I began learning how to use my DAW a few years ago and have since learned the basics of mixing and mastering. Im not great at either but my productions sound decent upon release. I am beginning to wonder if I should have someone else master my stuff. I heard somewhere that we have a biased ear for our own material and that is why it is unwise to master our own tracks. What do you think?
Do you master your own stuff?
- Thread starter SSRemly
- Start date
Wallengard
Manipulator of energy
I always do it myself. And yes, sometimes it's probably not the greatest idea ever, since there are heaps of people out there who are a lot better at it than me. If you do get a track released you could be quite confident that the record label wants one of their engineers to master the track for the album. So in this case I wouldn't master my own songs. Better to have a great sounding raw mix than to have a half assed loud and maybe not so great sounding track.
But since I am a big boy and I've told my mother many times that "I can do it myself!", I want to learn how to do it the proper way myself. At least for as long as I'm not releasing tracks and just make music because I really want to and because I enjoy sitting hours on end with a single plugin or a loop and just tweak things to oblivion before I move on to the next project.
It's a matter of personal preference here as with so many other aspects of Music production and composition. If you have no idea what you are doing, you are probably better off leaving that area of your track to someone who does. Even if you just want to learn how to do it, you can practice on the songs you made and in many cases if you are going to release it, it doesn't have to be more difficult than to just delete everything you have on the master and send it off. I'd still recommend doing it separately because when you do master your track you might want to change something in the mix as you go, and you might not want that change when what ever effects and processing plugins you have on your master are gone. It's invaluable to practice on other people's tracks, since it gets you in contact with setups, sounds and arrangements that you would never use yourself. Even practicing on completely different styles is a good idea.
But since I am a big boy and I've told my mother many times that "I can do it myself!", I want to learn how to do it the proper way myself. At least for as long as I'm not releasing tracks and just make music because I really want to and because I enjoy sitting hours on end with a single plugin or a loop and just tweak things to oblivion before I move on to the next project.
It's a matter of personal preference here as with so many other aspects of Music production and composition. If you have no idea what you are doing, you are probably better off leaving that area of your track to someone who does. Even if you just want to learn how to do it, you can practice on the songs you made and in many cases if you are going to release it, it doesn't have to be more difficult than to just delete everything you have on the master and send it off. I'd still recommend doing it separately because when you do master your track you might want to change something in the mix as you go, and you might not want that change when what ever effects and processing plugins you have on your master are gone. It's invaluable to practice on other people's tracks, since it gets you in contact with setups, sounds and arrangements that you would never use yourself. Even practicing on completely different styles is a good idea.
deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup
Moderator
If I mix it for a client, they will leave with a song that sounds equivalent to a radio ready single IMO. I always advise them to get a second opinion. The point of mastering is to have a second professional ear contribute and it can make a huge difference. But, if you don't want to pay the money, a competent engineer mixing should give you a good enough sound.
If you are "mastering your own stuff", I suggest just spending at least a few weeks going back to the mix over and over again. I don't listen to anything I've mixed without hearing something that I could change, even 13 year old songs that have been played with repeatedly thoughout the last 13 years. At least give yourself a few weeks of listening.
If you are "mastering your own stuff", I suggest just spending at least a few weeks going back to the mix over and over again. I don't listen to anything I've mixed without hearing something that I could change, even 13 year old songs that have been played with repeatedly thoughout the last 13 years. At least give yourself a few weeks of listening.
grongk
New member
Yeah like deranged said its moreso about having someone with a different perspective and a fresh set of ears do the mastering than it is about being great at mastering and being able to do it yourself. I always get someone else to master for me if Ive got the money because as objective as I try to be therell be aspects of my mix thatll Ill gravitate towards (especially if its my own stuff) and probably push more than they might need to be pushed, and vice versa if theres things which I think are a bit shit I might try to bury them more thans necessary..
bandcoach
Zukatoku - Mod Scientist
cosine everything that deranged said
- a friend put up some videos on his facebook page, that we had made in 1988, and I can hear things that need fixing even now
-- it didn't help that he recorded them off of tv with his vhs video camera rather than obtained pristine prints fro the tv station that made them
-- this was as part of their ongoing community development (we were uni students at the time and they saw it as a way to ingratiate themselves with the mucky-mucks at the uni, that and the news reader fancied himself as a music video director)
- we still have most of the master audio (some of the MIDI files are probably long gone (or maybe not, but it was in Steinberg Pro 24 format for Atari ST, so maybe not accessible)) and have considered remixing and mastering as I still have all of the gear we used to record to begin with (E-16 tape deck and a 24 channel, 8 sub-group hardware mixer - could even do a straight conversion to wav/aiff and work from there in a daw
long and the short you will always find something that needs fixing but you have to know when to let go
- a friend put up some videos on his facebook page, that we had made in 1988, and I can hear things that need fixing even now
-- it didn't help that he recorded them off of tv with his vhs video camera rather than obtained pristine prints fro the tv station that made them
-- this was as part of their ongoing community development (we were uni students at the time and they saw it as a way to ingratiate themselves with the mucky-mucks at the uni, that and the news reader fancied himself as a music video director)
- we still have most of the master audio (some of the MIDI files are probably long gone (or maybe not, but it was in Steinberg Pro 24 format for Atari ST, so maybe not accessible)) and have considered remixing and mastering as I still have all of the gear we used to record to begin with (E-16 tape deck and a 24 channel, 8 sub-group hardware mixer - could even do a straight conversion to wav/aiff and work from there in a daw
long and the short you will always find something that needs fixing but you have to know when to let go
know_ledge
New member
if you have the hardware and mastering stuff why not learn, take and spend time mastering your own music.....if your on a time limit and want the best quality then have someone professional master your song.
think about it they have thousands and thousands in dollars in equipment ect vs just your own digital plugins...if I had the equipment myself of course I would master my own music but I don't so that's why im sending my stuff to a professional.
but im sure its a lot of people out here without the equipment who got their music to sound good you just have to know what your doing and have a good ear for it
think about it they have thousands and thousands in dollars in equipment ect vs just your own digital plugins...if I had the equipment myself of course I would master my own music but I don't so that's why im sending my stuff to a professional.
but im sure its a lot of people out here without the equipment who got their music to sound good you just have to know what your doing and have a good ear for it
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Good points made here, thanks for the replies. I think I am going to save a little money and get a good engineer. I am going to find one that is cool with me sitting in and learning, maybe it will cost a little extra. It should be worth it though because I like mixing and mastering my own stuff. I have worked with several musicians in the past and I gotta say I love the independence that comes with producing my own music.
Wallengard
Manipulator of energy
You pay them for something you can't do. Many of us can't beat the skills combined with gear and experience of a professional masters engineer. Simply putting a few effects on your master at home is just not the same thing.
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Yup, this sums it up. I work in Ableton Live and I use Ozone 5 for compression, limiting, and EQ. I just cant make the same quality product that a seasoned engineer can with nice hardware.
Solacerodgers
audio engineer
It depends i dont really make much music myself its more for fun when i have down time that i do my record digging and play on my mv ect but i much much preffer sitting behind the console and doing the audio engineer / mastering engineer side of work. i get made fun of often as im likely to sit back and read a manual on gear for fun. So in short yes i do but its because i dont make my own music for public stuff.
Haze91
New member
that's almost like saying, why pay an electrician to install electrical wiring when you can do it yourself.. mastering is complicated and is a skill like making music
engineers have access to equipment worth thousands of dollars that they know in and out.. not to mention years and years of experience.. all just for the mixing/mastering process
you can try to learn it by yourself for a couple years but you still can't touch the work done by professionals who do this for a living