Here's how you can master the essential technical skills for a thriving music engineering career.

Do not forget you have ears. The the techno-audio-sphere is sooooo distracting. Above all. Use your ears. Your ears will keep you happy.

Ignore all of the tropes like "use your ears." When you're new, your ear training isn't on par with the professionals yet - so this is actually poor advice. You want to develop an intensive referencing system, where your reference track is automatically volume matched to your session. You want to view both tracks in frequency spectrums, spectrograms, and phase meters to accurately compare what you're doing. It's impossible to make sure you "have the balance right" by ear when you're new. Meters are your friend, not the enemy. I recommend MasteringtheMix's REFERENCE, Izotope's Tonal Balance Control, PAZ, Spectoscope, and Fabfilter Pro Q's "sidechain" feature (overlaying the reference track on a muted channel).

You must have a good ear to get better at audio production. There are many tools to produce music but if you don’t have that special inner passion you won’t stick to it and will give up on yourself. So first make sure your actual enjoy production creation and not just focused on profitability.

Fundamentals are easy to learn, yet the hardest to master. Understanding recording, frequencies, phase, dynamics, etc. are accessible concepts, but these have the most impact on anything you do. A lot of techniques and plugins are actually variations of these core elements, so get them right! You also need to be good at every stage of production. Getting the best results ensures that the next step will be easier. For example, mixing is far easier with great takes and great arrangement. Know your most essential tools like they are part of you, this will go a long way!

Being able to execute at every stage of the production process is essential! I always say that the mix will only be as good as your recordings. Making sure that vocal techniques are used during the recording process is important. From the lead vocals and backgrounds all the way down to the adlibs. Understanding frequencies, dynamics, etc will assist in a solid mixing. If everything is recorded properly, lots of processing isn't necessary for a solid mix.

The best way to start it’s not the easy way, should we use a lot off plugins? In my opinion we should do a good acoustic capture and to do that we should use the right microphone and capture techniques, it’s not worthy to try to solve bad captures with plugins instead off doing the right recording with the right equipment and techniques, 99% of this job it’s not made in daws but in acoustic practice. Having a good recorded material you need less time to have good quality and the most important thing it’s, you are not destroying the raw materials, use your ears and try to do new approaches about capturing techniques the technologies are most off them a helping hand but just that

My dogma or mantra is ‘if it goes in it must come out’ Knowing about signal flow is extremely important especially when using a DAW as any number of things can result in no sound (output). I approach this like ‘top down mixing’ starting from the last point in the chain and working my way backwards till I find the issue.

Signal chain is an essential part of audio engineering. Anything that sound goes through "prints" some kind of color to it, thus shaping the sound. For one sound, two mics might sound very different. For one sound, two soundboards might sound different. For one sound, two Eqs might sound different etc. These add up and even change considering the order of the plugins. Try switching things up and see if that fits what you're going for!

Guys…. this question is 100% Ai generated…. WHY should humans be answering FAKE and super off point questions? Stop insulting our intelligence. Get an ACTUAL expert in the field to WRITE the questions for you ???? …if you expect us to take them seriously. ——— The telltale signs of Ai writing are the terrible description of dynamic processing that only a bad novelist would write and the, “Dive into…” part. Sooooooooo Ai! ??

Mixing is where the technical aspect of recording becomes the art of the process. Anyone can record great sounding tracks of the parts of a music project. It takes a little time to learn. Even when recording directly into the DAW the magic and alchemy of the process is in the mixing. Starting with great recorded material is a plus, however mixing it all into a work of art is as much a technical endeavor as it is an artistic one. To end up with a mixed track that truly brings out the best of what was recorded, there is no substitute for seasoned ears. Trial and error when it comes to learning to mix can only take you so far. Listening to incredible works of mix wizardry can help, but seasoned mentoring is crucial.

Always keep an open mind when it comes to mixing. Mix for the genre and understand what that entitles. Sometimes you may have to pull ideas from other references or songs mixes and that’s ok. Never box yourself into what your ears hear only. It’s always great to have another credible opinion from someone who has experience. Sometimes inexperienced opinions can complicate your judgement on a great mix. Most importantly, DON’T OVERTHINK. Sometimes you can mix yourself out of a great one by mixing too long and redoing what you may have thought was a mistake during the process. Be confident in your decision about the little things you know that are right and it’ll probably make it final mixes sound better.

Mixing is a perfect blend between creativity and technical skills. It's made to fit every instrument together and shape them into a big, cohesive and thrilling piece of art. In this regard, mixers will typically cut cloudy frequencies, contain these very dynamic sounds (like that neighbour practicing opera), so every instrument has a place to shine in. But mixers are also creatives : they can create amazing effects, movements, blend tracks together in a pleasing way, and even more. This is what I like about mixing : it's about making the best music possible, both on a technical level, and an artistic level.

Mixing is truly an art form where technical precision meets creative vision. Mastering the balance of levels, panning for spatial clarity, and applying EQ to carve out space for each instrument is foundational. The emphasis on dynamic processing, like compression and gating, is crucial as these tools shape the energy and impact of a track. The use of reverb and delay to add depth can't be understated—they transform a mix from flat to immersive. Regular practice across different genres is essential for developing the versatility and nuanced ear that distinguishes great engineers. Overall, this guidance provides a comprehensive roadmap for mastering the essential technical skills needed for a thriving career in music engineering.

Mastering is the last stage of shaping the music, and serves several purposes : First, mastering corrects any mistakes that might have gone through mixing. Imbalances, dynamics inconsistencies... But it can only go so far, so get a good mix first! mastering also takes care of making the track feel bigger and more cohesive : bus compression, saturation are some tools used to achieve that. Lastly, mastering also put tracks on a competitive level. This is genre-specific, but some genres are very loud, and your track need to be fit the standard, otherwise it will sound out of place for fans. Additionnaly, mastering can also take care of ISRC, metadata and things like that.

**Mastering Techniques:** 1. **Peak Limiting** 2. **Gain Staging** 3. **Compression** 4. **EQ (Equalization)** 5. **Multiband Compression** 6. **Stereo Widening** 7. **Stereo Imaging** 8. **Low End Boost** 9. **High End Roll-Off** 10. **Noise Reduction** 11. **De-Essing** 12. **Parallel Compression** Mastering techniques are used to prepare an audio mix for distribution and playback on various formats, such as CDs, streaming services, and radio. The goal is to create a balanced and optimized master that sounds good on a wide range of systems and playback formats.

Here is a some starting points , I give to people when they ask me about mastering . I been a mixing and mastering engineer for twenty years. To master a song effectively, start by understanding its structure—intro, verses, chorus, and more. Break it down to manage each section individually. Use high-quality monitors and headphones to ensure accurate sound. Apply equalization (EQ) to balance frequencies and improve clarity, and use compression and limiting to manage dynamics and maintain consistent volume. Finally, compare your track to professionally mastered songs in the same genre ( Luffs) to gauge tonal balance and loudness. Make adjustments based on this comparison to achieve a polished, industry-standard sound

Always try to familiarize yourself with what is new and up to date. Most importantly, use what works for you. Being comfortable plays a huge part.

A paradigm shift I had was the need to understand the technology to an obsessive degree. A/V is plagued with gear acquisition syndrome and most mainstream advice I see is counterintuitive. For example you can have the best outboard analog signal processors on earth but if that analog signal is being converted to digital binary code by a cheap A/D converter with an awful clock to minimize jitter you just wasted money. I advise you to read manuals understand the different protocols such as, Dante, Madi, ADAT/Toslink and how to build an optimized system before you add anything to your cart. Also take advantage of gear demos so you can see which gear works best for your workflow in practice. It is not enough to be proficient in a DAW anymore.

Most important. LISTENING! Nothing comes before or after. You might learn the basics. You might become an expert in your DAW. You might become a guru in EQ, Dynamics, etc. But, till the time your ear doesn't know what it wants and what to achieve, nothing can help besides being a good "LISTENER". Start listening to good quality recordings. Understand the difference between good and bad! Follow legendary recording engineers like Al Schmitt, Tom Elmhirst, Bob Clearmountain, etc. See what they do. How it affects the sound signal. When you find a "hiss" in those classical records, don't say its a bad record with noise issues. You might wanna go back and check your basics. Stop with the bad practices. Find out what's right and rest will be fine!