There is nothing worse than having poured your soul into your track or album, rehearsed and spent time and money on recording only to end up with a sound that fails to capture the essence of the music and sounds flat, dull and lifeless.
The reason for this is almost always down to an inadequate use of mixing and mastering techniques.
Choosing to go with a professional recording studio is definitely advisable if you want your music to truly shine. A top London recording studio, for instance, will be blessed with dedicated mixing and mastering engineers who will work through the processes with a fresh approach, using equalizing, compression, enhancing techniques and add atmosphere and reverb where necessary as well as myriad other mixing and mastering techniques to get your music ready for streaming services and/or physical release.
Online mixing and mastering has really come into its own over the course of the pandemic, with face-to face meeting with engineers proving difficult, but there really is nothing substandard about online mixing and mastering. In fact, not having that personal connection with someone can actually make it a little easier to have a completely unbiased ear when it comes to deciding on the direction needed in mixing and mastering the material at hand.
The beauty of professional mixing is in achieving that optimal balance that elevates all songs above and beyond their apparent limitations. Through delicate and subtle balance shifts achieved through equalization and the control of dynamics through careful compression, involving side-chaining, sounds can be solidified and fixed in. Width and depth are created helping the sound to take on extra life and transform into a fluid, 3D blanket. Automation is also important as it helps to manipulate different instruments or vocal passages allowing one element to shine at a given time, before helping it to blend back into the mix at any moment with subtle fade ins. Automation can be a great way to help make adjustments with exact timing and precision as well as enable the engineer to create some really interesting, unique effects. Clever use of automation as well as reverb and delay helps make tracks sound more engaging.
The key to a great online mixing and mastering experience is to choose an engineer who has the experience working within multiple genres. This diversity will help in producing a more balanced mix as well as ensuring your engineer understands the subtle nuances in your own genre when it comes to the desired end result. In the music business two key truths make it imperative to get a professional sounding end result through mixing and mastering.
Making a big first impression is vital
It is no secret that music is now more accessible than it has ever been. This means that it is so easy for people to sample new music, but even easier to skip a track that doesn’t exhibit the ‘wow factor’ they are looking for.
It makes great business sense to go pro
Investing in your product makes solid business sense. If you are passionate and serious about your music and implement great quality control then others will be more likely to become invested in your output.