We live in an incredible time for artists, songwriters and music producers. The power of the audio tools we have available at a fraction of the cost from 20 or 30 years ago is quite incredible. Not to mention some of the insanely good free plugins and instruments out there.
When you can pull together a solid sounding song in GarageBand with relative ease, it’s no wonder when someone asks me what it’d cost to mix and master their song that I am met with some wonder.
So why do I charge what I charge for mixing and mastering?
Audio Renovator For Hire
In my mind I’m an “audio renovator” when it comes to mixing. You send me your song for mixing, like a fixer-upper, it’s got a decent foundation. There’s a solid frame too. Sometimes I might need to knock out a wall or patch up a leak in the roof. Other times all the rooms in the house need to be shored up and made flush.
Once I’ve got the fundamentals taken care of I’m going to start paying attention to the finer details. I can start to make things really nice and bring out the best in the house.
By the end of my “audio renovation” you can stand back and admire how much better that song sounds.
Hopefully my little analogy helps to illustrate the depth I would go to when mixing your song. I hope it also illustrates another point.
Knowing What To Do & When To Do It
When I listen to a client’s rough mix or open up their session file. What I find is generally plugins with presets. Plugin presets, unfortunately, are a bit like buying an IKEA sofa that is too big for the room you’re putting it in. It looks good and should work but it’s not the right fit. (See my post on why audio plugin presets are terrible)
When I’m working on a mix, I’m fixing and then decorating and after years of fixing and decorating “audio houses” you get a feel for what will work and when to do it.
When you pay me to mix your song, I’m bringing years of know-how to your song. I know all my tools intimately and when to use which tool. I could watch a video on YouTube to see how someone uses the tool and learn a lot but it isn’t until you’ve done hundreds of jobs using that tool that you understand the craftsmanship is what really matters.
The Takeaway: Like any artisan, his tools are an extension of his skill and experience. You’re not paying for his time, you’re not paying for the cost of his tools, you’re paying for his craftmanship. You need to decide what that is worth to your project
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