Mixing and mastering of your songs is the final, crucial part.
The most crucial part is creating original stems with the least amount of noise as possible, with a volume level somewhere between -30db and -6db peak. You need to keep below -6db to allow for headroom in the mastering process. This allows us to increase the "loudness", measured in LUFS. There is a good article about it at https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/what-is-lufs-and-why-should-i-care/
If you wish to read the technical information visit AES https://www.aes.org/technical/documents/AESTD1004_1_15_10.pdf
If you're new to the music industry, or have experience as a musician but just don't know the correct way to setup for recording, see our "Recording Tips" blog page for tips on microphone types and positions, recording devices, etc. Starting with a good setup is critical to getting good sound. You also need to have as little background noise as possible.
Only acoustic instruments should be recorded with microphones. Recording a guitar, for example, using an amplifier and a microphone is not recommended. It can be done, but you need to consider the noise levels from echoes/reverbs in the room. Understandably, it is often desired to record the unique sound from the amplifier. However, many amps have a line out port for recording onto a device.
Modern DAWs like Studio One, Ableton Live, etc. have amplifier plugins to simulate many popular amps and can be used to bring that unique sound into the mix. Just let us know in advance what your intentions are, and we will work to accommodate. If you are using amp sims in your DAW, you need to "commit" the stem to audio before sending to us, otherwise the amp sim sound will not be preserved. When committing to audio, do not include any EQ or filtering plugins, only the amp sim necessary to recreate the sound.