Are mixing and mastering the same thing or not?
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PercyHelmos
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Are mixing and mastering the same thing or not?
I recently took a study break after high school graduation to pursue my lifelong dream of becoming a music icon after bumping into another superstar friend. Now I do not want to consult him on my music, but at the same time, I want help regarding music and how to mix and master it.
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Caligari87
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Re: Are mixing and mastering the same thing or not?
They're subtly different, to my understanding. This could be a multiple college-level courses, but in short.
- Mixing is the process of combining all your individual stems in a pleasing manner. Making sure the vocals aren't buried by the guitar, that you can hear a synth sample, that the kick drums aren't too overpowering, frequencies are balanced, volumes are leveled correctly, etc. Basically making your song sound the way it's supposed to sound in a perfect setting. Ideally you do this with a proper amount of overhead and dynamic range; there's only so loud and dense you can make a song before it just becomes distorted noise, so you need to leave enough "volume" left over for the next step.
- Mastering happens after mixing, and is the process of making sure your track is suitable for whatever medium it's being played on. A CD can have the peaks pushed right up to the maximum limit. Encoding to MP3 or uploading to YouTube can add some volume artificially, so you need to leave a bit of overhead for the compression algorithm. A vinyl record has physical limitations on how the grooves are formed and how the needle moves, so you need a wider dynamic range and lots of overhead. Streaming services like Spotify have built-in RMS normalization for user comfort by default, so having a proper dynamic range makes sure your song isn't artificially "pushed down" to be quieter.
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DanSmith
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Re: Are mixing and mastering the same thing or not?
Mix and mastering are completely different music-related terms and processes. It’s a common misconception that they both might be the same for artists just starting.
Mixing your music is just like cooking a meal adding all the recipe's requirements. It involves you finalizing your final product before its final form. Mastering is the art of polishing your record to make it easy for the listeners to listen to it on any platform without worrying about the quality of the song. You can easily check out some apps and tools like EQ for mixing and mastering; you can consult someone proficient in using tools like music tools, apps, speakers, compressors, and headphones. It is the final package.
Mixing your music is just like cooking a meal adding all the recipe's requirements. It involves you finalizing your final product before its final form. Mastering is the art of polishing your record to make it easy for the listeners to listen to it on any platform without worrying about the quality of the song. You can easily check out some apps and tools like EQ for mixing and mastering; you can consult someone proficient in using tools like music tools, apps, speakers, compressors, and headphones. It is the final package.