Music Production Mastering Articles
Like a lot of us in music production, I've been through the ringer when it comes to mastering albums. I've worked with great mastering engineers that I watched carefully and compared techniques over the years. I've worked with great mastering engineers and been totally unhappy with the results. Mastering is often portrayed as a mystical art, especially by mastering engineers.
My frustration and dissatisfaction drove me to learn how to do it. I wanted to understand what was really happening and why certain choices were being made. The reality is, it took me years of work to be an acceptable mastering engineer, and has taken me decades since to refine my abilities to something I would consider good. It's not a task for the faint of heart.
And I don't recommend that most engineers and certainly most musicians go down that path unless they are willing to put in the time and study. There are much more productive and creative endeavors you can focus on.
My reason for saying all of that is, while I will occasionally post about mastering topics here, it's intended not as a how-to manual. It's more a document of my experience and my personal approach so that others coming from a similar place might identify and find some answers and moral support.
The big thing is, work with people who's mastering work you've heard and like. There's as much subjectivity with mastering as any other stage of the music production process. Let your ears and taste be your guide. If you like the end result, there are no wrong answers.
And if you're the obsessive type who's going to learn to do it themselves, get ready to invest in some proper full-range monitoring and a well balanced room. It's all guesswork without that.
Mastering Articles
For decades mastering engineers have fought The Loudness Wars. I go into why, what LUFs are, if there are merits to loudness, is the war over, and how I set levels streaming, HD, and vinyl.