The whole mixing and mastering process, in music, is a lengthy task that requires complete dedication and on-your-toes thinking. And even though the two are termed together, there are subtle differences in-between. While mixing prepares a song for the mastering process, mastering prepares it for distribution.
What is Audio Mixing?
Audio mixing is a process where the mixing engineer combines multiple layers of audio to each other, to create the final track. The mixing is done such that no part of the song feels sonically insignificant. There are several stages of mixing a track, viz., level balancing, instrument positioning, equalizing, harmonics enhancing, compressing, etc. But, despite all the technical stuff, mixing also lets the engineer meddle with creativity that makes a song really blossom and ready for mastering.
What is Audio mastering?
The mastering process is a lot similar to the mixing part but more result-oriented. It enhances the feel of the mix, while also preparing the song for distribution. Mastering involves a lot of the steps required to mix a song, but there are subtle changes during the final mastered track, which makes the output sound so polished!
Best ways to mix and master a track
So, how does an experienced audio engineer mix and master a track?
As per industry expert Kohinoor Mukherjee, these following tips will come in handy every time anyone’s mixing and mastering a track.
Kick and Bass mixing
The most important thing while mixing is the low end, and mastering that low end is arguably the toughest of all tasks. For kick and bass mixing, while mastering the low end, it’s necessary to understand which frequency works best.it’s crucial to identify where the problem lies, before you identify and separate the dominant sound. Equalization follows the process, after which you remove the unnecessary frequencies. Once you divide the remaining frequency, arranging the mix and sidechaining the compression works excellently to level the balance.
Audio Saturation
Audio saturation is basically what makes the music sound so pleasing. It’s actually a form of distortion and it adds the delicate harmonics, too! Mix engineers use magnetic tape machines, tube amps and preamps to create that magic during recording. Most importantly, through various forms of saturation, like, tape, transistor, tube, engineers add character and warmth to the quality of music. Also, EQ judgment is required while making space for different tracks, so as not to leave the sound unpolished.
Drum Punch
Drums are one of the most essential instruments in music that add rhythm to a song and make it worthy to bop your head to! However, simply recording a drum track is not enough for it to sound as good as it does. You have to use plenty of parallel compression and proper EQ-ing to dynamically feature the sound before you get that punchy drum roll effect!
Side-chain Compression
An important technique in mixing a song, side-chaining uses one track’s output to control the audio on another track. The prime aspect of side-chaining is that it gives a song the dynamic feel using percussion or drums that we all love to listen to. Side-chain compression, mostly used for EDM tracks (and for rock songs through ‘ducking’ in the earlier days), is the effect that reduces the bass level every time the kick hits the audio!
Mastering Know-how
The final stage of music production, mastering is a part of the post-production process. For a good master to come out, the mix has to be perfect. It involves subtle processes used in mixing and is the final process that ensures that a song sounds slick on all platforms – be it audio systems or streaming platforms or speakers.
Mastering is basically spectrum balancing that helps emphasize or reduce the frequencies of the original mix. It also creates balance in the tone and manages the dynamics of the song. In the case of an album, mastering is what ensures there is a smooth transition between the tracks and arranges them in a final sequence.
Given the importance of mixing and mastering a track, these are the 5 top tips to mix and master a track. Music is all about the aesthetics and the whole mixing and mastering process ensures that a song’s aesthetics echo the mood properly.
