What does a mastering engineer need?

A mastering engineer makes the final adjustments to audio material so that it is optimised for most playback scenarios. Fundamentally, a mastering engineer needs an accurate and familiar place to listen to audio content and a way to process audio such that the necessary adjustments can be made to produce the master. In this discussion we will imagine the simplest mastering setup, utilising modern digital technologies. Of course a mastering engineer may work in a complex and equipment-heavy studio but the basis of any studio is an accurate monitoring system and some way to process audio.

Monitoring

There are a few things to consider here; why do you call it a system and what’s in this system? and, what is accurate? We refer to a monitoring system because we are talking about the combination of equipment that allows the information in the source file (.WAV audio file, for example) to reach the mastering engineer’s ear and be perceived as sound. The system is greater than simply a pair of speakers or headphones. In the most basic, modern scenario the monitoring system would be the computer (where the digital music file is sitting), the digital to analog converter (that converters the information in the digital file to an electrical signal), the powered speaker (which converts the electrical signal to acoustic energy), and the listening environment (the room your in, filled with air, that transfers the acoustic energy to the listener). These elements are working together to present the auditory experience to the mastering engineer, and all these elements have a role to play in the accuracy of playback. 

The more accurately this monitoring system reproduces audio material the more confident the engineer will be that the work they are doing will be of benefit to the mastering project. But what do we mean by accuracy? There is perhaps a theoretical definition in which if you could record a performance with 100% accuracy and then play that back over the monitoring system the resulting experience would be sonically indiscernible from the original event. In literal terms this is near impossible to achieve and nearly impossible to test, somewhat reinforcing the impossibility of the completely accurate monitoring system. Luckily, the impossibility of this goal of accuracy has not prevented great development in monitoring technology and there are many ways to achieve a great system that will allow you to produce great masters. A more realistic goal for a monitoring system could be that when the digital source file serves up information that instructs the system to produce a certain frequency, at a certain amplitude, and at a specific time, that same set of parameters are perceived by the listener. The closer your monitoring system can be to interpreting and carrying out the instructions of the source file the greater accuracy we can ascribe to this system.

So, the monitoring system allows the mastering engineer to hear music as close as possible to the instructions that the source file sets out and every element along the system plays a role in influencing the accuracy of this information translation. This begs the question, can anyone with the best/most accurate monitoring system master a recording to the highest degree? Maybe, if they really got to know that monitoring system. Which brings up another important point, knowing the monitoring system.

Knowing their monitoring system is one thing mastering engineers do really well, they listen to the same monitoring system day in and day out for many years. They build up a detailed mental sonic imprint of how audio material is presented on that system. Whilst it doesn’t sidestep the need for accurate monitoring, it does take an accurate system that bit further — to where that small bump at 200Hz, for example, doesn’t prevent us from making a great master because we’re aware of it and accomodate it, intuitively. To summarise, the mastering engineer looks to put together the most accurate monitoring system they can and then gets to know that system thoroughly, through years of listening.

Processing

The second thing a mastering engineer requires is a way to process audio material. If you’re working with digital audio files the simplest way to apply processing to them is by hosting the files in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) and using software (known as plug-ins) to run within this DAW and process the digital file. You can use typical DAW software to master a digital file, such as Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Studio One, and Reaper (there are many more). There are some DAWs that are designed specifically for mastering and they offer some additional feature and ease of mastering workflow that the typical DAWs do not. Mastering focused DAWs include Wavelab, Sadie, and Sequoia.

Audio can also be processed in the analog domain, in which the electrical signal which generated the audio is passed through a hardware unit and the output of the hardware is recorded back into the computer. If you’re working with digital files you’ll still need some kind of DAW or software player and a digital to analog converter to make this happen and you’ll also need an analog to digital converter on the recording side of the unit. Audio processing, whether it be analog or digital is a dense subject, so we will leave it for a future blog post.

So, what does a mastering engineer need? A way to accurately hear the audio (a monitoring system), and way to process the music (a computer and DAW). Being really familiar with your monitoring system is key, and having a DAW you’re comfortable using will make the mastering process smooth.

How much does a mastering engineer cost?

Mastering is not a one-size-fits-all process, in the sense that every project is unique and every mastering engineer has their own take on how a given audio project should be mastered. Furthermore, every mastering engineer is working with a different level of experience and specialisation, and from different studios. This all points to the cost of mastering being based on a number of factors. These factors may include project scope, delivery time, experience and status, and equipment and facilities. Below is some discussion about the factors affecting the cost of mastering:

Project scope — A music mastering project might be a single, an EP, an album, a double album, or perhaps a remaster of an entire bands catalogue (at the extreme). Though the underlying goal of a mastering engineer remains the same regardless of the project scope, the complexity and duration of the project is governed by its scope. On the more complex end, an album that was recorded over five years, across ten different studios and a bedroom might take a little more consideration when mastering to get the songs to sit on the same album. On the shorter end, perhaps a 3-minute single that sounds incredible already, and the mastering engineer just makes the slightest of adjustments and adds metadata. When you discuss your project with a mastering engineer and the project scope becomes apparent this will influence the quoted price.

Delivery time — As with many services if you want things quicker you tend to pay a premium. A mastering engineer can work quite quickly compared to a mixing engineer, or a recording engineer due to the nature of the task. But, we are dealing with music, a medium that has duration, and thus there is a minimum time that’s required to achieve a good result. A common scenario might be an EP master. If you give a mastering engineer a deadline that’s a month or two away, then all is well and that engineer will slot the EP into their schedule. On the other hand, if you want it done in 24 hours that’s going to require a bit of overtime, or a schedule adjustment from the mastering engineer, and most engineers will pass this cost on to the client. Some mastering engineers do advertise a ‘rush’ mastering rate for projects on the timescale of hours or days.

Experience and status — Over a career a mastering engineer develops elite skills, and their ability to provide value to your audio project increases. Furthermore, the mastering engineer might become the go-to person for a given sound or type of audio project – holding some special status in the industry. This kind of specialised, elite skillset, and guarantee of quality attracts a premium. Therefore, you may pay less for a first year mastering engineer, and you may pay a great deal more for a mastering engineer with 20 years experience and four Grammys to their name.

Equipment and facilities — In symbiosis with the experience and status factor, some mastering engineers work in huge spaces with hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment, property overheads, and employees. Others, are one-person operations perhaps simply with a laptop, digital to analog converter, and pair of headphones. Both ends of this spectrum have the potential to make a great master, but one of these mastering engineers is going to have a ‘cost price’ that is way higher than the other and this will be reflected in their mastering rate.

In Summary

To get the best value for money make a self assessment of your project before putting it forward to a mastering engineer. Consider questions like: What is the scope of the project? When is the deadline for the master? Is your audience for your music going to appreciate the extra sonic qualities a top-end mastering engineer will provide?

Then get in contact with a few mastering engineers and get a few quotes. Then you can assess the value of these quotes in relation to your project and your desired outcome.

“Yes, but…how much does a mastering engineer cost?”

For a piece of music under 5 minutes in length, expect to pay somewhere between $100 and AUD $500 [USD $80 – $360]. Below $100 I’d say the results may be unpredictable, perhaps amazing value, or maybe hit or miss; over $100 stable and professional; and, approaching $500 you’re talking to big name mastering engineers. Undoubtably, you could pay less that $100 or more than $500, but somewhere in that range is common and would allow you to find a mastering engineer that’s a good fit for your project.