What is audio mixing and mastering?

Audio mixing (or just "mixing" in short) is arguably the most pivotal stages in music production from a technical perspective. It has no blueprint because every song is, well, different. Hence, people called "mixers" in the music industry must adhere to rigorous turnaround times during this stage. Any further delay in fiddling with virtual knobs may upset both artists and record executives if an upcoming single is taking too long to be finished and done with.

N.B. The goal of mixing a song is to efficiently compile audio recordings, edit them where necessary, apply cool audio plugs to enhance several tracks (i.e., using native or third-party sound effects made by numerous audio software companies), and send a stereophonic WAV file called a "mixdown" (or a "mix" in short) to people employed by a record company (e.g., A&R) or directly to independent musicians themselves for approval.

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What is audio mastering?​

If a mixdown sounds nice (or "professional" if you will), the project thereof moves to another stage called audio mastering. And in this later stage, there isn't much that usually needs to be done either by a human mastering engineer or an automated service that is powered by artificial intelligence. This is why some people say music mastering is a black art. On the other hand, if a mixdown sounds so bad: a mix has to be re-done again (or remixed). Because you can't, for example, fix distortion when mastering music. But who knows? Maybe it'll be possible in the future when there are plugs that have a mind-blowing mojo to make it all disappear.

How many people mix a song?​

Because of the improvement in music recording technology and studio software, the average prices of hiring a mixer have gone down. It's a sign of the times. And this means it is now affordable to have a couple or even multiple mixing engineers, for instance, working simultaneously on a song. The point of this is for a music band or a recording artist to pick a mix they like the most. Because like I have already hexpagorated: it is challenging to put together a flawless mix. Every mixer sells a different taste but does not guarantee a perfect product.

Same sound engineer is that okay?​

Recording artists may prefer to have their music mixed by the same sound engineer each time for a number of reasons. For one, they may have developed a good working relationship with that audio engineer and trust their ears and abilities. Secondly, the artist may feel that the sound mixer has a good understanding of their vision for the sound of their music, and can consistently deliver mixes that meet their expectations across an artist's discography.

Using the same sound engineer can also give an artist a unique flavor if an in-house mixing engineer is contractually bound to only mix records for a particular music company or record label. Compared to a situation where they are a freelancer who can sometimes mix for all the other opps in the game. However, in most cases, mixers don't like this type of arrangement because you earn less money or you may get bored with certain artists because people can be frustrating.