{"id":146,"date":"2010-06-09T16:43:08","date_gmt":"2010-06-09T16:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.online.berklee.edu\/erikhawkins\/?p=146"},"modified":"2026-01-20T17:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T22:40:57","slug":"hiring-a-mastering-engineer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/hiring-a-mastering-engineer\/","title":{"rendered":"When to Hire a Mastering Engineer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Know When to Invest in a Mastering Engineer to Elevate Your Music\u2019s Sound<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A common question I hear from students is, \u201cDo I need to hire a mastering engineer?\u201d The answer is, it really depends; it depends on what you\u2019re trying to accomplish. If you\u2019re just making some homemade CDs to pass out to friends or sell at your gig, you don\u2019t need to spend the money on a mastering engineer. If you\u2019re submitting your songs to a music library, your songs need to be mastered, but you might be able to do this yourself using some of the awesome mastering software programs available (such as iZotope’s Ozone<\/a>, which I highly recommend).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TAKE THE AUDIO MASTERING TECHNIQUES COURSE WITH BERKLEE ONLINE<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m certainly no mastering engineer but I\u2019ve mastered a lot of my own songs that have gone on to be featured in T.V. shows and movies. However, if you\u2019re planning on pressing up 1,000 or more mass produced CDs, or sending your album out to major online retail platforms (such as iTunes and Amazon) for worldwide distribution, and your album is important to you (of course it is), spending the cash to hire a great mastering engineer is essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After writing, producing, and mixing the fourteen songs on my album (12-Bit Justice League), I had seriously had it with listening to my own tracks over, and over, and over again. So, when I finally made the decision to spend the thousand or more to hire an experienced mastering engineer, I breathed a big sigh of relief. Even though it would be a significant dent in my pocketbook, I knew the right mastering engineer would be worth the price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My choice of a mastering engineer was Michael Denten at Infinite Studios<\/a>. Uploading my project to him was an exciting moment because I knew he would listen to my project with fresh ears, in a completely different studio, and give me some honest feedback on my mixes. Having worked with Denten for a few years in the ’90s, I knew how he liked his mixes — phat and present. I knew that with his extensive experience working with some of the biggest names in hip-hop, from Digital Underground to E-40, that he would naturally bring this big, round, bass heavy sound to my project. And, I was confident that my project would benefit from this sound. It\u2019s critical to choose the right mastering engineer for a project, because as much as the right mastering engineer can blow up your sound, the wrong mastering engineer can totally screw up your sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denten was busy so it took him a while to get to my project, but when he did take his first listen he opened up my eyes and ears to some mistakes that I had made in my mixes. I figured he would have some suggestions, and I figured there was no way I was going to nail all my mixes right out of the gate, so I was able to listen to his feedback with an open mind. You\u2019ve got to remove your ego from the equation in order to hear blunt feedback on your own material, especially material you\u2019d been working on for months and months. You\u2019ve got to remember that this is about what\u2019s good for the song, not what\u2019s good for your ego. Denten didn\u2019t disappoint. He took me to school and made suggestions that where spot on and really helped me to improve my mixes. Let me paraphrase some of his suggestions so you understand what I\u2019m talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n