Tracking? Mixing? Mastering? I’m confused!

Essentially there are three engineering roles to making a record. A tracking engineer is the person who sets up the mics in the right acoustic spaces, chooses the best gear for the mics to record with and then captures (records) the audio into the Digital Audio Workstation (or possibly analog tape). They mare sure the recorded signal is free of distortion and is the best representation of the source being recorded.

Once everything for a record has been recorded (tracked), a mix engineer will begin the mixing process which consists of taking all of the recorded tracks and “blending” them all together to create a standard 2 track stereo mix (like an MP3 or a WAV file). The mix engineer adjusts levels of each instrument/vocal, adds/removes equalization (bass, mid-range and treble) as needed, adjusts dynamics (loud parts and quiet parts), places tracks in the stereo field (left speaker, right speaker or center) and adds creative effects like “echo” and reverb. This is a simplified explanation of the process but it gets quite complex and detailed and ultimately will be at least 80% of the sound of the final product.

After the mix engineer takes their best shot at perfecting the mix it’s ready to be mastered. Mastering is essentially taking the mix engineer’s best effort, scrutinizing it and making it even better with a variety of adjustments and tweaks that are designed to make your record sound the best it can on the widest variety of playback systems (home stereo, club, headphones, ear buds, car stereo, cell phone speaker, television, etc.) so it can be an enjoyable listening experience no matter where it’s played. Depending on the skill level of the mix engineer, this might mean just a couple of minor tweaks with broad strokes or it could mean taking a more aggressive approach to address deficiencies. It basically ranges from doing almost nothing (other than critiquing and certifying a master as ready-to-go as is), to performing a rescue mission and everything in between. The experience of the engineer makes this call based on current trends and also personal taste. It’s a misconception that mastering is the process to make the mix louder. Before it can be louder it must be BETTER. A mastering engineer has a fresh perspective on the mix and often listens on more expensive monitors that reveal greater detail to identify areas that need to be adjusted. It’s this combination of tweaks and compression that gets the mix sounding both better and usually louder to create a song that leaves your listeners with a strong, positive first impression. This is also a simplified explanation of the process but a mastering engineer is your last point of quality control and preps your music for final delivery.

In an ideal world, these three engineering roles are best executed by individuals who excel in their areas of expertise. A great mastering engineer is great because of the experience they have doing their 10,000 hours of mastering and likely would not be an expert in tracking. A mix engineer might not be great at tracking but their 10,000 hours of expertise in mixing is where and why they shine. That’s in an ideal world. More commonly, especially with projects that have greater budget restraints, these roles are overlapped by one or two people wearing multiple hats.

I’ve been engineering since the early 90’s. I’ve tracked, I’ve mixed and I’ve mastered so I understand all three disciplines. I’m not a great tracking engineer and it’s not something I have a passion for. I’ve mixed hundreds of records over the years and really enjoyed my time doing that. For the last 10 years I’ve been focused on mastering and it is 90% of my workload. I still mix on occasion if I really love the project but most likely I will refer you to a qualified mixing engineer if you need that service.

What makes me unique as a mastering engineer is those years of experience mixing. I have a thorough understanding of that process which gives me an opportunity to evaluate a mix and see if there are any tweaks that could be made on the mix side that would ultimately take the master to the next level. My clients range from Grammy-winning, multi-platinum mix engineers to guys who are just learning how to mix. I’m pretty good about making suggestions to improve a mix - or so my clients tell me. I’m also not afraid to call something out if it distracts me and I think it might need to be changed. I may not be right, but if I don’t speak on what I hear it’s a disservice to my clients. I once had to ask one of the most well-known, highly acclaimed engineers/producers on the east coast, who has worked with legendary Hip Hop artists, to make a change to his mix. I said to myself “You’re about to ask this guy if he can make a tweak to his mix. This could be a career-ending move if it’s not received well.” I had no choice. I had to speak on it and so nervously, I did. He agreed and sent me a new mix the next day.