Why Master?

What is mastering?

Mastering is the final stage of audio engineering, following the recording and mixing production stages, immediately before manufacturing and distribution. It provides an opportunity to ensure all the tracks across an album sound balanced, creating a stylistic cohesion so that when played through, an album sounds like exactly that—a tightly-knit collection of related tracks, rather than a random assemblage of disparate elements. A well-mastered album will sound great on all formats, on all playback systems.

So what does a mastering engineer do?

A mastering engineer employs many techniques and processes during a session in order to achieve optimal results, maximising the track’s sonic potential. It is a combination of the skilful use of these processes, in conjunction with the engineers carefully honed hearing and professional experience, that makes the mastering process so effective.

Every project has unique requirements, but some of the more common processes utilised include:

• Equalisation: to ensure every track is spectrally balanced, from sub-bass to treble, as well as creating a natural album-wide cohesion from track-to-track, so the album flows effortlessly.
• Compression: to tie together the whole mix, bring out depth and detail, and occasionally reign-in unruly peaks.
• Limiting: to optimise track headroom, increasing the overall track level for a competitive loudness, limiting peaks without distortion or unduly affecting the track’s punch.
• CD compiling: introducing necessary PQ codes (track markers), gaps and fades/crossfades between tracks.
• Writing UPC/EAN codes into the CD, as well as adding ISRC codes for each track.
• Burning to CD at a low speed, ensuring a minimum of C1 BLER errors (and no C2 errors) for a high quality Red Book audio CD pre-master, ready for replication.

Some less common processing techniques may include restoration/noise reduction, mid-side processing, an element of harmonic generation, multiband compression or dynamic expansion.

How will this help me?

As we live in an increasingly competitive commercial landscape, you need to give your work every possible opportunity to succeed. You’ve dedicated countless hours of impassioned effort to meticulously crafting and perfecting your art. Having your music professionally mastered is a competitive advantage, and ensures that your music is received at its very best.

Mastering also creates a final opportunity for quality control before your music is released, and in our DIY age of sole songwriters and producers, provides essential objective input. After all, it’s easy to lose objectivity while working on your own on a piece of music in your own studio.