What would you pay a mix engineer for a great mix ?

knotkranky · Post by **knotkranky** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 12:41 am

Mix wise, If your record could sound like __________ 's record you would be willing to pay ____ ?

Forget studio cost. Just the mix engineer. If your tracks could sound better than you had imagined before
and truly compete with the chart toppers productions, what is that worth for a mix.

kineticUk · Post by **kineticUk** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 1:21 am

Well depends what the reasons behind it are (and obviously the tune)
I was thinkin doing this at one point, just because I really liked the tunes and thought it would be a good thing to send something to a engineering place that I respected, to see what difference it would make and study the results. Kinda have something I liked (and believed was "correct" bad word, something to refer to in future) to use as a blueprint and learn from the experience something hopefully. See what the pros can do and compare, learn, etc.
Never did it anyway. But maybe next time.
Edit:oops...woulda cost me about £100-150 for a tune.

timothyallan · Post by **timothyallan** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 1:37 am

Two hundred bucks.

mdb · Post by **mdb** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:07 am

It really depends, but the ballpark average is anywhere from $200-$1000 and up depending on how mnay tracks you have and what your looking for and the time its gonna take the guy to do the work. Which can be several hours per song.

If whoever your getting to mix your stuff knows what hes doing much better then you do and gets the sound your looking for, its worth every penny IMO. Nothing like having a professional sounding mix of your own music to share with the world.

Its just like any service you pay for, Peoples time and expertise are what your paying for. Its no different then taking your car to a mechanic. Youd pay them $100 an hour in labor to fix your car.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:21 am

$10,000??

$1,000??

$500???

$350????

NO!!! How about the low low offer of only

$19.95!!!

That's right!!! Make your tracks sound like these popular artists:

Tiesto

Justin Timberlake

Madonna

Monolake

and many many more!!!

ALL FOR THE LOW LOW PRICE OF $19.95.

But wait!!! There's MORE!! Call right now and get this Sonic Maximiser FOR FREE!!!

That's right, you too can look like a REAL PRODUCER with a genuine rack mounted lights and shiny knobs. Enjoy the genuine headroom and dynamics only found in REAL production studios!!

Order now, operators are standing by.

Anubis · Post by **Anubis** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:31 am

I've got Wavelab, some mediocre reference monitors, a shitload of limiters, good ears, why should I pay anybody? Except to maybe show me how to use the aforementioned

Then I'd pay $500.

MrYellow · Post by **MrYellow** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:34 am

Read some Bob Katz articles and you'll quickly see $500 worth of pluggins
doesn't give you the knowledge you need to not fall into the traps.

-Ben

thelike5 · Post by **thelike5** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:36 am

I'm sorry but this is a dum post

knotkranky · Post by **knotkranky** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 6:04 am

Not if you were me.

I'm real curious what some of you think about that. I'm not sure how many on this board have their tracks mixed by a experienced mix engineer. I assume most roll there own and a few have not heard their tracks totally lit up big and phat and holding up against the big budgets.

It doesn't matter if one has the money or not, but what is it worth? There's no right answer just a poll at most.

mdb's in the pocket and Anubis knows it's hard. TD, it read like a ronco add perfectly and some mix engineer adds out there sorta treat it like that. Anyway, the mix makes all the diff after the track is finished and a vast majority of great tracks never get the proper treatment. Not even here in "engineer under every rock land" Lots of songs can clobber the chart toppers if they had the same treatment they got.

It's worthless to people who don't need it. But a lot of people are trying to put their music on the line and make a statement. After all that writing, recording and editing what does it deserve and what's it worth?

Andrew Russell NYC · Post by **Andrew Russell NYC** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 10:49 am

Tone Deft wrote:$10,000??

$1,000??

$500???

$350????

NO!!! How about the low low offer of only

$19.95!!!

That's right!!! Make your tracks sound like these popular artists:

Tiesto

Justin Timberlake

Madonna

Monolake

and many many more!!!

ALL FOR THE LOW LOW PRICE OF $19.95.

But wait!!! There's MORE!! Call right now and get this Sonic Maximiser FOR FREE!!!

That's right, you too can look like a REAL PRODUCER with a genuine rack mounted lights and shiny knobs. Enjoy the genuine headroom and dynamics only found in REAL production studios!!

Order now, operators are standing by.

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 10:53 am

knotkranky wrote:Not if you were me.

I'm real curious what some of you think about that. I'm not sure how many on this board have their tracks mixed by a experienced mix engineer. I assume most roll there own and a few have not heard their tracks totally lit up big and phat and holding up against the big budgets.

It doesn't matter if one has the money or not, but what is it worth? There's no right answer just a poll at most.

mdb's in the pocket and Anubis knows it's hard. TD, it read like a ronco add perfectly and some mix engineer adds out there sorta treat it like that. Anyway, the mix makes all the diff after the track is finished and a vast majority of great tracks never get the proper treatment. Not even here in "engineer under every rock land" Lots of songs can clobber the chart toppers if they had the same treatment they got.

It's worthless to people who don't need it. But a lot of people are trying to put their music on the line and make a statement. After all that writing, recording and editing what does it deserve and what's it worth?

ive had my stuff mastered by a few pros and thats made such a huge difference i cant tell you guys what.

if thats what pro mastering does, a pro mixdown is bound to yield worthwhile results the quality of which will be determined by the depth of your pocket

knotkranky · Post by **knotkranky** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 4:16 pm

sweetjesus wrote:
knotkranky wrote:Not if you were me.

I'm real curious what some of you think about that. I'm not sure how many on this board have their tracks mixed by a experienced mix engineer. I assume most roll there own and a few have not heard their tracks totally lit up big and phat and holding up against the big budgets.

It doesn't matter if one has the money or not, but what is it worth? There's no right answer just a poll at most.

mdb's in the pocket and Anubis knows it's hard. TD, it read like a ronco add perfectly and some mix engineer adds out there sorta treat it like that. Anyway, the mix makes all the diff after the track is finished and a vast majority of great tracks never get the proper treatment. Not even here in "engineer under every rock land" Lots of songs can clobber the chart toppers if they had the same treatment they got.

It's worthless to people who don't need it. But a lot of people are trying to put their music on the line and make a statement. After all that writing, recording and editing what does it deserve and what's it worth?
ive had my stuff mastered by a few pros and thats made such a huge difference i cant tell you guys what.

if thats what pro mastering does, a pro mixdown is bound to yield worthwhile results the quality of which will be determined by the depth of your pocket

Nicely summed up and it provokes the next thought. Cost wise It would be difficult to justify having a mix engineer mix all the songs on a project. But maybe 1 or 2 are the flagship songs or singles that might need more mix attention than others. Yes, we get what we pay for with most things. Mechanics, chefs, mix engineers etc. But a distinction to note is one's final mix will be presented to the world and will last forever unlike a car or brilliant meal. So I guess some of you have done the math and a mix engineer would not be possible for a whole project. If it were 1 or 2 mixes in a project/cd, does that simplify it? If it is to be included on a compilation or broadcast along with other artist, does it make it's value easier to quantify ?

I'm sorry if these questions are annoying. Facts are I haven't a clue. My biz has moved completely out of offices and into homes since it's impossible to keep relationships with companies that change month to month. I'm making a website to market and reveal how I work but this is unfamiliar territory and I feel out of touch, but I suppose that's the feeling to get used to these days.

I'm just looking to riff with a few of you and get some bearings.

Cheers

paolo topaz · Post by **paolo topaz** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 4:25 pm

I've just had a track mastered for the first time, even judging by the small sample i was sent it's more than worth the $50.

the whole track has that big chunky punch that I love, the Deep Dish, Axwell type sound.

I'll be getting the whole track later tonight, I'll let you know how it sounds.

btw how does the BBE sonic maximiser rack compare to the vst?

Paolo

glu · Post by **glu** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 5:50 pm

There is a mastering house here that will listen to your album first and point out the problems in the mix first, then let you remix your tracks, add/remove signal processing plugs, and bring it back to them for mastering. I am planning a few small events once I get draft 2 of my album completed.

1. listening party- a few close musical friends listen to the album from start to finish with a notepad, jotting suggestions, critiques, etc..

2. remix the tracks with someone with engineering skills- correct major flaws, work on EQing and panning. Take suggestions into account with final draft of tracks, take parts out, add parts.. etc..

3. send to mastering house to critique and rework from there...

4. finish final version and send to mastering house

not an exact order, but I think this will help out a lot. Might be interested in some online opinions as well, once I complete draft 1.

dj superflat · Post by **dj superflat** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 6:07 pm

even fifteen years ago a serious pro mix was more than $1500/song for rock. so are we talking serious pro mix or just better than your average home studio musician could do? because the range is going to be from $100/song to $5000/song depending on what you're selling.