Guest post by Jay Heiselmann, a sound engineer with over 15 years of experience working in studios of all sizes. Jay is also a musician who plays in various bands including Grooms, The Immaculates and French Miami. He currently works in Brooklyn's Death By Audio and specializes in mixing and mastering.
Want to master your tracks for almost free in just a few minutes? Well, companies are popping up claiming to provide "intelligent" or "instant" mastering using complex algorithms to analyze the waveform and create high quality masters. We saw this technology a couple of years ago in audio plugin format, but these new companies are upload-and-go – all you need is the file. Some are free and others cost only a couple of dollars a track, which is very inexpensive especially if you consider that professional mastering can cost hundreds of dollars. But how good are these "instant" masters? Is it worth cutting corners on this piece of the process? Is the difference noticeable?
I decided to test two popular instant mastering sites against a professional mastering job and review the results. One of the companies making the most waves (get it?) and touting the newest technology is LANDR, a product from MixGenius. I also tested out WaveMod, which has a less flashy site than LANDR, but the easy-to-access examples on the homepage sounded pretty great.Pros:
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Mastered by Brooklyn-based engineer Heba Kadry at Timeless Mastering
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Cost: approximately $300 per track
I asked veteran engineer Mike Wells, who has been running a mastering studio and putting the final magic on records for 10+ years, to compare these tracks and give us his objective opinion on the quality of the mastering.
"At the end of the day, you get what you pay for," says Wells. "Sure, I can see the initial appeal of low-cost, quick-return. However, as an artist and an audio engineer, I can't imagine anyone with a serious investment in their music giving final control of their art over to an algorithm. As a professional mastering engineer reviewing these tools, I can say with confidence that I'm not worried about being outsourced to automated tools like these. The proof is in the results."
So the end result is what you might expect: These new instant mastering technologies are exciting, and they could be a great tool for someone without the experience but who still wants to get tracks out into the world quickly and cheaply. If you're looking to take your finished product to the next level, though, it's still worth shelling out the cash to hire a professional.
For more information on DIY mastering, we recommend this article by Resident Advisor. For more information on where to source mixing/mastering engineers or studios in your area and price range, we recommend checking out SoundBetter.