What IS Mastering?

cont' from PAGE 1

1) First thing we do is adhere to the opening of the Hippocratic oath which basically states

''DO NO DAMAGE OR HARM TO THE PATIENT ''

I'm kind of paraphrasing, but you get the idea…''the patient'' being your project, and the fact that under no circumstances is your artistic vision to be damaged.

On the contrary, only IMPROVED and ACCENTUATED!

Then we LISTEN, to the whole project at first,and then to individual tracks. After becoming familiar with the material, notes are made. Things that need correction or adjustment are documented. Mastering is often referred to as the art of listening, and with good reason. Even the most minute adjustments to the overall ''sonic picture'' yield huge results. Small inconsequential anomalies in your audio can signal the difference between a sweet, balanced final project, and an unprofessional sounding let down.

Hence critical listening is paramount.

So, you need good ears.

''BIG F*#&^%@G DEAL! ANYONE INVOLVED IN AUDIO NEEDS GOOD EARS!''

…I can hear you say now. Yes, but let me explain the seeming paradox involved in mastering. I'll use an illustration…In the studio you are like a painter, making sure every color and detail is just how it needs to be. This requires you to stand right in front of the canvas, so you don't see the whole accumulative effect of your ''painting and detailing''. This also applies to mixing, although to a lesser degree, because it forces you to stand back a little further and evaluate your ''picture''.

BUT,

in mastering, one has to stand back far from the canvas and make overall improvements and adjustments to the WHOLE picture. Remember, at this stage of the game, any adjustments made to, let's say the bass frequencies for instance, will invariably affect everything.

So here's the paradox.

As a mastering engineer you need to take the holistic approach but still retain the painters ''up close'' perspective so not to alter the original vision. Needless to say, simultaneously performing both of these seemingly opposite tasks is an art in maintaining that precarious balance between the original mix and whatever changes will make it all work and gel together!

So, mastering can also become the art of compromise to achieve balanced results across the board. If, for example, there is a snare hit that's just driving you nut's…be it too loud, or just EQed wrong, we can zone in with frequency dependant compression to EQ and alter it, BUT, that adjustment will also invariably affect everything else in that particular frequency range.

So that perfectly EQed vocal, could end up being compromised.

These are choices and decisions you need to make as an artist or producer…sort of an order of priority.

Using the above mentioned example, I would first find out what the main focus of the song is.

If it is a song centered around, and features the vocals, then that, in and of itself becomes the priority…so tweaking the snare at the expense of the main attraction would not be a wise course of action.

Remember, your target demographic, in this case, radio, won't notice the imperfect snare. They are focusing on the center of the song, which are the vocals, thus not paying attention to slight inconsistencies that you see.

Now obviously mastering can help in some of these problems, but again, remember, every change affects

EVERYTHING…

So we are back to the order of priorities.

This brings us to the next point.

Ideally, the final mix before you leave the studio should be as close to what you want as possible. Remember, there is a very strong correlation between the quality of the studio mix and the final mastered CD. If you take a look at the greatest mastered CDs, you will also find out that the recording and mixing were also exceptional.

There is NO substitute for a well recorded mix.

That will allow the mastering process to bring out the best in your work.

Mastering is NOT the place to fix a bad recording, a bad mix, or to alter that chorus of vocals that are too loud.

Of course mastering can make small changes, but as stated above, every change affects everything else. Mastering engineers will gladly make those tweaks for you, but will also tell you what the compromises are, so it's up to you to determine what you can live with, and what you absolutely need changed. Also a good mastering engineer will be reluctant to perform an action in which ''the cure is worse than the disease''. So, back to our starting point. That is why we LISTEN to your project first, and determine if we can contribute to it. If we cannot, we point out what needs to be addressed! Please read the link for Matering Preperation Guidelines for a surefire protocol you can follow to allow the mastering engineer to be able to apply the full spectrum of knowledge and techniques that will benefit your project the most!