CD Mastering Engineers If a recording artist or inspiring musician has any hopes of having their songs played on the radio, they'll need to have their rough mix mastered very well. The best way to do this, is to hire a CD mastering engineer. Professional mastering engineers can make a decent audio mix sound great and a good mix sound completely amazing. There are many different things that CD mastering engineers can do. They will work with the artist to decide what order the songs appear on the CD, and also equalize the volume of the different instruments in each song and across the entire CD. They can also help to add more definition and clarity to the instruments in a song. Then, they will adjust the introductions and ends of the songs, choosing the length of time between the songs and adding crossfades or other nice effects if they need to. The order in which the songs on a CD appear can greatly affect the way the CD progresses when it's played. If similar sounding songs are placed side by side on a CD, it can lead listeners into thinking the artist has a very limited range. It's ultimately up to the CD mastering engineer to work with the recording artist and choose the order of songs on the CD. It's very important that the instruments in a song and the songs on the CD be at an appropriate volume level. Within a song, the different elements must be mixed appropriately in order for the song to sound like it should. The CD engineer can also give clarity and definition to the different instruments in a song. The engineer will also have the task of assuring that the volume levels across all of the songs are the same, in order to help the CD sound more cohesive while still leaving room for dynamics. The CD mastering engineer will also determine how much time there should be between the songs on the CD. They will also fade and crossfasde the intros and endings of the songs to make them have a better flow. For an interesting career, CD mastering engineers is a great choice. They make excellent money, get to work with top artists, and enjoy what they do. If you like music, this career may be what you've always wanted. For those who are already in the profession - it's a job unlike any other out there in the world. (word count 408) PPPPP