Tracking, Mixing, and Mastering

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In the days before tape recording, records had to be made “live,”
with the performance going directly to a master lacquer disc. In
the 1950s, when recording to tape became possible, the mastering
step could be detached from recording, but the performance was
still captured live.


When multitrack tape became universal in studios in the 1960, the
concept of mixing after recording emerged.


In the decades that followed, many engineers chose to specialize
in one of the three steps made possible by the technology. Some
were tracking engineers, who captured the performance. Mixers
specialized in creatively combining the tracks, and a mastering
engineer did the transfer from the master mix tape to lacquer
disc master.


This specialization has only increased in the digital age. And,
for the most part, it is beneficial for our profession. It works
because some of us love to capture the music, but have no
interest in mixing it. Others find working with artists, which
can sometimes be very stressful, unappealing and prefer to work
on their own, just mixing.


And with the rise of digital formats for the consumer, what need
was there for a mastering engineer? Well, the mastering engineers
re-invented their craft and used their talents to enhance the
recording.


The mixing and mastering steps also became opportunities to fix
imperfections that should have been addressed in the original
recording.


In this episode, I suggest that perhaps some of us should
consider returning to the original concept of making a record
with one engineer doing all three steps. This is likely to be a
small segment of our engineering community, but “mastering” all
aspects of recording might make better recordings. 


email: dwfearn@dwfearn.com
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