Case Study: Rescuing the Papago Orange single
Today, we’re using a recent mastering studio project of mine as a case study in how to find better engineers to work with, and looking into how online freelancing platforms like SoundBetter play into that. My complete list of different case studies can be found here.
SoundBetter is a digital freelancing platform specific to audio production professionals: it attempts to connect technical production talent to creative musical talent.
It’s possible to find good engineers on platforms like this. But, for most people, most of the time, it can be a very difficult and frustrating experience, because there’s a ton of not-so-great engineers on this platform as well.
How to find the right engineer
Pricing is just one piece of the equation when you decide to work with someone. Instead of focusing only on getting the absolute lowest possible price, try asking these questions of any engineering talent you’re thinking of working with:
Are they collaborative and patient?
Do they explain exactly what they’re doing, and why they’re doing it, in a language you can understand?
Do they have a good attitude, and are they responsive to feedback?
Are they working in your best interests first, or their own?
If the answer to any of these questions is no, I’d move on. Even if the price is cheap, you’d be burning your money in a fire trying to work with that person, and it’s not going to be a good time for you.
If the answer to all of these questions is yes, I’d book the job.
Rescuing John’s single
In this case study, my production student John Kowite (of Papago Orange) unfortunately got taken for a bit of a ride on the SoundBetter platform.
While working on his new single “Good One”, he tried using several different mixing engineers he found through SoundBetter, and while the mixes he got were OK (not great), he also got several masters from those same engineers that were way out of spec and, frankly, very bad sounding.
So, I got the call to evaluate the quality of the masters he’d been given by his mixing engineers. And, sadly, there were some big red flags.
Here we have another unfortunate instance of a mixer not really understanding how mastering works, and just smashing the crap out of their own track, while also not having their limiter properly set up:
Red flag during mastering: clipping on the master track
If you were to submit a master to a streaming service in this condition, as it was originally delivered to John, you could get audible clipping on your track. And, you wouldn’t notice it until after your music had already been uploaded to the streaming service. We don’t want that.
It’s a real shame, because while the mixes that were sent over weren’t bad, this particular mixer shot himself in the foot by trying to master his own work.
Production red flags
That’s something to watch out for.
Red flag: mixers offering to throw in cheap or free masters, when they don’t have the requisite qualifications, gear, or experience required to do that job well for you.
The really great mixers out there almost never master their own work, because they know it’s not in the best interests of their client’s project for them to do so.
It would be rare that something like this would be intentionally malicious behavior. But, it could be a sign that a particular production professional might be working in their own best interests over yours.
Can mixers do your masters?
Mixers, think twice about whether you’re truly qualified to master a project, before you offer that as a service to your clients:
Do you have all of the specialized gear necessary to offer this as a paid service at the professional level? Throwing some iZotope plugins on the track isn’t going to cut the mustard, when you’re talking about doing this as a paid job.
Do you fully understand how mastering delivery specifications work in both digital and analog mediums, all physical mediums, and across multiple different streaming platforms?
Do you have experience mastering many different projects across many different genres of music?
Have you ever worked directly with a qualified, experienced professional mastering engineer inside of a dedicated mastering facility, in an in-person session or through an internship?
If the answer to any of these questions is no, maybe don’t offer this as a service to your clients just yet.
It’s never nice to money-grab people, just to get them to say yes to doing a job with you. Make sure you’re making decisions that result in the best possible project for your clients, every single time: that’s what they’re coming to you for, after all.
Remember, pretty much all of the most well-known mixers across music history don’t master their own work. There’s a reason for that.
Rescuing the single
Here’s how we fixed this:
We took John’s track back to the original mixes, which had been done OK by the SoundBetter engineer.
John then did some touch-up work on those mixes in his own home studio, working together with some guidance from me.
Then, we re-mastered the track working off of those new mixes.
It ended up sounding great. I’d imagine it’ll be released pretty soon.
The moral of the story on SoundBetter
It was a shame that John had to pay to get his mixes done “professionally”, only to have to then touch them up himself after the fact. Unfortunately, that’s often the risk you take when shopping on any open online storefront for production talent.
Because the barrier to entry is so low on these types of tech platforms (anyone can join them for free), it can be difficult to know what you’re getting in terms of quality of provider. Expect your results to vary-a lot! It’s a bit like shopping on Amazon, where everything has five-star reviews, but it’s hard to find true five-star quality.
Platforms like SoundBetter, despite the good intentions of their founders, create a very strong “race to the bottom” platform effect that doesn’t really help out anyone in the end.
Because there’s so many engineers competing for limited work on the platform, there ends up being a lot of downward pricing pressure for services, and a lot of cookie-cutter, rushed work being put out.
Many engineers that do a lot of work through the mass-market freelancing platforms are charging McDonald’s-style prices, and are churning through as many projects as possible, as quickly as possible, just to try to make ends meet.
It’s hard to truly differentiate yourself as an engineer on SoundBetter, or any other mass-market freelancing platform. This means that trying to compete solely by offering blue plate special, bargain basement pricing becomes the name of the game.
It’s also common for mixing engineers to try to throw in work they’re not always qualified to do (like mastering), just to get someone to say yes to a job. It’s not malicious or anything, but if they don't offer to throw in your mastering for free, a prospective client will just immediately move on and pick one of the hundred other engineers that will.
Making better music projects
If you’re a long-time reader of this channel, you’ll know that this is the reason why we don’t participate in race-to-the-bottom deals in the music space around here.
Notice, nowhere in this system is anyone asking the most important question: what gets the artist the best possible project?
Sometimes, going outside of the mass-market freelancing platforms can help you find providers that actually do care about getting you the best possible project.
