# What would it cost to mix (and possible master) a full soundtrack?



## Haakond (Dec 14, 2020)

Hi,

I am scoring a video game that will release in 2022. The reception of the game so far has been great, and we even have a publisher on board. Since the game will release on all platforms, I thought about maybe hiring a mixing engineer to mix to make it sound as good as it can be. I can do it myself, but sometimes things get better when you leave it to others. 

I am guessing the price can vary a lot here, so I am just looking for a price range. The soundtrack will be about 60 minutes long (all orchestral tracks).
What could I expect the price to be for a project like that? And do you know good mixing engineers?

Haakon


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## Jeremy Spencer (Dec 14, 2020)

I would consult @Gerhard Westphalen


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## Scoremixer (Dec 14, 2020)

Experienced engineers tend to charge by the day for mixing. It depends what market you're looking in, but you'll find the biggest concentration of experienced engineers serving London and LA, and you're looking at a range of perhaps £500 - £2000/day (probably skews a little higher in the LA market). 

Lot of factors affect how much you can get done in a day, a few would be

- Stereo or 5.1 (or higher)?
- Live recordings, or all programmed?
- If some live recording, where from?
- How much of the score is full-on action, how much is underscore etc
- How templated is the music, ie does the music live comfortably within one sound world, or does it switch up genres a lot?
- Any advanced file organisation + deliverables requirements for game assets over and above the usual printing of stems?
- Does the engineer in question have their own place, or would they require studio hire too (most do have their own rooms these days, but not all).

If it's well-organised, well-prepped stuff, you can generally get between 10-20 minutes of music mixed in a day depending on complexity and track count, so for a 60 minute score you might be looking between 4-6 days of mix time.

Some peeps will master as well as mix - I'm always a bit wary of that, but getting the mix right is the key thing if budget is tight - if that's done properly then the difference between the mix and the master can be vanishingly small. Because of the way the music is likely to be used in the game, it normally wouldn't be mastered in the conventional sense for the actual game release. You'd probably want to do it if you did a separate soundtrack release though. 

For a soundtrack album with a digital and CD release you'd be looking at somewhere in the region of £600-£1200 from a good mastering house. 

Hope that helps!


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## sourcefor (Dec 14, 2020)

Some details on the project would better help get you a price and timeline. I mix and master and know engineers that could do it as well, but need more details, how many tracks, time, deadline etc.


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Dec 14, 2020)

@Jeremy Spencer thanks for bringing this thread to my attention!

As Scoremixer mentioned, there are many factors that can affect the price.

I recently did a project for a video game app with quite a few tracks and it was $50/minute. That's a fairly low rate. There were some tricky things for delivery considering the looping required but the composer and I worked out a plan ahead of time which meant that I could print each cue with only 2 export passes considering the features in Nuendo. If it were in Pro Tools it would've taken forever to export and thus be a lot more expensive.

I try to estimate around $60/hour which is very low compared to what other engineers charge but is a rate that I'm happy with. Obviously the more complex the music and requirements, the longer it takes meaning a higher rate per minute of music. If your entire score is just 5 tracks then I could get through a lot of music quickly and the price would reflect that. Surround projects with large recorded orchestra and lots of automation plus samples can take a very long time. That would probably be closer to $100/minute of music but even then if you contact other engineers you'll be looking at paying a fortune for that.

In terms of mastering, my current rate is $60/track with discounts on multiple tracks so you'd probably be looking at around $400 - $500. A little extra for Apple Digital Masters and any alt deliverables. That price is pretty average. If you went with one of the top mastering houses then you'd be looking at paying at least $150 per track.

IMO the prices that Scoremixer mentioned are too high unless you're working with someone like Alan Meyerson and renting a studio. In all of the projects I've worked on ranging from composers doing their first short to projects with John Debney, I've never charged anything that high.


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## Haakond (Dec 15, 2020)

Thanks for your replies!
I see now that I should have included a lot more information about it, so here it goes:
I have uploaded a couple of tracks on Souncloud, so you can check it out there: https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/rXPdXGoT21NqhaNk7

Everything is orchestra and orchestral instruments. There will be some choir as well. I might include some ethnic solo instruments or something like that, but it is not decided yet. Everything will be samples. All areas will have their own “battle” music and its own “boss” music. Each track will have its own separate intro and loop file, and some will have its own ending. Gonna implement them all in FMOD, so the mixer will not have to deal with that.

Most of the tracks will have around 15-20 stems, around 2-3 minutes. The only action and fast-paced tracks will be for the battles, around 1-2 mins each. There will be some short stingers (upgrade, battle won etc) that will be 3-10 seconds each.

I don’t think it will have surround audio, so stereo is good.
I am thinking the mixing process is the most important thing here. I have Ozone for mastering. I know it would probably be better with a human to master it completly, but I want to use this as an excuse to learn a thing or two myself


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## Cathbad (Dec 15, 2020)

Gerhard Westphalen said:


> I try to estimate around $60/hour which is very low compared to what other engineers charge but is a rate that I'm happy with. Obviously the more complex the music and requirements, the longer it takes meaning a higher rate per minute of music. If your entire score is just 5 tracks then I could get through a lot of music quickly and the price would reflect that. Surround projects with large recorded orchestra and lots of automation plus samples can take a very long time. That would probably be closer to $100/minute of music but even then if you contact other engineers you'll be looking at paying a fortune for that.
> 
> In terms of mastering, my current rate is $60/track with discounts on multiple tracks so you'd probably be looking at around $400 - $500. A little extra for Apple Digital Masters and any alt deliverables. That price is pretty average. If you went with one of the top mastering houses then you'd be looking at paying at least $150 per track.
> 
> IMO the prices that Scoremixer mentioned are too high unless you're working with someone like Alan Meyerson and renting a studio. In all of the projects I've worked on ranging from composers doing their first short to projects with John Debney, I've never charged anything that high.



$60 per hour for a self employed tradesman in most of the 1st world is below viable, in my opinion. Especially for a mixing engineer with relatively high fixed costs and overheads. @Scoremixer suggests a low end fee of 500 pounds and I think this is a reasonable MINIMUM day rate for mixing (my own is €800). Assuming an 8 hour work day, that's 62.50 GBP per hour (€100 per hour for me, which is a bit more but not much). 

Electricians in Canada charge on average between $65 and $130 per hour (source).


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## Scoremixer (Dec 15, 2020)

Gerhard Westphalen said:


> IMO the prices that Scoremixer mentioned are too high unless you're working with someone like Alan Meyerson and renting a studio. In all of the projects I've worked on ranging from composers doing their first short to projects with John Debney, I've never charged anything that high.



Just to clarify, that £1000-2000 tier gets you the A-listers (most of them anyway).

There are plenty of people who'll do good work at the lower end of the scale as well, they just come with shorter credit lists. Once you add up your quoted rates, they're not a million miles away from £500/day.


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## Dietz (Dec 15, 2020)

Haakond said:


> Most of the tracks will have around 15-20 stems, around 2-3 minutes. The only action and fast-paced tracks will be for the battles, around 1-2 mins each. There will be some short stingers (upgrade, battle won etc) that will be 3-10 seconds each.


One thing to keep in mind: "Shorter" doesn't equate with "cheaper" in a mixing engineer's mind. We have to set up all the tracks, and 20 of them means "20" for 30 seconds as well as for 300.

A second paradox is that "less tracks" doesn't always mean "easier to mix". The less we can hide weak tracks behind good ones, the more we have to work on them.

... just food for thought. 

Oh, BTW: Typical rates in Europe will be an in-between of the really customer-friendly offer by @Gerhard Westphalen and the real-world/real-business rates quoted by @Scoremixer .


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Dec 15, 2020)

Cathbad said:


> $60 per hour for a self employed tradesman in most of the 1st world is below viable, in my opinion. Especially for a mixing engineer with relatively high fixed costs and overheads. @Scoremixer suggests a low end fee of 500 pounds and I think this is a reasonable MINIMUM day rate for mixing (my own is €800). Assuming an 8 hour work day, that's 62.50 GBP per hour (€100 per hour for me, which is a bit more but not much).
> 
> Electricians in Canada charge on average between $65 and $130 per hour (source).


Working full time would be around $120,000 per year and that's USD so closer to $150,000. Average salary in Canada is $52,000. Almost everyone under 30 who I know makes $15/hour (CAD). 

There are obviously high initial investments but nowadays I don't really spend more than maybe $500/year for new plugins and updating software and there's nothing really in my setup that can be upgraded other than if I wanted to move to Dolby Atmos. Yes, eventually I'll build a new studio but that'll be part of building a new house so I don't really consider it as a separate expense.


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## Cathbad (Dec 15, 2020)

Gerhard Westphalen said:


> Working full time would be around $120,000 per year and that's USD so closer to $150,000. Average salary in Canada is $52,000. Almost everyone under 30 who I know makes $15/hour (CAD).
> 
> There are obviously high initial investments but nowadays I don't really spend more than maybe $500/year for new plugins and updating software and there's nothing really in my setup that can be upgraded other than if I wanted to move to Dolby Atmos. Yes, eventually I'll build a new studio but that'll be part of building a new house so I don't really consider it as a separate expense.



Ok, perhaps a little adjustment in your business mindset would serve your bank account better.

Those Canadians getting a $52k salary are employed. You're self employed right? So not all of your time is spent working at your hourly rate. Some of it is spent taking care of accounts, advertising, equipment maintenance, pitching for projects, looking for the next gig etc. Employees don't have to do any of that. Their employer does it for them - at the company's expense. That's why employees appear to get a lower hourly rate.

Self employed tradesmen take on those extra roles, and the extra risk, themselves. They gamble that this will let them reach a higher reward than allowing a company to set your duties and salary for you. Sometimes the gamble works, sometimes not. 

Building a new studio is absolutely a separate expense. It's not a hobby room, but a business premises wholly and solely for work use. So it's an allowable business expense you can set against your tax liability. Likewise plugins and gear. They're business tools/supplies used to generate income to cover their costs + however much extra you need to cover your rent, utilities, tax, pension, social & health insurance, transport, clothes, groceries AND your time spent doing the non revenue generating tasks listed above. If you can do all that out of the $60/hour you receive only part of the time then bravo for keeping your overheads so low.


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Dec 15, 2020)

Cathbad said:


> Those Canadians getting a $52k salary are employed. You're self employed right? So not all of your time is spent working at your hourly rate. Some of it is spent taking care of accounts, advertising, equipment maintenance, pitching for projects, looking for the next gig etc. Employees don't have to do any of that. Their employer does it for them - at the company's expense. That's why employees appear to get a lower hourly rate.


I guess the difference is that I don't directly count that as work. I work pretty much all day doing these sorts of things. I may get paid for 8 hours of work daily but actually work 12 hours doing all of the other things mentioned. I don't really mind since there's nothing I'd rather be doing.

A lot of the work that I do is designing and testing different gear that I may or may not ever sell to anyone else and make money off of so technically you could consider that a hobby even if it is gear that ends up in my studio and I use for my work. I don't generally expect to get paid for my time doing these things.

I don't consider the new studio as a separate expense as the house will essentially be built around it and I would be doing this regardless of whether I'm actually making any money in this industry or not. It's certainly not wholly and solely for work use. It'll essentially be the only living room in the house and where I spend my time regardless of whether I'm working or not (sitting at the computer, reading, watching movies, etc.) and my partner also will have his desk set up there where he spends most of his time (not working...). If the studio wasn't there, the house would have no living room. I have very few other costs for running this business and those costs would be exactly the same even if I wasn't making any money from this. Certainly not $100,000 worth of costs that would bring me down to an average salary if I were working full time.

Considering the current state of the economy, if I were working outside of the music industry it would be practically impossible for me to find a job making more than $15/hour. $60 USD is $75 CAD so as long as I'm not spending $60/hour CAD on the overhead, then I'm better off doing this.

Having said all of that, I am starting a separate speaker business and that is going to factor in everything you've mentioned. Production and storage space in the house, tools, utilities, transport, time spent at the hardware store, accountant, legal fees, time spend developing products, advertising, customer support. Future expenses may include large machinery like a CNC, plasma cutter, spray painting room, workshop building, etc which will obviously all factor into the cost.


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## Cathbad (Dec 15, 2020)

I'm certainly not criticising or telling you how to spend your time or run your affairs. And I do appreciate that not everyone wants to go full Ferengi.

But I DO want people to be rewarded commensurately with their skill, and well enough to support a balanced lifestyle with reasonable financial security. 

Someone just tried to hire me to do production sound recording for a whole day's filming for €200, with a 450km drive to get there (and 450km back, coincidentally). I don't believe this could be just ignorance. It's predatory and exploitative behaviour from people in the industry who are supposed to be our partners and collaborators. My opinion is that we should all work together to stamp out this kind of nonsense and reassert the value of our skill and the material we create.


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Dec 15, 2020)

Cathbad said:


> I'm certainly not criticising or telling you how to spend your time or run your affairs. And I do appreciate that not everyone wants to go full Ferengi.
> 
> But I DO want people to be rewarded commensurately with their skill, and well enough to support a balanced lifestyle with reasonable financial security.
> 
> Someone just tried to hire me to do production sound recording for a whole day's filming for €200, with a 450km drive to get there (and 450km back, coincidentally). I don't believe this could be just ignorance. It's predatory and exploitative behaviour from people in the industry who are supposed to be our partners and collaborators. My opinion is that we should all work together to stamp out this kind of nonsense and reassert the value of our skill and the material we create.


I certainly don't think that the way I do things works for everyone and most would not consider it a balanced lifestyle but at the same time, currently I'd have no clients if I charged more in most cases (there are cases where I already charge more such as when doing acoustics consultation work). 

Most of the clients I work with simply don't have the budget to afford any more and I try to work with whatever budget they have since they basically have no other option. Of course I still have to turn down some projects. Honestly, the majority of the time where my time and skills were exploited were when working with/for other industry professionals where they knew very well what I should've been getting paid but chose not to since they knew I wouldn't turn down those opportunities.


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## Cathbad (Dec 15, 2020)

Gerhard Westphalen said:


> Most of the clients I work with simply don't have the budget to afford any more and I try to work with whatever budget they have since they basically have no other option.



That's an interesting point. Most of us try to be flexible, but if the project were any good, it would be able to attract funding. Any project too shit to raise budget isn't something we'd want to be credited on, right? And the time would be more sensibly spent writing an album for a production music library.

It seems that indie film makers in particular can't be bothered to take care of the finance side of what they're doing. They just expect strangers to donate their time, equipment and skill to finish their film for free, for the benefit of the director. If they do manage to raise some budget, they blow it all on visual stuff leaving nothing for sound - just look at how many ads you see for production sound guys, post mixing or sound design, all unpaid.

This obviously doesn't apply to the OP's current gig. Indie game devs are usually a lot more switched on about fundraising, with kickstarters and crowdfunding campaigns in their online gaming communities etc.


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Dec 15, 2020)

Cathbad said:


> Most of us try to be flexible, but if the project were any good, it would be able to attract funding. Any project too shit to raise budget isn't something we'd want to be credited on, right?


Most of the time, I don't think that's true. Many of the artists I work with are just starting out with their first release and are funding it themselves. I recently worked with a 16 year old singer producing her first album. She has a decent following on YouTube but nowhere near enough to make any money from it. She didn't have any money for the project. Her work is jaw dropping considering that she's 16, writes all of her own music (much of it is quite complex), and records everything in her bedroom. Unfortunately, I don't think she'll be making any money from her art any time soon. While her album doesn't sound fantastic (recorded in her bedroom...), it's one of the best projects I've worked on from a more songwriting point of view and the most fun projects I've had in a while. Everyone has to start somewhere.



Cathbad said:


> It seems that indie film makers in particular can't be bothered to take care of the finance side of what they're doing. They just expect strangers to donate their time, equipment and skill to finish their film for free, for the benefit of the director.


Definitely but the composer is really the one who gets screwed over. They know how low the budget is and how much of their time they're donating. Of course they'll try to stretch the budget as best they can but I've found that composers don't typically then try to further screw over the engineer. As long as they're willing to pay an amount that's proportional to what they're making on the project, I try to make it work. We're in the same boat.


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## Cathbad (Dec 15, 2020)

Gerhard Westphalen said:


> Most of the time, I don't think that's true. Many of the artists I work with are just starting out with their first release and are funding it themselves. I recently worked with a 16 year old singer producing her first album. She has a decent following on YouTube but nowhere near enough to make any money from it. She didn't have any money for the project. Her work is jaw dropping considering that she's 16, writes all of her own music (much of it is quite complex), and records everything in her bedroom. Unfortunately, I don't think she'll be making any money from her art any time soon. While her album doesn't sound fantastic (recorded in her bedroom...), it's one of the best projects I've worked on from a more songwriting point of view and the most fun projects I've had in a while. Everyone has to start somewhere.



Youth and student projects aren't what I'm talking about. It's fine to lend a hand to people starting out. People did it for me years ago, so it's my turn to pass it on to young enthusiasts now and it'll be their turn in future. 

My objection is the type of young film makers who produce shorts and want to show them at (expensive to enter and attend) film festivals, hoping to get noticed, hired and picked up for distribution. How many of those "unfortunately we can't pay a fee but we hope to show the film at festivals and you can be in the credits" ads have we all seen? So they can afford to submit their work to festivals but can't afford to pay the composer. Or, they think the film is good enough to get noticed, yet they don't try to use its quality to attract some investment? It doesn't add up, as a business venture. Unless, of course, you exploit the goodwill of contributors by climbing over them to get your claws a little closer to your ambitions...

Very ugly.


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## X-Bassist (Dec 15, 2020)

Haakond said:


> Thanks for your replies!
> I see now that I should have included a lot more information about it, so here it goes:
> I have uploaded a couple of tracks on Souncloud, so you can check it out there: https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/rXPdXGoT21NqhaNk7
> 
> ...


Back OT. I would listen to the soundtracks that Gerhard has mixed, and anyone else in the running, and if your gut tells you yes, give them a crack at a few and see how you like it? Love it? Finish it off with that person.

In the end it’s not about the $. It’s about a working relationship your hoping will continue to the benefit of you both, doing some great work and getting to know people along the way. One project might pay a bill, but one good relationship can fund your life.

Keep listening to mixers here until you find the right sound for what your doing. Mixing is part tech and part art and part passion, but when everything aligns it’s magic. Which is why certain mixers get hired repeatedly.

In the beginning it can take a while to find a person that fits right with what you’re doing, but when you do... I’ve been working with a few directors and composers over 20 years... things start to flow naturally and it gets creative.

Keep listening, you’ll find a very talented guy, old or young, cheap or slightly more expensive, where things click...


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## Mishabou (Dec 15, 2020)

Gerhard Westphalen said:


> Working full time would be around $120,000 per year and that's USD so closer to $150,000. Average salary in Canada is $52,000. Almost everyone under 30 who I know makes $15/hour (CAD).
> 
> There are obviously high initial investments but nowadays I don't really spend more than maybe $500/year for new plugins and updating software and there's nothing really in my setup that can be upgraded other than if I wanted to move to Dolby Atmos. Yes, eventually I'll build a new studio but that'll be part of building a new house so I don't really consider it as a separate expense.



Not telling you how to run you business, but i'm in Canada and have not come across a score mixer who charges less than $100/h. The average is $120-$135 if they mix at their studio and $200+/h if you hire them to mix at a commercial facility.

And under 30 who makes $15/h mixing ? Damn, that is pure slavery  unless the person has no idea what he's doing or a complete newbie, how can one spends years perfecting his craft and end up charging peanuts.


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Dec 15, 2020)

Mishabou said:


> And under 30 who makes $15/h mixing ? Damn, that is pure slavery  unless the person has no idea what he's doing or a complete newbie, how can one spends years perfecting his craft and end up charging peanuts.


That's anyone I know in general. Not working in the music industry. Servers, grocery store employees, cooks, Amazon warehouse workers. Even private music teachers working out of teaching studios I think make around $20/hour. Many of my friends around here have degrees but that doesn't really help them get any jobs at the moment. Even my brother who has degrees in math and physics only recently started working at a higher paying job (rent construction lighting towers) after many years of working at Starbucks. The majority of people I know around this age who make a better living live in the US.



Mishabou said:


> Not telling you how to run you business, but i'm in Canada and have not come across a score mixer who charges less than $100/h. The average is $120-$135 if they mix at their studio and $200+/h if you hire them to mix at a commercial facility.


Find me someone who will pay me $120/hour and I will gladly charge them $120/hour


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## Alex Niedt (Dec 15, 2020)

Gerhard Westphalen said:


> Find me someone who will pay me $120/hour and I will gladly charge them $120/hour


You know how you will never, ever find these people? Charging too little. A mixer charging $20/hour, $100/mix, etc. will never be on the radar of someone seeking out premium quality. You rob yourself of good clients by undervaluing yourself. With that said, if you're charging premium prices, of course your quality, professionalism, etc. must reflect that.

Here was my experience...

Clients when I charged a few hundred: Wanted discounts, often unsatisfied because they didn't realize their production quality wasn't up to par to get the sound they expected, generally a pain to work with

Clients when I doubled my price: Felt like they were getting a bargain, sent great productions that lent themselves to solid final products, professional and pleasant to work with

Generally speaking, the clientele you attract is totally in your hands.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Dec 15, 2020)

Gerhard Westphalen said:


> Find me someone who will pay me $120/hour and I will gladly charge them $120/hour



In Calgary? Not a chance. The bigger production houses in town pretty much have that monopoly, and they mix for international clients. You could totally market yourself internationally though, and probably get the work over time. I believe there's a mastering facility in town that charges around $100, and it's nowhere near world-class. I love scoring for professional live theatre in Canada, they understand artistic merit, and have no problem paying what I'm worth (I've actually felt guilty on a few occasions!). It's too bad many film producers don't understand this.


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## Lumina Studio (Dec 15, 2020)

Haakond said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am scoring a video game that will release in 2022. The reception of the game so far has been great, and we even have a publisher on board. Since the game will release on all platforms, I thought about maybe hiring a mixing engineer to mix to make it sound as good as it can be. I can do it myself, but sometimes things get better when you leave it to others.
> 
> ...


I'll give you one name: JOËL DOLLIÉ









Joël Dollié - Mixing Engineer


The official website of Joël Dollié, mixing and mastering engineer.




joeldolliemixing.com


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## Cathbad (Dec 16, 2020)

Alex Niedt said:


> You know how you will never, ever find these people? Charging too little. A mixer charging $20/hour, $100/mix, etc. will never be on the radar of someone seeking out premium quality. You rob yourself of good clients by undervaluing yourself. With that said, if you're charging premium prices, of course your quality, professionalism, etc. must reflect that.
> 
> Here was my experience...
> 
> ...



100% agree. 

I quickly learned that low rates don't attract more business, just the wrong business. Low rate clients are usually dilettantes who don't really know what they're doing. For them, it's not a piece of work but a hobby or - the dreaded words - a passion project, so they don't respect your time or the boundaries of the transaction. Endless revisions and mission creep and expectations for discounts after the fact are commonplace.

Better to say, if a client wants me/us to put thousands of dollars' worth of equipment and years of training and experience at their disposal, here is what it will cost. Alternatively, they can buy all the gear and learn how to do it themselves or find a student or a hobbyist to do it for free, with predictably inferior results.


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## Joël Dollié (Dec 16, 2020)

It's hard to estimate without more details but if we consider it is fifteen 4 minute tracks and half of them are really light orchestra and the other half full orchestra, You would probably be looking at 3k for a very beginner engineer, maybe 9k for someone good with a few years of experience and possibly 20k+ for engineers with some serious credits under their belt. (considering you just need standard stereo mixes) It also depends where they are located, But mostly on how demanded they are. 

Anyway it just varies too much, so it's impossible to give a narrow range. The only reason I threw some numbers around is just to say that for example there is pretty much no way it would come out decent for under a few thousand dollars. A 60 minute soundtrack is many weeks of work.

In the end, you should make sure that you pick an engineer who did stuff that you like. More money doesn't always mean it's gonna end up better, once you reach a certain price, from what I have observed. You could pay 25k but if the guy doesn't have that much experience with orchestral or mixing libraries (if your soundtrack was made with libraries), he might do a worse job than someone who charges less than half that. So how I would go into this is the following way: 

You know how much you can spend, stick to it and try to get the best engineer you can for that price, based on their work and what sounds good to you. Don't try to save a bit by getting someone else who's clearly not as competent because you will probably regret it.


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## Haakond (Dec 16, 2020)

Thanks for the feedback everybody! I have written down some names here that I will possibly contact in the future. I talked to the devs, and they want to let this happen if we have enough money. There is a plan to launch a Kickstarter for the game too, so we will see how much money we earn there before hiring someone. 
Getting the music mixed professionally is something we seriously consider, so I might contact some of you to make this happen, either for the full soundtrack or a few of the "main tracks"


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## Scoremixer (Dec 16, 2020)

Joël Dollié said:


> Anyway it just varies too much, so it's impossible to give a narrow range. The only reason I threw some numbers around is just to say that for example there is pretty much no way it would come out decent for under a few thousand dollars. A 60 minute soundtrack is many weeks of work.



Totally agree with all you’re saying about the difficulty of estimating rates without having much prior knowledge of the material, but I’ve got to pick up on the idea of 60 minutes of soundtrack being many weeks of work. That’s just not realistic - I’d be afraid that anyone reading this who’s on the fence about hiring a mix engineer for the first time would be rightfully discouraged by this. 

Even on major film soundtracks with several passes of orchestra, overdubs, dozens if not hundreds of tracks of prelays there’s an expectation that an engineer will get through 10 minutes of music per day. It’s a very rare music mix that gets more than a couple of weeks in total, and that’s for the biggest of blockbusters with 100+ minutes of full fat music. Spending many weeks on that process is the preserve of Chris Nolan films. 

For tracks that have only 20 or so stems, all sample-based, mixing 10 mins per day should be a minimum expectation for a composer to have of their engineer.


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## JeffvR (Dec 16, 2020)

I can only comment on the mastering side. I put up a request on SoundBetter.com to master 20 tracks for a soundtrack release (around 30 minutes of music). The prizes varied from $388 to $1500. In the end I decided to go for someone more local who does it for €600. And I know he's good because he mastered a lot of A list artists in The Netherlands. $388 sounds almost impossible cheap so I started to doubt the quality, if there's more budget I might go for someone in the $1500 range. Somehow you expect the $1500 guys doing a far better job, but maybe that's just an illusion.


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Dec 17, 2020)

JeffvR said:


> I can only comment on the mastering side. I put up a request on SoundBetter.com to master 20 tracks for a soundtrack release (around 30 minutes of music). The prizes varied from $388 to $1500. In the end I decided to go for someone more local who does it for €600. And I know he's good because he mastered a lot of A list artists in The Netherlands. $388 sounds almost impossible cheap so I started to doubt the quality, if there's more budget I might go for someone in the $1500 range. Somehow you expect the $1500 guys doing a far better job, but maybe that's just an illusion.


As someone who has spent quite a bit of time in a number of mastering studios ranging from someone with nothing but headphones to the studio that has one of the largest gear collections around, yes, it's just an illusion.

Many of the people charging a very high fee will not pay much attention to their work and just print through their chain. Maybe 15 minutes for a track that will cost you $300. Others who charge next to nothing will spend an hour on a track doing very detailed work. Of course there is everything in between. The cost and the gear that they have doesn't have any direct effect on the quality of the work you'll get.

After having an inside look in the mastering industry, I don't trust most mastering engineers regardless of their stature in the industry. The only real way to assure that what you're getting is the best is have a couple of different engineers work on it and then compare the results. It'll obviously cost a lot but then you'll find someone who you can trust and build a relationship with.


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