Should I Hire a Mixing and Master Engineer?

When hiring people to make the best song or jingle, most people think they need a good songwriter/composer and a big-name producer, but is that enough? Is that the only people you need to have a hit song?

Over the last few years the music industry, and most audiences have been paying a lot more attention to quality sound, investing in good headphones, unbelievable sound systems, and even in movies now with the new technology of immersive audio that makes you feel another character of the story. So, what is the key to reaching that high-quality sound? Get on the top charts or even great awards like The Grammys?

Well, here is an enlightening process, the art of Mixing and Mastering. You are probably asking, what is that?

Definition of Mixing and Master Engineer

A Mixing and Master Engineer do very different things that are very tied up. If the mixing is bad, the mastering is going to be bad, but if these are good, an amazing record is guaranteed.

Mixing Engineer

A Mix Engineer combines the artistic part with the recording, making all the parts work together perfectly, and balancing all the instruments so it sounds pleasing to the listener. They also add different processes to all the instruments, for example, compression, delay, reverb, etc., and with these, they configure them for the instruments and the final record to sound excellent; with every instrument present but not putting them on top of each other.

They are also instructed in a lot more other parts of music. Such as music theory, music production, and recording.

Steps to Be a Mixing Engineer

At first, they start working in studios as assistants, then as recording assistants and most of them have a degree in music production or sound engineering. They work as record producers, mixing engineers, and/or mastering engineers in the beginning given that these are all related.

Moreover, they end up specializing in the mixing part of the process and their professional skills are the finest for the job.

Master Engineer

A Master Engineer makes the record sound unified. Imagine watching a movie in 720p, that would be without the mastering. Now, what if that image is in 4K? The colors are more vibrant, the quality visually is much better, and you can see the details of everything. Music works the same way but with your ears. You can listen to everything more clearly, some sounds are more present, and vibrant, and the lows are more “tangible”.

Steps to Be a Master Engineer

Master Engineers start their careers working as recording assistants, recording audio, using all audio technologies there are available for them to put their ears to the test so they can have the best ones get to the highest professional mastering.

Aren’t Producers the same thing?

So, if they all study music production in some way, can’t a Music Producer be a mixing and master engineer?

Well, they could but music producers don’t specialize in those things.

Role of a Producer

A Music Producer is someone who has many jobs in the process of making a song. They do the booking of the different music studios the artists are going to work in, the planning on how the record is going to sound, the approach, key, instruments, song structure, the arranging, recording, the scheduling of the order of the recording, editing, mixing, and mastering, and even the hiring of more people like arrangers, musicians, vocalists, mixing and/or master engineers, etc.

An example of a music producer is the amazing Quincy Jones. He is a Music Producer, Arranger, Composer, Songwriter, and Film Producer. He has many jobs in the Industry and is well-known for his amazing work with many artists but mostly with Michael Jackson.

The Importance of a Mixing and Mastering Engineer

So, why is it important in the making of a record a Mixing and Master Engineer?

Here are some points:

A.   Sound Quality

The most important part of today’s music, besides the musicality of a song, is the quality of the sound. Everyone now is investing in high-quality sound systems, movies have immersive audio which is one of the best forms of audio technology nowadays, and as technology advances it also improves the audio quality of everything we listen to, everything needs to sound clear, blended, and vibrant.

On The Top of the Charts

Having high audio quality assures the song is a top hit, everyone is listening to it, putting the song on the top charts.

This is also a big point because there is a lot of competition in the industry making it very hard to get there but when it does, it is assured success. And one thing all songs have in common, they all have been mixed and mastered, and have the best audio quality there is today.

For example Billie Eilish’s album “When We Fall Asleep Where Do We Go?” has been one of the biggest albums of the last few years and now she and her brother are hitting records again with the song for the Barbie movie “What Was I Made For?” winning the Grammy for Song Of The Year.

Uniform Sound

Another important point here is that songs have a uniform sound. Let’s imagine we have a song where an electric guitar sounds plain and is louder than other instruments making them not noticeable at all and the guitar is the only thing you can hear but is also not very pleasing to listen to. That song is probably going to have very few streams and people can’t even finish listening to it because it’s somehow annoying for the ear. Mind the electric guitarist did a very good job playing, and clearly, that is not the problem.

Now, we have a song where all the instruments sound good, with some kind of effect. We can sense a space and everything has a place, it is very pleasing to the ear and people want to listen to it over and over again.

That is the magic part of Mixing and Mastering.

B.  Macro and Micro Decisions

We have to also focus on the decisions that engineers make to get the best song.

Different choices, being creative

At times it can be very hard for someone to make decisions on the technical part of music but also be creative and build a song. Mix and Master Engineers are professionals at this. They lay all their knowledge into the technicalities of a song and combine it with the creative part of themselves which is also the root of music and art, the creativity.

Instrumentation, processes, recording, pitch, expressions and dynamics

Even though Mix Engineers use the practical side of these, it’s the part in which they can use their imagination and creativity for the song to sound amazing. Different processes where they can play with the size of rooms, on which side of the ear everything is going to sound, and even try new things. When recording and applying dynamics to the song they can explore ways to express emotions and communicate.

Mixing plan and mastering intention

A very important part of the process is defining what intention we want to express in which part of the song, therefore, Engineers have mixing and mastering plans. Everything has a thought and intention to it and for them to not get out of that vision, they put their ideas to paper so everything is well organized.

C.  Objectivity

Mixing and Master Engineers have a very objective vision of projects that musicians or people who want to get the job done don’t have. They know how a song should sound, its structure, and its details.

Fresh ears, pro approach

Their ears are highly trained throughout their learning years to be able to listen to things normal people can’t listen to, quite literally, they can hear more frequencies than most people.

That ability is their professional skill and they use it to its maximum shaping tracks in incredible ways. They listen to the song with trained and fresh ears.

When creating a song, most of the people working on it end up tired of listening to the same song again and again, and not because they do not like it, our brain ends up tired of listening to something we know so well and have listened to many times. Mixing and Master Engineers are the last people to listen to a song so they have a “fresh brain” to make the right decisions.

D.  Career and audience boost

Making the right decisions, adding to sound quality and uniformity gets a boost within the audience and builds the reputation of any company and artist.

More people are going to listen to an amusing song, instead of an unpleasant song, right? This gets your song to a greater position in comparison to the competition.

And it is even better, other companies are going to want the song or project. Having a good sound and being in the top charts gives it commercial credibility. This project can get to places, and win some awards.

Choosing a Professional Engineer

A big question is how to choose a professional Engineer who is in tune with the initial intention of the song, someone who preserves the idea.

Find Your Favorite Sound

First, it is extremely important to know who has a sound you like. Listen to your favorite songs, find their Mixing and Master Engineer, and keep listening to what they do. Pay attention to the bits you like and try to answer why.

Here you can either get in contact with that mix and master engineer (which is probably pretty expensive because they are famous in the industry) or find an Engineer who has a similar sound, you can ask for their work and make sure you both are on the same page.

In Media Music Composer we have amazing professional Engineers, who are successful in the Industry and possibly have the sound you are looking for or can get as close as the ones of your favorite songs.

Sometimes it is easy to think hiring Engineers is expensive. Well, sometimes yes but it is immensely necessary to have them and also many times people are more afraid to ask. Don’t be, ask, find a way to make your budget work to hire them. It is worth it to get the song to its best quality possible.

You Should Hire a Mixing and Mastering Engineer

So, yes. You Should Hire a Mixing and Mastering Engineer.

Working with professionals puts you one step ahead of the competition. Sound quality, the right decisions, and trained fresh ears place projects high, and now, YOU become a Pro. Your project is as good as you are because you decided to hire professionals to take it to its highest possible. This could mean top charts, worldwide streams, and competing with other professionals.