how much should I be spending to mix/master my tracks?

ideally nothing- at least for the mixing. I wanna eventually get to the point where I can do that myself, but as it stands now, I don't have the expertise, space or time to do either at the level I'd like. I've been making beats for a good minute, but few people have heard em cuz I'm reluctant to let them in their rough stage. now I'm in a position where I can meet some folks I'd love to get my music to, so I'm looking for local mixers and engineers who give my beats the polish they need. what's a reasonable price I should expect to pay for this on a per track basis?

I say educate yourself and save some money.

Some decent monitors, an audio editor and capable mastering plug-ins is all you need.

Learn to mix, learn to master and if you're still crap at it, then pay someone.

Look up some tutorials and cop the MIX ENGINEERS HANDBOOK and/ or the MASTERING ENGINEERS HANDBOOK both by Bobby Owsinski and available from Amazon and other well known places if you look hard enough.

I have one in hard copy and the other in .pdf, both highly recommended.

You're the second person to recommend The Mix Engineer's Handbook... I've been reading Mixing Audio by Roey Izhaki and it's helped me a lot. Believe me, I'd much rather go the DIY route. I'm just concerned about how long it would take me to get my joints to an acceptable level. Time is of the essence.

Also, I've read more than once that mastering is something best left to the pros as it's it's own thing completely. You do both yourself?

its maybe not the answer you want, but i think it really is, spend whatever you are comfortable with.

i mean, mixing / mastering is gonna run you everywhere from 10's of dollars a track to 1000's of dollars a track. you've really got to make the judgement call on who you're paying and what you're paying and what you expect.

i also think that, while it's important to know some mixing / mastering basics, one of the best things you can ever do to your tracks is to hand them to somebody else. i often think that the single most important thing about mixing / mastering is simply the fact that it is now in someone elses' hands. you are likely too attached to your track, an objective opinion is very valuable.

so i wouldn't stress on learning it yourself and doing it all yourself. like you said, time is of the essence and for someone doing this professionally, its not always worth it to stay holed up in the bedroom those extra hours. hand it off, get it back quick, call it done.

seriously though, an extra set of ears is the best thing you can do for your tracks.

I agree with Tapedeck if you really don't want to DIY.

Some good points raised there...

Make sure you can demo examples of their work first and compare rates locally.

word up- excellent advice. I definitely think I could benefit by simply backing off of it a bit. I probably have gotten too attached to them. also, I feel rushed right now and I'm sure that's not the best mindset to be in while learning a new craft, especially one as complex as mixing can be. I'm gonna shop around a have someone else handle these for me. thanks for the feedback, guys.

If you do it yourself, you are still in charge of how you are mixing and mastering your beat.

I think at least mixing is depending a lot on taste and personal preference. Like you'd play a guitar with an amp... some people would tweak the knobs on the amp for a little more bass, other people would tune in a little more mids, etc... all depending on their personal taste and how they perceive a sound with their ears.

If you mix yourself, you'll end up with something that fits your taste, your mood, your ears... same as when you make a beat, you sample what you like, edit samples until they sound right for you, etc.

So think about it... do you want to trust another person with this? Maybe they have a completely different idea of how a "good" mix of your beat should sound. Maybe what they think sounds best is not what you think sounds best.

I believe that mixing is part of making your beats sound how you like them. Mastering is another story maybe...

I'm still shit at both, but hey... practice makes perfect!

actually, I totally agree with you, jibber. in fact, I've had disappointing results the last time I got someone to mix my tracks because they just didn't get what I was trying to do and kept trying to fix things that weren't broken to me.

that's why this time, I've contacted a guy and sent him some reference mixes of beats I love so he knows the sound I'm going for. plus, I've bounced each individual track with the effects I've already included from my own basic mix. I suppose all I really need is someone to make sure frequencies aren't clashing and everything is coming through clearly. from a creative standpoint, it sounds the way I want already. but ultimately, like you said, I think the mixing is part of the track creation itself. that's why I eventually need to learn it myself.