Just what is Mastering? I get this question all the time. Mastering is a vital part of the recording process. It’s basically the process of preparing the final mix of the recording into the (Master) which is the source from which all copies will be produced (via methods such as pressing, duplication or replication). Do I really need Mastering? What I tell my clients is that if they are still working on a project and have more songs to add, or if they are just going to send the songs off for copyright, then hold off on this right for now. But if they are going to realease the songs for sale and publication, then you want your music to be heard in all it’s glory! If you are only going to release a single then you want to master that one song. If you are going to release and entire album, then you should wait untill the album is finished because an important part of the mastering process is to maintain the consistancy and flow across the whole album. A mastering engineer can do a better job if he or she are given all the pieces of the puzzle (songs) so they know what they are working with up front and not just a song here and there. The exceptions are when an artist just wants to release a single and doesn’t have a whole album ready. You still want to master that one song.
The job of a Mastering engineer, is to enhance the music that has already been recorded and mixed to elevate the quality of the recording to prepare the music for distribution. Some Mastering engineers choose to use vintage analog equipment, digital software plug-ins, or sometimes a combination of both. They use their ears and knowledge to identify what is needed in a specific circumstance and employ specialized tools that are designed to be able to specifically target any problem areas and correct them. When you employ a mastering engineer you are not just buying the use of a special piece of equipment they own, but also their trained ears and experience they have garnered over the years.
-Eliot Slaughter (Slaughter Sound Music)
Mastering breakdown and how to prepare your songs for Mastering
• Get The Best Mix Possible of Your Songs
• Make Sure Your Songs Are Not Distorting.
• Keep The Volume Levels Moderate – Let The Mastering Engineer Bring Them Up!
• Do Not Add Any Compression On The Master Bus Fader
• Road Test Your Mixes – Check Them Out In Your Car or Phone and different systems
• Do Not Attempt To (Pre-Master) The Songs Yourself – Often inexperienced engineers introduce distortion in the music
This is an example of how a digital waveform should appear visually in your recording software. This waveform has a good amount of signal, but not too much where there may be possible distortion. You can visually see the peaks and valleys of the energy of the waveform, but it is not so loud to where it is slammed up against the outermost extremes, meaning going all the way to the edge of the box and being squared off. Usually when you see this that means that there is digital distortion present. You need to avoid this at all costs. The visual representation of the sound waveform should “feather out” from the middle, but not touch the edges of the rectangle.
This is an example of another waveform that was recorded a little too loud and most surely has distortion. This waveform is going to sound louder and have more energy, but it’s going to have digital clipping which is not desirable and sounds irritable. Different genres of music have different requirements however. An energetic dance track is going to appear thicker like this example, but the problem with this track is that it is pegged out all the way to the extremes and is actually chopped (squared) off by the boundaries. It is possible with the right type of plug-ins and techniques to get this same type of energy but still have the waveform feather out at the extremes before it is distorted. This is where the experienced Mastering Engineer comes in. He or She can get the volume up loud to compete with the other artists in that genre, but at the same time keep it clear.
