Online Mastering Studio - Consider Dedicated Service For Better End Results.

All budgets have been reduced in the audio production world it seems and this has pressurized recording and mixing studios to change the way their business models work and so it comes as no surprise that some of these studios now offer mastering services. However there are some downsides to this trend which musicians, bands and record labels should be aware of.

Nowadays there are many studios with websites on the internet. Interestingly some of the mixing studios offer mastering services. This has become more prolific over the past few years. It's quite a perculiar situation in that mixing is balancing the multitrack recordings of a recording studio session or a live concert recording. Mastering is fine tweaking of the stereo 2 track mix to optimize if for many types of playback system. These are 2 very different processes within the audio production procedure.

For a band or small record label this can be confusing as to why a studio offers both services because they are very different services in nature. Mixing is often performed on fairly low cost speakers with small size drivers and they are good for getting mix balances together. However for mastering they are pretty much useless. In mastering you need full range, high resolution, large speaker systems to gauge how a mix will translate across the larger sound systems it might encounter such as in a night club.

As such it is suggested that mastering be performed by a studio which has years of experience in doing so and that musicians and bands be wary of mixing studios offering mastering services. The band or musician will also be missing that all important objectivity that a 3rd person can give to a musical project when long hours of mixing have taken their toll and listening fatigue may have set in.

A mix engineer will be listening for other elements during in the mix process such as the dynamic interplay, balance of instruments and groups of instruments and effects balances along with overall insrumental sound. Mastering is a holistic process in that anything a mastering engineer does has an impact on other elements of the mix so the substance of listening is different, this takes years of experience to achieve and understand the effects of any adjustments across an entire mix. The clarity of monitoring required is also superior for mastering audio thanmixing and many recording studios will have insubstancial monitoring arrangements for mastering work. It is very difficult to enhance mixes that are being "mastered" on the same small speakers used in the mix process. (impossible in fact) The mastering engineer will also be listening for glitches and other sonic problems of which there are usually many as they have been completely missed during the mix procedure.

When you are ready to master consider the merits of a dedicated mastering studio with bigger, higher resolution monitoring systems and high end equipment because it's the final time in the music production stage to enhance the sound for best translation across musical reproduction systems.