![]() ![]() Therefore, it’s quite common for mix engineers to apply loudness processing to their working mixes to achieve overall levels comparable to material that has already been mastered. If their mixes don’t have a similar loudness compared to the mastered material they’re comparing their mixes to as they work on them, they may have a hard time believing their mix is good enough until they push it to the same loudness point. ![]() I think the trend in receiving mix files that are too loud is because more and more people are used to listening to music that is quite loud and compressed. In my opinion it’s important to give your mastering engineer a file with proper headroom to work with. While EQ can sometimes be corrected to a degree, compression and limiting can never really be removed or undone. Technically, I suppose you could do it, but it’s not nearly the same as getting an unmastered file that has sufficient natural headroom and dynamics to work with. ![]() Because of the extreme compression that occurs to make a stereo mix this loud, a mastering engineer can’t simply “turn down” a mix file that is too loud and work on it. They generally sound quite harsh and blown out with lots of “pumping” and other artifacts. I also, on occasion, receive mixes that are already louder than I would have mastered them. It’s as if the mix engineer already took the liberty of deciding how loud the masters should be, leaving little to no headroom left to work with. Loud and Not ClearĪs a mastering engineer, the most chronic issue I deal with is receiving files to master that are already so loud that very little can be done to improve the audio quality and do a proper mastering job. This article explains how to best prepare your material for mastering, and what to expect afterwards.įor more info on what file formats you’ll need from your mastering engineer for various release formats of your finished project, see this article. One of the most interesting things I’ve noticed since becoming a full-time mastering engineer is that many artists, band members, and even some recording engineers do not know what mastering really is, what can and can’t be achieved in mastering, and why mastering might be an important part of their project.īecause of this, it’s not surprising that many artists (and some engineers) do not understand what type of files to send in for mastering, how to prepare them, what to be aware of in the final stages of mixing, and what to expect after the material is mastered. ![]()
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