balance

the key to any successful final mixdown and mastering session is achieving that perfect balance between dynamics, perceived loudness and levels. Its an interesting concept, because as much as you want to believe its a load of horse s--t when folks tell you its more of an art and not a science, its really true.



For my bread making, I work in advertising, and work with pro audio engineers on a regular basis. Obviously I connect with them through my love of all things studio and they've been giving me tips. Despite all the years of music production, constant reading and testing out of tutorials etc, I still can't get it just right, even with tips from the pro guys.

Sure I can make a mix sound good, but it still doesnt sound 'sweet' like some of the music from my heroes. The same goes for a lot of the stuff you hear coming out of other bedroom studios - I still peruse Beatport and other music sites to hear whats rocking on the dance floors and I hear tons of over compression, and the tunes just sound "flat" to me.

I'm getting better and better, as they say practice makes perfect and eventually everyone figures it out. I've got my mind set for a mastering/mixing session at the pro studio, but its hard to justify the cost when I'm not making a dime off music at this point. Of course, on the other hand, I could consider it education costs....