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Mastering demystified + some tips... I thought I would prepare a post about mastering audio and what it is and isn't and pass on a few tips
Once you have mixed your tracks the next stage is mastering.
Mixing is balancing all of your tracks together to make a stereo interleaved 2 track file. Traditional mastering works with this stereo 2 track master file.
I have just paid for a mixing engineer why should I get my music mastered?
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Well the mix room may not have had optimized acoustics and very high resolution monitors and so a specialized room and accurate monitoring in a mastering studio will be able to address overall tonal issues missed in mixing.
(As an example I use PMC IB1 monitors http://www.production-room.com/pmc/pmc-ib1s/)
Coupled with the ears of a very experienced engineer you get a second opinion if required and a fresh set of ears on your mix away from the pressures of the mix room. During the mix stage overall balances will have been carefully chosen and the dynamics of the track will have been concentrated on. Mixing is often performed under some time pressure and sometimes edits, extraneous studio noises, thumps, pops and other glitches can creep into the mix un-noticed, in mastering these sonic issues are identified, advised on and rectified. And if the music has been produced in a home studio again the acoustics may have been far from perfect.
Why does pricing for mastering vary so much?
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Some companies have very high overheads, high rents, loans on equipment and are using top name mastering engineers who demand higher rates. Then at the other end of the market the bottom line is there are chancers operating in the market, many recording and mix studios are having a tough time out there and are offering mastering services, it's a mine field don't get scammed , so be very careful when someone advertises incredibly cheap rates for mastering, ask yourself..
What is the experience of the engineer?
What equipment are they using?
What monitors are they using?
How well acoustically treated is the mastering room?
Can the correct attention to detail be taken for the rate being asked?
Can the engineer spend time uniquely processing your music for the rate being asked?
I suggest always getting a free preview from a couple of mastering studios
so you can hear the differences.
What is the ultimate point of mastering?
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Bring a number of mixes together as one product (especially if mixed on various systems/studios)
Insertion of sub code data to receive your royalties.
Insertion of CD Text and Barcode information.
Add fade ins and fade outs and space the music tracks on disk.
Quality control check on your spectrum through an accurate
room and monitoring system.
To subjectively improve the sound quality of your mixes if necessary.
To correct common problems in frequency response.
To correct/advise on mix problems which may cause playback
problems.
To increase perceived punch and if desired loudness with
least amount of artifacts introduced.
If requested, critique of existing mixes.
Increase likelyhood that your CD/DDP master duplicates/replicates at the plant correctly and has a technical contact.
To say your music has been mastered alludes to the fact that you take your musical output seriously.
To maximise compatibility across a variety of playback systems, such as nightclubs, radio broadcasts and online playback.
If requested to subjectively colour the music, warm it up, increase depth,add body, add a sense of fullness or round it out, a skilled mastering engineer should be able to interpret what you mean and what will enhance the music.
And lastly, simply to present your music in it's best light and make your music sound as good as possible.
What is stem mastering?
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Stem mastering is relatively rare and only happens if there are continued issues of balance, it is probably used in less than 5pct of mastering jobs.Stem mastering is a hybrid of mastering and mixing, it takes exported files of grouped instrumentation i.e. drums, bass, guitars, synths, vocals (normally stereo files with the mix effects included in the files) and offers further flexibility in tweaks that the 2 track does not afford. Stem mastering is only required if there are issues with mix balance or if the artist if not 100pct satisfied with the mix balances achieved at mix stage.
What file format is best for sending to a mastering engineer?
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24bit resolution .wav or .aiff is preferable at your project/session sample rate.
(check the export/bounce window of your DAW for the "Bit Resolution" 16bit is ok (but not optimal)
It is preferable to do the following when sending your music :
1)Make sure the mix is not peaking above zero (clipping) this is identified by your DAW output meter exceeding zero (0dBFS)
2)Remove any limiters or compressors from the stereo bus (making sure that this does not make point 1 happen), it is ok to leave the compressor if it is deemed an essential part of the overall sound character of the mix.
It is not a good idea to request mastering of an MP3,Ogg Vorbis or WMA file(unless this really is all you have)as these are compressed file formats and have lost some of their sonic quality as the file size has been reduced.
The best sounding masters come from 24 bit .wavs or .aiffs.
How do I send my music to be mastered?
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Check with your engineer, but I have had great success with www.sendspace.com (free up to 300MB) and www.yousendit.com (free up to 100MB), both sites have a desktop upload application which is worth installing as the upload speed is around 30pct faster.
I hope this has helped people gain some insight and avoid a few pitfalls, do not hesitate to call for a friendly chat if you would like further information or a free mastering preview.
cheers
Barry
http://www.masteringmastering.co.uk/
safeandsoundatgooglemail.com (at being @ with no gaps)
or tel. (0)7810-271371
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