Mastering, what is it for? can you make it yourself?, let's be serious...

 

"Trying to master your own mix is like trying to get yourself a haircut."

Here is a synthesized excerpt from an excellent article educational published onhttp://www.monter-son-home-studio.fr. 

 

Mastering is the last step in fixing the sound of music: recording - mixing - mastering. This is the finalization of the title. The mastering phase is separated from the mixing.

 

An unmastered album has no chance on radio or in a selection against a mastered album. A well-mastered album crosses time better by its quality. Never do the mastering in the recording studio: A specialist sound engineer with outside ears is needed to do the job as well as audiophile equipmentvery differentstudio equipment.

 

In truth, Mastering is a mixing operation. When mixing, processes of change of timbre (equalization) and dynamics (audio compression) are applied to each audio track (instruments, voices, synths, etc.). In the mastering phase, these same processes are applied to the entire (mixed) track. Instead of processing mono tracks, a single stereo track is processed.

 

The mastering phase serves to " calibrate " the title so that it corresponds to current market standards. Besides, we can notice that the standards evolve and that a title mixed in the 70s or 80s can seem " missing something " when it is listened to in the middle of a playlist from the 2010s. Is the mixing completely to be reviewed? No, only Mastering. That's why you can find new editions of titles from the 80s " remastered ". Some purists will probably say that these versions are worse than the original versions... it's the "Volume War" or "Loudness War".

 

Mastering also ensures that the title goes " passer " correctly on all listening systems. Indeed, you may have noticed that while your mix sounds good in your studio, it may not sound good on the car stereo, on the stereo in your living room or on the big speaker cabinets. a trendy disco club. After mastering the title, you shouldn't have any unpleasant surprises.

 

If you want to distribute your titles in a professional context, the mastering phase cannot be neglected. Some very creative musicians don't like the current " standardisation " of music and this is a respectable point of view. Just keep in mind that no radio will broadcast your song - no matter how talented - if the mastering does not correspond to the format they expect.

 

Mastering steps:

 

Normalization, Dynamic Audio Compression, Equalization, Spatialization, Analog Tape Simulator, Limiting and Final Boost…

 

the necessary equipment:

 

• very good monitoring speakers: the mastering phase is a surgical process in terms of frequencies and dynamics. To hear the lace of these variations, you have to listen to what you do on the best speakers possible. In professional studios that only do mastering, the Monitoring budget is impressive.

 

• Effects Processors: Speaking of surgeries, use your best gear for the mastering stage: vintage tube compressors, 8-band parametric EQs, and more. If you don't have hardware, it's quite possible to do professional mastering with virtual plug-ins, as long as they sound high-end: UAD plug-ins, Sonnox and SSL emulations .

 

• Listening switch: it is essential to compare its title with the market standard. Thus a listening switch allows you to compare your mastering session with reference titles that have been a hit in your style or with the same type of audience. The listening switch also makes it possible to switch listening to different speaker systems: large speakers, small speakers, computer speakers, listening in mono, etc. The listening switch is the key element that will allow you to calibrate your title so that it passes without surprise on any type of sound system (see article How to Mount your Home Studio)

 

• Time: okay, you don't buy time in a music store... however the most important thing in mastering is to take a step back and that requires leaving yourself some time for reflection. The mastering does not end at 2am after a session of more than 6 hours where you can't hear anything. It's often the next morning or 3 days later that everything finds its place. So give yourself some time to step back before sending your master for CD duplication.

 

Mastering, can you do it yourself?

 

It all depends on the end use:

 

To post an mp3 on your MySpace or your artist site, you can try your hand at mastering yourself, why not... It's an excellent school to strive to find how to finalize your titles yourself, even if you don't have high-end hardware or plug-ins. You will understand and experience the difficulties of the exercise yourself.

 

For a commercial circulation of more than 1000 copies, it is more than strongly recommended to offer your music a mastering in another studio whose sole specialty is this. We can advise you in the choice of a truly professional mastering studio because a jungle of service providers specialize in this sector and frankly do not have the level... It's up to you. ;-)

 

 

Source : http://www.monter-son-home-studio.fr/finalisation-mixage-et-mastering/84-le-mastering-a-quoi-ca-sert.html

 

What does a mastering studio look like?

 

It looks like this: