Mastering your own mixes makes zero sense. There, I said it. I see so many young cats these days doing everything themselves. Everything. On the one hand, I’m proud of them for not being afraid. On the other, I resent them for not realising their mistake.
Mastering your own tracks is the biggest de-service you can do them. There is a reason why we have mastering engineers. There’s also a reason why mastering studios cost a fortune to build. These days, though, none of that seems to matter anymore. Anyone with a laptop and a (cracked) license for Ozone will happily charge you for mastering.
Let’s take a concrete example. You’ve been “producing” a track (in other words, making a beat). Okay. It’s not terrible, and you get a singer to collaborate with you. Great! She lays down her vocals with a cheap condenser microphone. She’s singing way too close to the grill, the capsule is freaking out from all these sssses and tttts, but whatever. That’s something for another day. You add this performance to your session and get to mixing.
By the time you’re done with the mix, you will have spent a few days on this song. In the best-case scenario. More often it will be weeks, months. Opening it, tweaking it, closing it. Rinse and repeat. All of this being done on the same system, in the same listening environment.
Professional studios tend to have three pairs of speakers, plus a bunch of headphones. That rarely fits in a bedroom, though. Are your speakers and your head in a perfect triangle? At the correct height? Oh, and is your room treated, by the way? Is it acoustically corrected? And I’m not talking about software applying correction to your listening chain. It tends to create more issues than it’s solving.
Don’t get me wrong: the last thing I want is to be a killjoy. My point is, how do you expect to have ANY objectivity left in you when you get to mastering your track? Seriously. How?
If you had heard the problem in the first place, you would have fixed it in the mix, wouldn’t you? There’s no way you’re going to hear it now. On the same speakers, in the same room, after having worked on that song for weeks on end.
Well, “what if there aren’t any problems in my track”, you ask? If you’re that cocky, I’ll be pleased to show you the door. Don’t let it kick your arse on the way out.
There are problems in your tracks. Why? If there are issues in Andrew Scheps’ and Serban Ghenea’s tracks, it’s quite safe to assume us regular mortals will have some as well.
The best mixers in the world don’t master their own tracks. No way. They are glad to send their mixes off to the mastering studio. Awfully glad. Because the mastering engineer will listen in a wonderful acoustic environment. He’s more experienced, and works on hundreds of songs each year. He’ll have a fresh perspective on the project, hearing it for the first time. He’ll know in a heartbeat what could be improved. And he’ll fix it, before the song is finally released to a billion set of ears.
Mastering is the end of the line. The final barrier before it’s out in the world. Think of it as your insurance against messing up. Your last chance to double check if something isn’t waaay off. Do you really want to do it yourself? I’m quite the gambler, but that ain’t a risk I’m willing to take.
If these blokes are happy to let someone else finish the songs, you should too. And the same idea applies to mixing, by the way. Mixing your own tunes after you’ve spent weeks, if not months, in the production process, is a terrible idea. You want to bring in a new set of fresh ears, and a clear perspective on your tracks.
Have you noticed that I’m not even talking about skills? Because of course, a professional mixer will bring the track much further than you would. Why? Because he’s mixed thousands of tracks at this point, that’s why. At the end of the day, it’s all about the maths. If you disagree with that, I’m sorry, but you live in denial, my friend.
A better mix means fewer problems to fix for the mastering guy. Which means he can get to be more creative instead of just putting out fires. How much better can that make the very same song?
Try it out, actually. It’s always an interesting experience. Finish one of your songs, produce it, mix it, master it. Then send out your production files to a mixer. Once you’re blown away by the mix, send it out to a proper mastering studio. A/B the two tracks at the end. You’re in for a lovely ride.
I never master anything. Like I’ve said, it is a very different job. You not only need a different set of skills, but also specific gear and a whole different room. I work with two wonderful mastering engineers and have been for years. Every time we finish a project together, I’m reminded of why I hire them. It makes such a massive difference on the end product.
Sometimes I don’t even mix my own tracks. For my band’s, for instance, I hire a mixer. Because I know that by the time I reach the mixing stage, I’m done. I have no objectivity left in me.
Same thing with the artists I produce. Sometimes I feel great about mixing the tracks. But sometimes we’ve spent too long in the production phase, and I’ll be glad to let someone else mix our work. Because I know that this is the right decision for the songs.
At the end of the day, everyone has to pay rent and put bread on the table. I’m no different. But I’d hate to listen back to a project in a couple of years and be disappointed. Only because I did it all myself and was not fresh anymore. I’d hate to hear I let these songs down, because they deserved better.
Expenses will go up when you hire more people, that’s a fact. But you have to ask yourself what your end goal is. Are you making music to try and go viral next week? Or are you in this for the long run? To try and make the best possible record? One that will stand the test of time. One that will change listeners’ lives. A record that people will cherish for years and ‘til the day they die.
There’s no right answer here. The only advice I can give you is to be honest with yourself. Assess what you’re pursuing, and take decisions accordingly. You owe it to the music.
But then again, what do I know…
*****
Like what you read? Buy me a coffee!