Mastering

“Why doesn’t my song sound as good as other people’s?”

If you’ve got a good mix it will be improved with a great master. Maybe the mix felt fantastic in the room it was mixed in but it doesn’t have the same energy on other playback systems.

A great mix can translate well on other speakers – but a great master will put that final polish on the mix and your music will sound better on a larger range of playback systems.

It is amazing what a fresh set of ears – and a different room and speakers – can do to improve a great mix, and it’s well worth doing. After all, you’re going to release your music for everyone to listen to and you want it to make a statement. It should be the thing that defines your sound, your style and your music.

A good mastering engineer won’t try and force your mix into a pre-determined format. Firstly, if they’re doing their job properly, they will tell you if there are problems with the mix and ask you to remix the song to fix them.

For instance there might be bottom end issues that become apparent when mastered – such as vocal pops or breaths. These issues create very low frequencies that can confuse the sound of the kick drum. It’s much better to have a mastering engineer listen to your mixes, and for you to get feedback and a chance to fix any problems, before you finally release your music to the world.

Your music is going to be around for a long time – even after we’re gone. Think of the songs that we still listen to today and how long ago they were released. That’s why we love classic recordings. They are an archive, a time capsule, a way to be transported back to another time and place. They are timeless and eternal.

Before you release your songs you need to smooth off the lumps and bumps that are an inevitable part of recording and mixing. It gives you the opportunity to take a breath, step back and ask “Does my music stand up alongside these tracks or albums by this artist?”

You are not trying to copy someone else’s style – another artist’s success shows there is something in their music that works. If you get tonally and dynamically closer to that sound then you are some of the way towards your music having that same appeal to your own fans.

Mastering has always been a vital part of the music making process. This is especially true for vinyl, which is increasing its share of physical music sales every year. That’s why mastering became a separate part of the process ever since the early days of recording.

Partly technical – cutting disc lacquers, and partly artistic – choices about changing the tonality and dynamics of the music, it is the stage of the process that ensures your music will sound as you intend it to on a range of playback systems, from top end high fidelity, to headphones, and small speakers in modern electronics.

After mastering you should be able to hear the improvement to your songs. And you should always feel free to ask for a master to be readjusted after the initial masters come to you for approval. This shouldn’t cost you more. After all, you and your listeners are going to be living with the results for a very long time.