Can Anyone Become A Great Sound Engineer?

11 become great sound engineer

I would say YES, most people can become a great mastering engineer. I say this because most of the mixes I receive from clients are pretty good and I know the audio engineer (the band member with a computer) has only minimal training. He could easily be great if he put a little more study and practice time into it. And if he had this book to teach him what took me over 17 years to learn! Ha!

The bigger question is, how much time and effort are you going to put in? You know, everyone can be in good physical shape, or at least in decent shape. The choice is yours. But, is there going to be a diet and exercise plan that's followed daily for months, or is everything going on eBay or craigslist a few weeks after January 1^st? It's up to each individual to do what's necessary to achieve their end goal.

You get out what you put in, even when it comes to audio mastering. This book gives you the knowledge and tools you need to become a great audio mastering engineer. And you'll learn a lot faster than I did. But it's still up to you to read this book in its entirety and put in the practice time.

The Music Production Secrets Series
by John Rogers

My Best Mixing & Mastering Articles

Monitor Speaker Placement For Your Home Recording Studio And DAW Setup

4 speaker placemnt daw home recording studio

Here's the monitor speaker setup I use for my DAW, and the setup I recommend for your home recording studio.

Cheaply Soundproofing Your Room For Audio Mastering

1 cheaply soundproofing room studio

I had to write a quick note on this, as I was reminded about it while thumbing through a popular mixing book that had a 15 page section on speaker resonance and room sound proofing. I must say, a very exciting 15 pages! Ha!

A/B Comparison In Mastering

In this video I do a quick A/B comparison of a few songs. In my audio mastering secrets video series, I get a lot more in-depth into exactly what you are trying to achieve sonically for your genre/style of music.

How To Prepare Your Songs For Mixing

prepare songs for mixing

In this article, I'll show you how to prepare your songs for mixing.

Can Anyone Become A Great Sound Engineer?

11 become great sound engineer

I would say YES, most people can become a great mastering engineer. I say this because most of the mixes I receive from clients are pretty good and I know the audio engineer (the band member with a computer) has only minimal training. He could easily be great if he put a little more study and practice time into it. And if he had this book to teach him what took me over 17 years to learn! Ha!

Can You Master A Song That's Already Been Mastered?

Can I master a song that's already been mastered? Yes! Every month I master songs that have already been mastered. Read more....

How To Master A Song In Only 5 Minutes!

Would you like to know how to master a song or how to master your own music? So many people think just making the volumes the same level for every song is "mastering" their CD. Well, mastering is a lot more than just that! Read more....

What Software Do You Need For Audio Mastering?

2 software for audio mastering

If you've mixed songs in the past, you more than likely can use that same software for audio mastering. As long as you can add effects to the stereo/main out bus, you're good to go. Read more....

Best Mixing Levels Before Mastering

set mixing level meters

Correctly setting your mixing levels before mastering is essential for great mastering results. Having the best DB levels for mixing is critical. Here's how to properly do it! Read more....

Set Mixing Levels For Each Instrument

How to set mixing levels for each instrument is a question I see all over the Internet. I'm going to explain exactly how to set mixing levels in this article. Read more....

Best Free Redbook CD Burning Software

Yes, burning your own redbook master CDs is very easy! Here's how to make your own redbook CD masters for free!

Mastering Compression Techniques

This video shows one of the more imptotant compression techniques I use in audio mastering. In my audio Mastering Secrets Video Series, I explain everything you need to know about audio mastering.

Top 17 Common Music Mixing Mistakes And How To Fix Them!

audio music mixing mistakes

These are the Top 17 most common music mixing mistakes I see daily. Correcting them could will improve your audio mastering results and make your mixes sound more professional. Read more....

What Does Mastering Do To A Song?

10 what is audio mastering

What does mastering do to a song? Your main goal in audio mastering is to replicate the sonic qualities of a well professionally mastered commercial song, in the same genre and style as the song mix you are working on.

Which Is Better For Audio Mastering Analog Gear Or Digital Software Plugins?

18 analog digital equipment

I started my career using the old analog stuff, since that was the only option. I incorporated digital software plugins as soon as they became available, but it took many years before computers were fast enough to run them in realtime. And also before they started making very high quality plugins.

Top 20 Audio Mastering Tips, Techniques, And FAQ

Here are the top 20 audio mastering tips, questions, and answers that I've been asked over the years.

Mastering Hardware Equipment You Need For Your DAW Home Recording Studio

7 mastering hardware equipment daw recording studio

Here's the basic hardware you need to master music:

Why Do Songs Need To Be Mastered?

12 why need audio mastering

Why do songs need to be mastered? I've seen this question on the Internet many times. The answer I always see is "Because all songs on the radio have been professionally mastered, yours should be too." This is a true fact, but not an answer.

Mastering A Song For Radio

14 song ready for radio

Here's another popular question I see online, always with the wrong answer! "There's no such thing as radio ready mastering!" REALLY? Read more....

What's The Vibrato And Tremolo Definition In Music | Differences Between Tremolo And Vibrato

The vibrato and tremolo effects both have their differences. But the vibrato and tremolo effects also sound very similar; both slightly wave and pulsate the pitch of an audio track. You have to hear it for yourself to understand the sound.

#1 Best Website Hosting For Musicians, And Music Recording Studios

If you're looking for the best website hosting for musicians, bands, and music recording studios, here's my own personal experience with website hosting companies.

John Rogers - Danceur Magazine Interview (July 2018)

Since the begining of his solo career in 2008, I mastered over 80 songs with the top French recording artist NYLS. Great pop dance music with a lot of remixes. During his entire career (as of now), I mastered most of if not all the song he released. It was a great pleasure working with NYLS and Nico at Icon Records!

Fixing A Bad Mix With Mastering

A lot of mastering engineers are afraid to make drastic changes to a mix they are working on. That, or they're stuck in the familiarity of always making only small changes.

In this video I show how you can turn a weak mix (definitely wouldn't call it bad) into a great sounding master, simply by pushing your levels a little more than you might be used to.

Mid Side EQ In Mastering

This is a quick video on how a mid-side processor works, and how to check the stereo field of your mix using a mid-side processor equalizer.

Creating Headroom In A Mix

17 how create headroom in mix

To create a mix for mastering with proper headroom is pretty simple.