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Passion is a key ingredient to creating good music. Without it, the artist is never going to put his or her full emotion into the music.

However, this often causes a huge problem. After the music has been recorded and mixed, those who worked on it often fall too closely in love with the finished product.

Long hours slaving away in the studio can make anybody feel like little or nothing is wrong with the masterpiece you've just created.

It's just like an author that writes a novel or a director that creates a movie. After all of that time and work spent on it, nobody wants to hear critical reviews. They've put their heart and soul into it. It's their baby.

Your music is the same way. All of those who have put a lot of time and energy into your music aren't going to be critical enough to catch serious problems.

For instance, maybe there's a problem with the recording quality, the song just does not gel together, or it just does not have the best overall 'feel' your potential listeners are looking for.

Simply put, too often musicians just don't realize these mistakes, until it's too late!

This is why a good mastering engineer is so important. You should think of your mastering engineer as the final quality control check by 'fresh,' skilled and independent ears.

It's less about simply the processing and more about making changes based on a final and objective look at what you've created.

Only after the engineer has given your music a fresh look and discussed potential problems with you are any adjustments made.

In other words, the mastering process revolves around the objective look at your music.

This means it's impossible for anybody else who has worked with you during the creation of your song to not be biased (even if it's only slightly ' like for the mix engineer for example). They've heard the arguments for why the music is the way it is and worked hard to make it that way ' everybody, but the mastering engineer is emotionally invested.

This also means you should be talking to your mastering engineer throughout the entire process to ensure you deliver the best possible mix for the engineer to work his magic.

Additionally, you should deeply consider all of the feedback the engineer gives you.

Remember, he is giving you feedback based on years of experience and knows what he's talking about ' because he's 'heard it all' before.

Your mastering engineer should be somebody you trust to give you the right feedback to bring-out the best in your music.

The bottom line is that the objective view of a good mastering engineer offers can mean the difference between the success and failure of your record. It's what catches flaws and helps gear your music toward a positive direction.