FAQ

Mixing is the art of combining and balancing multiple tracks, and usually works to recreate the experience of recording of a whole band. Mastering is not simply continuing a mix – it polishes a finished mix, and prepares the track for release.

Think of all your tracks mixed together to the perfect recipe. Now top it with a cherry, glaze it, wrap it in a bow, and box it ready for the patisserie window – your mix is now mastered! Simply put, it’s ready to be bought and consumed. Without it, you won’t give your mix the best chance to shine, and you won’t stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other commercial releases.

Mastering is the final creative process before your music is heard. It seeks to get the most out the work that has gone before it, and addresses dynamic control (peaks, groove, rhythm); sonic balance (ensuring a genre appropriate sound that works well on any playback system); loudness (bringing your track up to a competitive, industry standard level); plus formatting and file creation.

No. Mastering enhances; it doesn’t define. Mastering can turn a C mix into a B Mix; a B mix into an A mix. If there are problems in your mix, then fix them in the mix or re-record. At best, mix issues will limit the benefits of the mastering process, at worst it may exacerbate the problem. Human Mastering can provide bespoke mix notes to help you prime your mix for the mastering process.

It depends on how involved you wish to be in the process. If you’re really hands on and have a good understanding of the mastering process (or indeed want to learn more about it) then perhaps visiting in person is the experience you are looking for. However, for most, it is the right time to confidently hand it over to a fresh, objective, trained pair of ears.

Speed. Choice. Flexibility.

No. You will end up with a flat, squashed, lifeless pancake that may sound dramatic in short bursts, but will become a tediously boring listen as a whole. You should allow your song to breathe, and hit hard when it needs to. Many of the best engineers in the world do not go chasing the numbers when it comes to LUFS values for loudness – they listen, take their lead from the music and do what is best for the song. “It’s not how loud you make it. It’s how you make it loud.” – Bob Katz

You’ve got your song down and you’ve made sure every detail of the performance and mix is just right. But that’s exactly why you can go no further…you’re too close to the mix. In order to sit right alongside your references, it’s now that you need a truly objective pair of ears, free from the same emotional attachment to that’s been so key in creating the music up to this point, and trained to spot any issues and polish it up to a professional level.

Ask how generalised and homogenised the process is. How clear are they on your artistic intention? Can they identify any problems in your mix and provide bespoke revision notes? Will they reliably be able to identify erroneous noises and not mistake them for parts of the track? Will they truly feel the emotional impacts throughout your song? Will you be able to collaborate with them?

Consider how much time, money, sweat and tears you have poured into your music to get it to this stage – a finished recording and a final mix. Mastering is the final (and only) chance to fully ensure that all that has all been worthwhile, and you walk away with a fantastic sounding song, that holds its own on a streaming platform. You’re 90% there…give it the mastering it deserves.

Human Mastering charge per file – not per song. All submissions should therefore be final mixes, which will then undergo the full mastering process in detail. If you decide to re-record or remix the song after submission, then this is treated as a brand new file. Discounts are provided for multiple simultaneous submissions, increasing up to 25% discount for 10+ files!

Or both? Multiple files for different formats are available. You tell us where you plan to release your music, and we will take care of the rest.

We will help you give your mix the best chance of success in the mastering process by

asking for generous headroom, a version free of mix bus processing and dither, and space before & after the track, to get us off to a great start. Check out our submission form for details or drop us a line to get it nailed!

Not necessarily, you can simply provide a final stereo mix. However, stem mastering can offer the chance to isolate issues in a more exacting way, and consequently mean the mastering engineer can do more without negatively impacting the rest of the mix. If you want to invest more into your sound, we offer stem mastering for up to 6 stems per track.