Music Mixing Services

The process of producing music to radio, CD and download quality standards takes place in three distinct parts, Tracking, Mixing and Mastering. Each stage is equally as important but very different in the skills and equipment required. At Halo Sound and Vision, we specifcially specialise in the Mixing process.

To help understand the distinct processes of making a record from scratch there is a brief explanation of the three steps below:

Tracking

This is where you and/or your band actually record the instruments and vocals. Each instrument can be recorded one at a time or all together as a band, choir or orchestra in a studio or live situation at a concert. This phase is critical in you trying to get as close to the tones and feel of your instruments and vocals, choosing the room and space that will give particular ambience and the equipment you want to capture your sounds through. To find out more about Tracking click here. 

Mixing - this is what we specialise in!! 

This phase combines and balances all of the individual mono and stereo tracks that were recorded for the music or song. Before digital recording, there were usually restrictions on how many tracks were available for recording due to the capacity of tape but now in the digital era, it is not uncommon for the modern pop song to have in excess of 100 tracks of different instruments and sounds and vocals. It is the mixing engineers' role to take however many tracks there are and blend each one of them into a coherent single stereo file, edit and add effects where appropriate. Read more about what we do in the Mixing phase by visiting our FAQ's page.

Mastering

Originally the mastering engineer was the person who cut the master disc to print the vinyl records. They had to cut the grooves with a lathe and therefore get the correct balance of bass and high frequencies in this process so the needle of the record player would stay in the groove and read be able to relay these signals back into music. Although vinyl is still cut these days it is much rarer (and very expensive!), so the mastering engineer is mainly dealing with the digital and compact disc domain. However, their skills are much the same for this medium and it is their job to ‘finish’ the stereo track of the mix.