Why mastering a song

How to Master Audio. Compressors, Limiters, and Expanders Compressors, limiters, and expanders are used to adjust the dynamics of a mix.

Equalizers Equalizers are used to shape the tonal balance by boosting or cutting specific ranges of frequencies. Stereo Imaging Stereo imaging can adjust the perceived width and image of the sound field. Metering Metering is any visual aid that helps mastering engineers measure various aspects of their mixes, helping them make better decisions about frequency content, stereo spread, levels, and dynamic range. Dither Dither is used in cases when it is necessary to convert higher word-length recordings e.

Step 3: Preparing for Distribution Preparing your tracks for distribution is a crucial step in mastering that results in your listener having the experience that you want them to have.

Learn More About Audio Mastering. Below are a series of helpful resources to get you started on your audio mastering journey. Learn from the pro in Are You Listening? Mastering with headphones.

Excitation in mastering. Automation in mastering. Mix vs. Take a Pro Audio Essentials course for free. Play Now! Learn how to become a mastering engineer with Jett Galindo. Start Now. Master with iZotope. Music Production Suite Pro. Learn more about mastering tools:. Ozone Pro.

Insight Pro. Tonal Balance Control Pro. RX Pro for Music. We make innovative audio products that inspire and enable people to be creative. Most artists just want to make their music and let someone else worry about the tech wizardry that goes on behind the boards.

Mastering studios have state of the art audio equipment and are built to be an optimal environment in which to listen to music, so the engineer is hearing your mix on the best equipment possible. This environment enables them to make accurate adjustments that you might not have been able to hear if you were to try to master on a DAW on your laptop.

We can! Automated mastering is not done by a person in a studio, but rather by a computer program. So, if mastering has traditionally been done by a real human in a room with thousands of dollars of audio equipment, why would an artist want to use an automated computer program instead?

CloudBounce also enables you — the artist — to have direct control over your master. While CloudBounce uses an algorithm to read the file you upload, it has settings artists can use to guide it on what they want in their final master.

The algorithm in the program uses these settings to adjust the levels accordingly. You also get your master files a lot quicker than if you use an engineer. If you have everything else ready to go and want to give your single that final production sparkle, CloudBounce can do that within a few minutes where a mastering engineer might take a week. Mastering will make your final mix sound better, but only if the mix is already good, and only if the mastering engineer is judicious during the mastering process.

The last 20 years of music history have proved this to be the case. Renowned producer Rick Rubin has been at the center of at least two high profile cases of a poor mix being unsalvageable by the mastering engineer. In audio, dynamic range refers to the ratio of the loudest possible part of a recording to the quietest. The higher the dynamic range DR of a recording, the more drastic a difference there will be between the loudest and quietest parts.

This refers to the trend of mastering engineers and even mixing engineers applying increasing amounts of dynamic range compression to a recording so their song is louder than a song by a competing engineer working with another artist. Competing labels then asked their engineers to make their songs even louder, and so it continued, back and forth for over 20 years.

All dynamics in the recording are lost. Clipping results in loud, noisy and even distorted audio; not an optimal experience for the listener. Radio was still the best way to get your music heard by the masses, and record labels quickly discovered that louder songs sold more records. Studios began hiring dedicated "cutting engineers" who were responsible for optimizing tracks for radio playback, and creating vinyl stamps to duplicate the records.

Finally, in , music went digital. With the birth of the CD came a new role for the mastering engineer. In addition to creating a "master" copy for physical media, mastering engineers also became responsible for optimizing audio for playback on a wide range of digital devices and platforms. Mixing and mastering are both stages in the production process, and even share some of the same techniques and tools—but there is one key difference.

Mixing focuses on enhancing each of the individual tracks in a session and combining them into one cohesive mix. Each of the elements should be clearly audible, and work together with the other elements to create a balanced sound. Mastering focuses on enhancing the final mix and preparing it for distribution. Instead of working with multiple tracks, you work with the final "two-track" mix to add the finishing touches and make it sound as good as possible—kind of like a coat of polish after a good cleaning.

Now that you understand the difference between mixing and mastering, let's talk about why it's so important to master your tracks. Mastering is one of the most important steps in the production process, as it ensures that your music will sound its best on different streaming platforms, media formats and devices. In addition to making sure all of the files are in the appropriate formats, mastering engineers are also typically responsible for sequencing and spacing the songs on an album, meaning they make sure all of the songs play back in the right order and have a natural, consistent flow.

Mastering typically starts with removing any technical issues in the recording. Any clicks or pops caused by bad edits need to go, and any hiss or noise needs to be removed. It's crucial that you stamp out these issues early on, as they'll only become more noticeable when you increase the loudness of the mix later on.

Another important aspect of mastering is frequency balancing. Mastering engineers use EQ to adjust the frequency response of a mix to make sure that each element is clearly audible, and that the mix is even and balanced. If there is too much or not enough of one frequency range, it can throw the whole mix out of whack. Mastering engineers use compressors and other dynamics processors to enhance the dynamics of a mix as well.

It's common to use fast peak limiting to give transients an aggressive, punchy sound, while using a slower, gentler device to glue all of the elements together with mix bus compression. It's also common for mastering engineers to use stereo enhancers to make a mix sound bigger and wider. This can help tighten up the stereo image by focusing the low-end in the center of the mix. The biggest thing to remember when differentiating mixing and mastering is that the latter puts polish on the finished product.

In mixing, individual tracks are paid careful attention, ensuring that they sit well for the final stereo bounce. In mastering, a final stereo bounce may be all the engineer is working with!

The lighting may be off, or a smudge on the lens can ruin an otherwise perfect shot. A skilled Photoshop user can touch things up and make sure the photo is at its highest potential. Mastering is an art form in and of itself totally separate from tracking and mixing, though there are some helpful home tips! A mastering engineer or you!