When we finish a project, many often wonder, “Gee, could mastering this make it sound like a hit record?” or “Should I spend the money to master this project?” This used to be a much easier question to answer five or ten years ago, but as time and technology marches on, the answer is more complex, as your options are plentiful.
First, let’s start out by explaining what mastering is, and what it does. The art of mastering involves handing over your final mixed material (in stereo or surround formats) to a pro, or “master.” This engineer listens carefully to the music, and talks with you about what you envision for it. Then with loving care, years of experience and lots of expensive gear, makes it sound a lot better!
Mastering is truly an art. You can compare mastering to the editor’s job of taking a rough draft of an article or book and making it into a finished, perfected composition. A mastering engineer is an expert in this final step before a CD is considered complete.
Some people just want the levels of their songs balanced out and the fade-outs tweaked, while others may want the low end to be sorted out and the highs to be opened up. But whatever you throw at the mastering engineer, he (or she!) has a way to make it happen.
Not every mastering engineer does it the same way, some use analog gear, some digital and some mix it up. I personally like to use some of my favorites from the analog and digital world, but everyone develops their style and sound of mastering in their own way. It’s definitely an art form developed by the individual mastering engineer, just as playing an instrument is to a musician.
Now let me state that an experienced mastering engineer will improve almost any project, even if you are very happy with what you have before you give it to one. You see, a real mastering pro knows how to determine what will make your mixes the best that they can be for the audience that you are targeting, and he knows what not to do as well.
Steps to prepare for a successful mastering session:
1.Talk to your mastering engineer well in advance of the session to go over the details of what types of files he uses for mastering. Most can accept just about anything, but it’s better to make sure before you start mixing if possible.
2.Don’t over compress or finalize your mixes. I print my mixes “raw,” which means there is very little compression and gentle EQ. Don’t feel the need to get the same levels as a final mastered commercial release. There will be plenty of ways to get the level you need to be a competitive CD utilizing the skills of the mastering engineer.
3.Use your pre-mastering effects and EQs as an insert on play back, not on the printed file. This means you can listen through the effects, but they won’t be printed to the file so that the mastering engineer will have room to work with your songs.
4.Let me stress this point again…Talk to your mastering engineer beforehand. He will give you plenty of sage advice on ways to get a perfect end product.
OK, so you wanna do it yourself…
Here are a few tips to help you on your way.
1.Don’t be obsessed with level! People have volume controls on every sound system, and I am often surprised how much better a CD sounds that is not super loud. I have heard so many people say, “If my CD comes on and it’s lower than the last CD, people won’t pay attention to it.” FALSE!!! If they like what they hear, they will go turn it up. When was the last time you hated a CD because it was not loud enough? Get real, that’s baloney! It never hurt The Beatles CDs when they came out as reissues. Be obsessive with your song and production, not the volume.
2.Don’t crank the high end up. If you look at a spectrum analysis of a current artist’s CD, you would be surprised by how much high end there is. The best sounding CDs pay closer attention to the midrange area. The reason? That’s where your hearing is centered, and more detail is heard in the upper mids. Also, too much high end is fatiguing to a listener.
3.Listen on as many types of systems as you can, especially iPods and computer speakers. Average out your balances between them, and don’t listen too loud, as that will give a false perception.
4.If you can’t have a conversation while listening to your song with speakers, it’s too loud. The majority of people listening to music do it as a background to daily life, and the level of a conversation is a good gauge of where people set their volume.
5.Check out the presets on your digital recorder or software plug-ins and tweak it from there. Don’t feel that you need to use four plug-ins just because you have four slots to use – maybe one will do the trick. Multiband compressors work well as a global fixing tool, but too much tweaking can really mess things up as well.
6.Try multiple test masters with the same song using different on-board effects, plug-ins or outboard gear and compare them in various places.
7.Let a reasonably qualified friend have a listen and make some suggestions…Maybe even let them have a go at mastering it.
8.Get it out of your hands! Usually at this stage in any project you may be burned out, or just past it, and don’t have any new ideas. Let somebody else infuse some ideas! People are much more creative than equipment!!!
