What is mixing and what is mastering?

Mixing is about working with all the individual tracks in a music arrangement. It typically involves exporting the vocal and instrumental tracks from a song and sending them to a sound engineer, who then imports them directly into their DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), such as Logic or Ableton (read our blog on What Is a DAW here). The sound engineer then begins to work on each track to ensure that everything sounds good as a cohesive whole.

This process includes adjusting sound levels, frequencies, dynamics, compression, reverb, autotune, and much more. A skilled sound engineer will create the right balance between all the tracks in the arrangement to achieve an optimal listening experience. Once everything is adjusted, all the tracks are combined into a single track, known as a master.

To make the track fully ready for distribution on streaming services and radio, this master track also needs to go through an editing process, which is what is referred to as mastering a track. The ultimate goal is to create a cohesive and professional listening experience for the audience.

When a sound engineer masters a track, they work solely with the final mix, as that is the only track available to them. Mastering is therefore the last step in finalizing a track. Some artists prefer to mix their own music and then send the final mix to the sound engineer, who can then perform the mastering. However, there is also something called stem mastering, which we'll explain a bit further down.

The work involved in mastering primarily focuses on ensuring that the sound level of the track is appropriate compared to other songs on the market, so it's neither too loud nor too quiet. Additionally, it’s crucial to make sure the track sounds good on all types of speakers and devices, such as headphones, car stereo systems, and small speakers. The mastering process should be viewed as the final polishing of the editing work done during mixing.

It’s important to note that mastering cannot fix a bad mix. Therefore, it’s essential to ensure that the mix is as optimal as possible before sending it for mastering. The purpose of mastering is to make a good mix even better, giving it a well-balanced and professional sound.

A stem master is a type of mastering where each individual track in a mix, also known as stems, is processed and mastered separately, or in groups. For example, all vocals might be grouped into one track, melody into another, and drums into a third, with each group being mastered separately. This is in contrast to a standard master, where the entire mix is mastered as a single, unified track.

In a stem master, the sound engineer imports each individual track, or groups of tracks, from the mix and works on them separately to ensure that each stem has the right balance, clarity, and volume. This might involve adjustments to the equalizer, compressor, reverb, and other effects to emphasize or reduce certain elements within the track.

Once each individual track has been processed and mastered, they are combined again into a new mix, which will have a more precise and detailed sound compared to a standard master.

A stem master allows for more control over the sound of each individual track and can be particularly useful in genres with complex arrangements where it’s important for each stem to stand out clearly. However, it is also a more time-consuming and costly process than a standard master, as it involves more work in processing and adjusting each track.

If you're looking for a sound engineer to help with mixing and mastering your track, whether for a standard master or a stem master, you can find our list of mix and master experts here and book the right one for you today.