Reaching Out

Some of you have probably already noticed the news that Among Them has received a little sonic makeover thanks to Bill over at MixLogics. The main reason I came to a decision to send this track out dealt with all of the recent reading I've done regarding mastering. I have done plenty of reading about this process in the past, but most of that was from a do-it-yourself point of view. Just recently I began to wonder if my track could actually hold it's own when thrown into a playlist of well known studio produced recordings. Though unfortunate, a song's sonic presentation can be just as important as it's true artistic appeal.

It's of little surprise to me that this new version presents itself better, but the extent of how much more lively the track feels is almost surreal to me. The reason for this undoubtedly deals with the access to professional equipment and an acoustically treated environment. But above those, a mastering engineer will always have one thing I cannot possess- a truly fresh perspective of my completed work. After spending hours upon hours listening to segments and mixes, I tend to build a preconceived notion of how the track should fill the audio spectrum. When it comes time to master, the proper adjustments would just feel wrong to me, leading me to create a sub-par master.

I guess the moral of the story is, outside input can be the spark that saves a project from certain death in mediocrity. We all can use a little help now and then.