oh boy, you are opening pandora's box here...
mastering is SO MUCH MORE than just getting your mix loud. In fact, that is the very least important thing mastering is all about. Although, depending on who you ask, that is all that some people care about.
Mastering is about making your mix sound as good as it can. It's about correcting any frequency problems you may have had due to your room, speakers, or any other issues. It's also about the transitions from song to song - the flow of the album (if you're recording an album). Another thing is that it helps make your album sound cohesive. Whether your songs were recorded and mixed by different producers/engineers, or just mixed at different times, the mastering engineer will help bring all of those mixes to a cohesive sounding unit.
Mastering is the last stage before production. Therefore, it is the last chance to "fix" anything (although by no means should you rely on a mastering engineer to fix your mixes) and to enhance your sound. Levels are just one part of that, and in fact if you push for too much level, or just don't know what you are doing - you will do just the opposite - destroy everything you've worked so hard on.
I recommend that you not be cheap on this stage. It's totally worth it to have your music "touched" by a good mastering engineer. It is also another set of ears (and hopefully for you some very experienced ears) that review your work before it is released.
I think you would find this blog useful - http://www.EarsandGears.com. There are no posts on mastering yet, but there is a lot to learn there. Hope you like it.
oh boy, you are opening pandora's box here... mastering is SO MU
oh boy, you are opening pandora's box here...
mastering is SO MUCH MORE than just getting your mix loud. In fact, that is the very least important thing mastering is all about. Although, depending on who you ask, that is all that some people care about.
Mastering is about making your mix sound as good as it can. It's about correcting any frequency problems you may have had due to your room, speakers, or any other issues. It's also about the transitions from song to song - the flow of the album (if you're recording an album). Another thing is that it helps make your album sound cohesive. Whether your songs were recorded and mixed by different producers/engineers, or just mixed at different times, the mastering engineer will help bring all of those mixes to a cohesive sounding unit.
Mastering is the last stage before production. Therefore, it is the last chance to "fix" anything (although by no means should you rely on a mastering engineer to fix your mixes) and to enhance your sound. Levels are just one part of that, and in fact if you push for too much level, or just don't know what you are doing - you will do just the opposite - destroy everything you've worked so hard on.
I recommend that you not be cheap on this stage. It's totally worth it to have your music "touched" by a good mastering engineer. It is also another set of ears (and hopefully for you some very experienced ears) that review your work before it is released.
I think you would find this blog useful - http://www.EarsandGears.com. There are no posts on mastering yet, but there is a lot to learn there. Hope you like it.