7 Reasons Why You Need to Use A Mastering Engineer right now

With everything happening in the world right now, music is more essential than ever…and with more and more music being created at home, professional mastering has never been more important. 

Here are 7 reasons to use a mastering engineer on your next project…

1. Fresh Ears

This is an opportunity to partner up with a fresh set of experienced ears and get a new perspective on your music. Perhaps you have a less-than-ideal listening environment and need a second opinion. Maybe you’ve heard your track so many times and can no longer make a sound judgment. You’ll only ever get to hear a track for the first time once. This gives the mastering engineer an unique opportunity to make objective calls on how to get your track sounding it’s best.

2. Experience

A mastering engineer with years of experience will know how different genres need to sound. What EQ needs to be used? What is the right level of compression? How loud does your track need to be? Mastering all day, every day means you can consistently make these kind of decisions with confidence.

3. Real Gear

Have you mixed completely ‘in the box’? Your tracks might well benefit from being run through some real tubes and transformers. Get the best from your mixes using a world-class collection of analog gear and the latest digital tools. Plugins are amazing and have come such a long way since the early days. However, they still don’t quite get you the sound quality of the real analog gear they are trying to emulate. Analog will help get you that expensive “3D’ depth and width.

4. Get The Best Sound Possible

Mastering is the last step in the chain. This is your last chance to present your tracks in the best possible light before hitting the real-world.. You’ll also be able to correct mix issues plus enhance any sonic characteristics. Transforming a good mix and turning it into a professional-sounding, finished master.

5. Consistency

If you’re producing an EP or album then you will need to consider how the individual tracks will sit and flow with each other. Chances are that you’ve mixed all the tracks individually and haven’t paid too much attention on how they all sound together. Professional mastering will help create a more together and cohesive experience with a common sound and playback level.

6. Save Time

If you don’t have the correct gear, listening environment or experience then it will most likely take you a lot longer to master your track. You will need to learn the software, plugins and various techniques which is going to involve a lot of experimentation to find out what works for your music. An experienced mastering engineer will be able to get fantastic results, first time.

7. Distribution

The final step of mastering involves creating master files for digital distribution and manufacturing for physical formats. This involves sequencing, quality assurance, plus extensive knowledge of constantly changing formats and streaming standards. You only get one chance to upload to your digital distributer. Or provide a CD or vinyl master to the pressing plant. Don’t leave anything to chance. Get your masters produced and checked by a professional mastering engineer. Also, don’t forget that only an Apple approved mastering engineer can provide files for Apple Digital Masters.

Conclusion

Hiring a mastering engineer can be a big step in helping you realise your vision and getting your music out to the widest possible audience. The last chance to make sure your music is sounding the very best it can be before you release it to the world. If you would like Steve Kitch Mastering to master your project then click here to start uploading your files. If you have any further questions then please click here to get in contact.