NEXT-LEVEL MASTERING

Polish up your tracks to pro level with our essential guide,

Although mastering is no longer a ‘dark art’ performed by hermits in lab coats, the topic is still widely misunderstood. A little boost here, some multiband squashing there, a stage of slammin’ peak reduction to finish, and you’ve just mastered your track! Easy, right?

This is the attitude of an amateur, of course. While many pros use gentle two-bus processing to sweeten and shape a mix, pro musicians and mixing engineers send their mix to an independent mastering guru for a reason. That final pair of ears is a safety net to make sure the end product – be it a single, EP or album – is error-free, sounds sonically consistent among its peers, and is outputted and delivered correctly.

Then there’s the common misconception that two-bus processing will elevate a sub-par mixdown to unreachable heights. It’s not magic, and can’t fix a bad mix – in that case, go back into the project and sort it. Yet even the best mix engineers make mistakes from time to time, and get caught up in the minutiae of multitrack balancing. And that’s where the ‘safety net’ analogy comes into play again – a mastering engineer will keep the big picture in mind, work with the artist to ensure the best result possible, and ultimately help make a good mix great.

This is why mastering is an essential concept that every musician should understand. If you know what’s required to optimise that final stage, you’ll adapt your music-making and mixing strategies accordingly. And if you do want to master tracks yourself, you’ll be aware of the dos and don’ts that the job demands, and avoid common mistakes such as two-bus ‘overcooking’ or mindless processing for the sake of it.

Before we dive in, check out our previous cover features on the topic. You’ll find beginner-level concepts explored in CM212’s Modern Mastering issue, while CM236’s Professional Mastering

Secrets is filled with behind-the-scenes info from the experts at Metropolis Mastering.