Who get's the last say on mix & mastering?

[Armani]

deadpan "the mix & mastering engineer" should be the obvious answer, but what made me doubt is the engineer isn't paying people to work for him, it's the other way around. if they're paying me to mix their song, I'm there to please them, but on the other hand I'm the engineer, they don't know shit about mixing, so I should be the one who's word's got a veto power. + primarily it's me who gets judged for the mix, not the artist. so I'm kinda confused.

stupid fucking rappers.

 

[2GooD Productions]

Mixing can be subjective, there are many artistic choices made during the mixing process. Different mix engineers will create different mixes. Mastering is really preparing a mix for whatever medium its released on. So while there may be a small element of creativity its mainly technical.

Usually mix engineers give the customer a few options to adjust the mix if the customer isnt satisfied with something. Like you say, the customers are the boss to an extent and you want satisfied customers

 

[thedreampolice]

The person paying the bill gets the final say....

Engineering is a service business and like it or not you are there to serve the client. So give them whatever they want, and feel free to suggest things along the way but and the end of the day it's up to them.

 

[Armani]

I SO wanna agree with you guys...




but also I'm underpaid and they suck my dick on a daily for projects so fuck them and their stupid opinions lol.




(I still agree tho)


(no fr, ik I'm being immature asf, I'll just try to be professional and get a raise eventually cuz this shit gettin painful)

 

[thedreampolice]

If they aren’t paying you enough then why take the job? Just walk away.

 

[Armani]

If they aren’t paying you enough then why take the job? Just walk away.

A. Ehh I always try to say yes to opportunities, it's not like I'm always doing productive shit next to school so.. i might get an actual job as soon as I graduate tho.

B. I suck at saying no generally. I've been invented to please people.

C. it's like I know they can't afford to pay more and I kinda like the ambition. When I see a young lad has drive it makes me cut them some slack. Sometimes I even do shit like I let them keep my payment so they can spend it on music videos, just so they'd get viewers and be recognized, succeed and eventually get signed so that they can replace me with an engineer who can afford a studio...

D. tbh I kinda like getting my resume filled up with lab rats while making a little bit on the side, learning, making connections, getting praised, appreciated, my ass kissed on a daily, and "grinding". The only annoying part is when I'm not in control of things or in other words I don't get to manage my artists cuz they dumb.

But yeah it is indeed a shit plan. Better than nothing, not sure what else to do, but still shit.

 

[Iron Keys]

I'm there to please them, but on the other hand I'm the engineer, they don't know shit about mixing

So here's the thing...

You'll send a client the mix. They'll be like eh nah im not feeling this. You'll ammend. They'll say hmm nah not what im looking for. You'll repeat this 50 times.

Then... you go "hold up i got you ima try something, lemme know what you think.."

You send them the first mix you ever did with a different title.

"OMG YES THIS IS THE ONE!"

 

[Iron Keys]

B. I suck at saying no generally. I've been invented to please people.

Blow me

 

[Armani]

So here's the thing...

You'll send a client the mix. They'll be like eh nah im not feeling this. You'll ammend. They'll say hmm nah not what im looking for. You'll repeat this 50 times.

Then... you go "hold up i got you ima try something, lemme know what you think.."

You send them the first mix you ever did with a different title.

"OMG YES THIS IS THE ONE!"

THIS. SO THIS.

 

[Armani]

Blow me

you'd fall apart

 

[Iron Keys]

Just wanted to come back and answer this concisely.

Answer: the client / whoever's paying for it.

Worth thinking about: Only provide mixes you're happy with. You can also advise them on certain things. Ultimately, if they're insisting you make some really questionable mix decision, ask yourself if you're happy with that or not, if not and they don't take to any of your opinion, turn the project down. I know engineers who have plaques from work with majors, but later decided to stop working with major labels because "they're a nightmare." They're turning down top 10 artist level work, feel free to turn down what you need to.