If Mixing & Mastering are separate professions and skills, why do so many individuals offer both services?

[jamcat]

You seem very dismissive of the entire field and not just the pretenders. Why?

Because, as I said, everything you listed that a “mastering engineer” does is unnecessary and subject to taste. And all of it can and should be done prior to mixdown. Which means it can and should be done by the mixing engineer (or self-producing artist) if at all.

Contrast that to what a REAL mastering engineer does. They take a final mixdown, and create several different master copies of it to address the idiosyncrasies of the mechanics of the various target physical distribution media. That is something that has to happen after mixdown, and is not something the mix engineer could have done. The purpose isn’t to change the final mix. The purpose is to get that mix onto various media as best they can.

So that is the real purpose of a mastering engineer. He does something that a mixing engineer CAN’T do.

The best argument today for the need for a “mastering engineer” is that they have better equipment, better acoustics, and better ears than you, and they know how to use all of them better than you do. And that may very well be valid and true. Especially today where most music is being produced outside of a professional studio by people who are not professional engineers. So it’s really a financial matter, that it’s cheaper to pay a professional to fix your mess when you’re all done making it than it is to pay to record in a studio with a professional engineer who won’t make a mess in the first place.

But is it NECESSARY? No. It is elective. And it’s subjective. You could simply get a better room and better equipment and do a better job yourself. Or just put out what you have, knowing the audience cares about the music, not the mix, and may not prefer a pumped up bass or added harmonic distortion anyways.

A real mastering engineer to translate your recording to separate masters for vinyl, tape, and CD reproduction is necessary. It isn’t subjective. Without a mastering engineer, the record won’t play and the music won’t fit on it.

Today, the majority of music being created and distributed on the internet is not “mastered” professionally or otherwise, and no one even notices or cares. But back in the days of vinyl, zero records were pressed without the involvement of a mastering engineer. They couldn’t be.

That’s all the proof you need that “mastering” is not necessary today for mp3/streaming, nor is it really mastering at all. So stop calling it that.

[Scotty]

Jamcat is this you?
https://soundcloud.com/jamcatmusic

[jamcat]

No. Never even heard of it before.
And a house mix, no less!
How awful!

[Scotty]

I am just trying to figure out where you are coming from. I was thinking your music might be out there. If not , that's fine. I know where you stand on the topic regardless.

No. Never even heard of it before.
And a house mix, no less!
How awful

[jamcat]

Well, it really doesn’t matter where I’m coming from. I’m just stating cold hard facts, and those wouldn’t change even if I was making clown music. (Which would still be a lot better than house music. )

[Scotty]

Some of what you said is factual. Some of it is cold hard opinion. But I won't influence you there and won't waste any energy on it. If you ever do share your music I'd humbly enjoy learning from it. I've rarely produced anything worthy of sharing that didn't benefit from a serious mastering effort.

Well, it really doesn’t matter where I’m coming from. I’m just stating cold hard facts, and those wouldn’t change even if I was making clown music. (Which would still be a lot better than house music. )

[Synthman2000]

Some of what you said is factual. Some of it is cold hard opinion. But I won't influence you there and won't waste any energy on it. If you ever do share your music I'd humbly enjoy learning from it. I've rarely produced anything worthy of sharing that didn't benefit from a serious mastering effort.

Well, it really doesn’t matter where I’m coming from. I’m just stating cold hard facts, and those wouldn’t change even if I was making clown music. (Which would still be a lot better than house music. )

Curious that the cold hard facts are that even the best mixing engineers in the world still get their music mastered and that is in direct opposition to Jamcat's opinion.

[Azbest]

Historically these are 2 separate tasks and for very good reason. In the modern internet world everyone is a 'mastering' capable mixing engineer.

Mastering process was for vinyl also adapting to what was limitations on that media, as I recall reading somewhere.

With that gone you can go full throttle with digital media and no worries where stereo field is etc. No physical stylys need to track it.

This is correct. Mastering is all about creating MASTERS for the various distribution mediums. The EQ and dynamics of a song need to change depending on where it is on a vinyl record. The inner grooves of a record move slower than the outer grooves, because it is a shorter distance over the same duration of time. (The D=RT formula tells us that when distance decreases and time remains the same, rate decreases proportionally to distance.)

This gradual change in the rate means the resolution decreases as the needle travels inward, and this affects the EQ and the dynamic potential of the record. A mastering engineer had to account for all of that and create a master for vinyl that would remain uniform across the record. Also, bass had to be center panned and also high-passed, depending on the playing time of the record, because bass frequencies eat up a lot of vinyl real estate, and actually shorten how much music can fit on a record.

Tape required a totally different approach, because of tape hiss and dynamics/high frequency loss that occurs when magnetising oxide. The record label wanted your cassette tape to sound the same as your friend's vinly record, and that required two completely different masters, and someone who knew how to achieve that.

That's what mastering is REALLY about.

Today, you just need to worry about targeting -14 LUFS for streaming services. Since albums aren't really even a thing anymore, getting a bunch of disparate songs to sound like they belong together in the same package doesn't even matter that much anymore. Which means anyone can play with plugins and play dress up as a "mastering engineer" and pretend that they're doing something really important.

Nonsense.

[jamcat]

A one word dismissal is not an argument. Identify what part you disagree with and state your reasons why.

[jamcat]

the best mixing engineers in the world still get their music mastered

The best mixing engineers in the world are also mixing commercial albums from artists that you've heard of that are being distributed by record labels on physical media to retailers. And certainly within the music industry, mastering remains standard procedure for labels.

But if you're putting your own music on Youtube, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, or even Spotify yourself, you really don't need to be paying someone real money for diminishing returns. Because the "mastering engineer" that's available to YOU isn't going to do anything you can't do yourself or improve your mix in any meaningful way that your limited audience will notice or miss if it's not there. Just get the DR and LUFS right, and upload it.

And if Arista Records picks you up, they'll get it mastered for you.

But also, let's not forget that even the best mixing engineers in the world have had albums ruined by some of the best mastering engineers in the world.

[Azbest]

A one word dismissal is not an argument. Identify what part you disagree with and state your reasons why.

There is a thread on gearslutz mastering subforum where people far more competent than me explain this harmful misconception in great detail.

[jamcat]

A one word dismissal is not an argument. Identify what part you disagree with and state your reasons why.

There is a thread on gearslutz mastering subforum where people far more competent than me explain this harmful misconception in great detail.

So don't you think it would have been a more constructive approach to say that you've read opposing opinions on another forum, and quote them or at least point to the thread with a link, rather than simply handing down a haughty one-word verdict as if it were your own righteous opinion?

[Azbest]

A one word dismissal is not an argument. Identify what part you disagree with and state your reasons why.

There is a thread on gearslutz mastering subforum where people far more competent than me explain this harmful misconception in great detail.

So don't you think it would have been a more constructive approach to say that you've read opposing opinions on another forum, and quote them or at least point to the thread with a link, rather than simply handing down a haughty one-word verdict as if it were your own righteous opinion?

No.

[Scotty]

Doubled.

[Scotty]

Jamcat you are moving the goal posts. You are now making an economic argument and not a technical one. Your technical argument is very weak.