Q11:
What is the difference between initial mix and client sit-in mix?
A: After recording the instruments (whether you recorded for yourself and saved them as wav tracks, or you recorded in another studio), the studio engineer will make the initial decision on how to mix the recorded instruments in relation with the other instruments and consequently how the song as a whole should sound like. You must trust the taste of the engineer. In short, the studio engineer interprets your recordings according to his personal taste.
Of course, you can always give the engineer beforehand, some sample songs whose mixes you want to emulate in your own recordings. This will give the engineer your idea on how to mix the song (don’t expect you’ll sound exactly like the sample song you gave, coz mixing is dependent on a lot of factors). But in this stage, you leave the studio engineer alone. Just go home and let him work. It will usually take the engineer 2 days per song to mix the song, depending on the complexity of the song arrangement. Mixing entails a lot of editing work to fix artist errors, noise etc…The studio engineer will then inform you that the initial mix is done and ready for pick-up.
Try listening to the initial mix in different players (in the car, in your cd/mp3 player, in your friend’s component etc), take down notes on how to improve the sound of the initial mix. Then you can schedule with the studio engineer for a client sit-in mixing session. In such session, you sit beside the engineer in front of the mixing machine (the computer), and you may now then direct or instruct him on how to change some parts of the song. At the end of such session, you can have the mix saved in a cd or to your mp3 player, listen to it at home, then take down notes again for items you missed in the first round, then schedule another session.
The number of sessions depends on how many changes you want (perfectionists beware), until you achieve the final mix. Of course, if you are already satisfied with the initial mix, then there is no need to sit-in with the engineer. You can then request the studio engineer to save the final mix of the song in a cd or mp3.
Q12: When do I get charged for 100/cd?
A: Mixdowns of full songs burned in a cd won't be charged. On the other hand, separate raw tracks PER song shall be fitted and burned in at least one cd on a 1 song-1 cd basis. Per cd costs P100. Exceptions for less tracks apply. Please inquire with studio.
Q13: What is the difference between mixing and mastering?
A: In mixing you are concerned with the tracks that comprise the song. While in mastering, you are concerned with the song as a whole, and how it relates with other songs in the same compilation.
Mastering ensures consistency. The song should translate well on all mediums. The song may sound good in your player but it might not sound good in another’s player. Mastering does not greatly change the final mix but it makes the song as loud as possible without distorting. Louder songs are perceived to be better sounding than quieter ones.
Increasing the volume does not merely involve raising the levels of the volume meter, but also involve the intricate and careful setting of normalization, compression, eq, and limiter levels.
Mastering also is needed in cases where you have more than one song in an album. As much as possible, you want the songs in the album sound alike, so it conveys a consistent whole and some sort of continuity when tracks are played one by one. Here you need to eq and compress again.
Mastering cleans up and applies fade in and fade out at the beginning and end of each song, and also lays down the final sequence of the tracks.
Although there is no huge audible difference between the final mix and the mastered one, a careful listen will reveal an indescribable improvement in the sound. Common descriptions and observations are the song seem to pack more punch and that such mastered songs are “in your face”. In large, this is due to compression and limiting. And this is what mastering addresses- consistency.
A: After recording the instruments (whether you recorded for yourself and saved them as wav tracks, or you recorded in another studio), the studio engineer will make the initial decision on how to mix the recorded instruments in relation with the other instruments and consequently how the song as a whole should sound like. You must trust the taste of the engineer. In short, the studio engineer interprets your recordings according to his personal taste.
Of course, you can always give the engineer beforehand, some sample songs whose mixes you want to emulate in your own recordings. This will give the engineer your idea on how to mix the song (don’t expect you’ll sound exactly like the sample song you gave, coz mixing is dependent on a lot of factors). But in this stage, you leave the studio engineer alone. Just go home and let him work. It will usually take the engineer 2 days per song to mix the song, depending on the complexity of the song arrangement. Mixing entails a lot of editing work to fix artist errors, noise etc…The studio engineer will then inform you that the initial mix is done and ready for pick-up.
Try listening to the initial mix in different players (in the car, in your cd/mp3 player, in your friend’s component etc), take down notes on how to improve the sound of the initial mix. Then you can schedule with the studio engineer for a client sit-in mixing session. In such session, you sit beside the engineer in front of the mixing machine (the computer), and you may now then direct or instruct him on how to change some parts of the song. At the end of such session, you can have the mix saved in a cd or to your mp3 player, listen to it at home, then take down notes again for items you missed in the first round, then schedule another session.
The number of sessions depends on how many changes you want (perfectionists beware), until you achieve the final mix. Of course, if you are already satisfied with the initial mix, then there is no need to sit-in with the engineer. You can then request the studio engineer to save the final mix of the song in a cd or mp3.
Q12: When do I get charged for 100/cd?
A: Mixdowns of full songs burned in a cd won't be charged. On the other hand, separate raw tracks PER song shall be fitted and burned in at least one cd on a 1 song-1 cd basis. Per cd costs P100. Exceptions for less tracks apply. Please inquire with studio.
Q13: What is the difference between mixing and mastering?
A: In mixing you are concerned with the tracks that comprise the song. While in mastering, you are concerned with the song as a whole, and how it relates with other songs in the same compilation.
Mastering ensures consistency. The song should translate well on all mediums. The song may sound good in your player but it might not sound good in another’s player. Mastering does not greatly change the final mix but it makes the song as loud as possible without distorting. Louder songs are perceived to be better sounding than quieter ones.
Increasing the volume does not merely involve raising the levels of the volume meter, but also involve the intricate and careful setting of normalization, compression, eq, and limiter levels.
Mastering also is needed in cases where you have more than one song in an album. As much as possible, you want the songs in the album sound alike, so it conveys a consistent whole and some sort of continuity when tracks are played one by one. Here you need to eq and compress again.
Mastering cleans up and applies fade in and fade out at the beginning and end of each song, and also lays down the final sequence of the tracks.
Although there is no huge audible difference between the final mix and the mastered one, a careful listen will reveal an indescribable improvement in the sound. Common descriptions and observations are the song seem to pack more punch and that such mastered songs are “in your face”. In large, this is due to compression and limiting. And this is what mastering addresses- consistency.
