The Difference between Mixing and Mastering
Many times when I'm working with people the subject of mixing vs mastering has come up. I figured I'd take a second to explain the difference between the two here. Mixing is taking a multi-track recording and balancing them using volume, eq and effects such as reverbs, delay and compression. The end result of this process is typically a 2 track format (stereo file that can be played on your mp3 player, cd player or dino-phone). Mastering is taking a finished mix and using processors (generally eq's and compressors but sometimes others) to make the mix sound louder, fuller and cleaner. The mastering engineer is the last person who works on your project before it's released to the public and therefore it's important you get the right person for the job. Now on a lot of studio blog postings this is where I would be shamelessly saying that person is me haha, but no, it's not. Generally speaking the person you want to do the job is someone who has (for s...