay more for one over the other? I know bargaining is encouraged, but I also don't want to be insulting. Should I consider all of these separately each time, or try to find one person to do it all?
#2112 Posted Thu 09 Feb, 2017 4:27 pm
What is the difference between production, mixing & mastering. If I want to share my music with just my peeps, is the mp3 mix the best way to do it? Should I assume that all of my projects need production, mixing & mastering? Should all of these be equally priced, or should I expect to pay more for one over the other? I know bargaining is encouraged, but I also don't want to be insulting. Should I consider all of these separately each time, or try to find one person to do it all?

Originally posted by ShannonB on Thu 09 Feb, 2017

Very good question, it will be interesting to see what others think about this. I always scratch my head when it comes to mixing, mastering & production as well.
#2113 Posted Thu 09 Feb, 2017 6:43 pm
What is the difference between production, mixing & mastering. If I want to share my music with just my peeps, is the mp3 mix the best way to do it? Should I assume that all of my projects need production, mixing & mastering? Should all of these be equally priced, or should I expect to pay more for one over the other? I know bargaining is encouraged, but I also don't want to be insulting. Should I consider all of these separately each time, or try to find one person to do it all?

Originally posted by ShannonB on Thu 09 Feb, 2017

Hey Shannon. Here's my view on this. Others might see things differently :)

Production is basically the entire process that you go through when you when creating a song and getting it recorded. So it includes pre-production activities, such as the writing, arranging, and rehersals, then you have the actual production activities, such as the recording and mixing, and lastly the post-production activities, which I would say mastering and some other things generally fall into.

In general terms, I believe it's the producer's job to manage this process with the intention being to achieve the artist's vision for the song and to make the best product that they can. So it can involve giving input in the writing and arranging stages, getting the right musicians onboard for performing and recording the song, directing the performance. and directing the mix engineer to make sure that the song is sounding as needed in order to achieve the vision, among other things.

So the producer is basically the person who will be responsible for translating the artist's vision for their song into an actual finished product, i.e. the master sound recording.

Mixing is what happens once you have all of the instruments and vocals recorded. So, we got vocals, guitars, drums, bass and keyboards down, now the mixer goes to work to balance it all out and add effects to get that coherent sound and hit all the emotional buttons that will make the listener cry!

Back in the day when people had to go out and pay for a recording studio, it would normally be that the mix engineer would be involved in the process of recording the audio and then going on to mix it. In the online world, this is less likely to be the case. Artists record themselves, and then upload the track for the mix engineer to step in and do the mix. So things are a bit different.

At least historically, I believe mixing is considered to be more of a technical job, hence the related term I assume, audio or sound 'engineer'. So the mixer is more about using the technology in-hand to get the sound that the producer/artist is looking for, as well as dealing with cables, tapes, software, and machines, etc. To put it another away, there are really two aspects to mixing. One being the creative side, and other being the technical side.

Once the mix is done, it moves on through to the next stage, which is mastering.

Mastering is where the engineer takes the orginal 'source' - the mix - and prepares a master copy that will be used for replication of the song onto its various formats before finally being sent out to the wider audience and the world, i.e. distribution.

A key role of mastering is to ensure that the recording is being faithfully reproduced when when it goes to print on the target distribution format. By format, I mean, making it ready for distribution on vinyl, tape, CD, or digital download, such as an mp3. Each media type has its quirks, so it's the mastering engineer's job to make it sound as good as possible on the target format.

The mastering engineer, is not 'mixing' the track. So they are not going to put the guitar up and bring the vocals down, but on the other hand, they may need to fix problems that have arisen from a mix that is perhaps not as good as it could have been.

A couple of key attributes of a mastering engineer then, would be: 1. having access to an awesome monitoring environment, 2. an in-depth knowledge of his tools, and 3. golden ears. And, as opposed to mixing, I would say that mastering really is a more technical discipline, rather than creative (some may disagree!).

So to answer your question, each role is distinct. Traditionally, I believe, professional productions will typically segregate these jobs to different, skilled people.

Skip forward to 2017, and particularly when it comes to budget productions, your producer, mix engineer, and mastering engineer, are more often than not going to be the same person. And from my observations, this is very typically true of most online collaborations. So yes, your songs do need producing, as well as mixing and mastering. But, do you pay different people to do these things? You could do, but it will likely cost your more.

If you were to segregate the tasks, I would say that you might possibly pay the producer more - but that could depend a lot on exactly what it is that they end up doing.

I reckon that a lot of home recording artists do prefer to take on the role of the producer themselves - they have a vision and just run with it. But a producer can add a lot of value if you really want your song to be its best.

Next, I would say the mixer has the biggest job. Mixing takes time and getting a great mix can be challenging. But if the pre-production and recording work have been done well then the mixing task can be executed much more efficiently.

Finally, I would say that the mastering process is probably going to be the cheapest of the three, as it is typically a less timely task. Again, that would depend on the quality and reputation of the mastering house/engineer of course. If you go to a big name, and they have lots of fancy equipment, then it is, of course, going to cost. But, the trend these days is more akin to just turning up the volume! And a lot of people just run the mix through a 'mastering chain' and are done with it. Literally a 10 minute job.. is that mastering?? Probably not in the true sense of the word, but typically sufficient if you are just distributing your music to friends and family :)

One thing to be aware of when combining jobs. As a rule of thumb, it is generally considered a bad idea for the mixer to also master their own track. Reason being, part of the mastering process should involve making sure that the recording will play back on as many systems as possible and just generally sounds good; which can mean fixing frequency issues and the like which have arisen from the mixing process. So the issue is, if the mix has problems that went undetected (due to their studio, equipment, monitors, and setup etc.) then those issues aren't going to be detected and addressed.

Bottom line. It's always a good idea to have another set of ears. And a decent mastering studio is setup for pristine, balanced acoustic playback. Unlike a mixer, who is often working with headphones or in an acoustically untreated room.

Back to your question then. One person or more? Probably, in terms of cost, and given that just want to share your music with your peeps, then one person is going to be good enough.

You asked about mp3 also. Basically, mp3 is a degraded version of your master recording. Always get your song mastered in a high quality, uncompressed format such as .wav - at least 16 bit, 44.1 kHz , which is CD quality - and from that, you can convert it to any other format you like, such as mp3.

Mp3 is basically a much smaller file and much easier to email or transfer to someone online.

Hmm. Did I just confuse everything, make it sound more complicated than it is, and post a bunch of alternative facts? I do tend to do that! :)
#2117 Posted Fri 10 Feb, 2017 4:39 am
That was totally awesome! I will never have to go to music school! Yay, one less expense for me. I believe I can learn everything I need to know right here. Now that doesn't mean I'll always use the knowledge correctly ( or in the right order), but at least I know where to find it. Thanks MonkeyC! I think I've found my home away from home! BTW, I'm blown away by the talent in this place!
#2118 Posted Fri 10 Feb, 2017 6:10 am
I do this every once in a while so new people or for others who missed the earlier posts.
Places to GET FREE STUFF!!!!!!!!

KVR Audio,
Don't Crack
Plugin Alliance
SonicScoop insiders list (this one also list articles)

Anyone else know of any?

Tomic
#2490 Posted Tue 20 Jun, 2017 8:21 am
I do this every once in a while so new people or for others who missed the earlier posts. Places to GET FREE STUFF!!!!!!!! KVR Audio, Don't Crack Plugin Alliance SonicScoop insiders list (this one also list articles) Anyone else know of any? Tomic

Originally posted by tomic on Tue 20 Jun, 2017

Wheeey. Free stuff!
#2492 Posted Tue 20 Jun, 2017 9:24 am
You can get a free Pro Tools First DAW here:
http://www.avid.com/pro-tools-first

It is a limited but still very powerful DAW for someone wanting to get their feet wet recording/mixing without shelling out a bunch of cash.
#2493 Posted Tue 20 Jun, 2017 9:50 am
You can get a free Pro Tools First DAW here: http://www.avid.com/pro-tools-first It is a limited but still very powerful DAW for someone wanting to get their feet wet recording/mixing without shelling out a bunch of cash.

Originally posted by tpistilli on Tue 20 Jun, 2017

Oh wow. A free version of ProTools? Didn't know that even existed! May be time to learn how that darn DAW works..
#2494 Posted Tue 20 Jun, 2017 9:58 am
I know. I'm thinking about downloading it just to make volume automation much easier. It's the one thing I don't like in Mixcraft.
#2495 Posted Tue 20 Jun, 2017 10:01 am
If you never heard of it, go to recordingrevolution.com. Graham Cochran is a great teacher on recording/mixing. He does everything in protools, but it translates to any DAW. he has a youtube channel as well. Great stuff.
#2496 Posted Tue 20 Jun, 2017 10:03 am
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