Mastering - Why Is It So Important?

In all my years producing music, there’s been one topic that I get asked about time and time again. (It’s mastering) This topic is widely misunderstood because oftentimes, the term “Master” and “Mastering” can mean different things depending on the context in which they’re used.

So let’s start here…

What is mastering and why should you care?

Simply said, a “Master” is a song that has been signed off on for release. Mastering is the process of preparing and approving a track for that release. It’s usually the final step taken before releasing a track. Before we get into that, let’s quickly go over the journey a song undergoes prior to release. 

Generally, when you take a track from its initial conception to its release, it goes through multiple processes. Most people think of the process as (1) writing, (2) production, and (3) release. While this is certainly a viable process to put out a song, most artists and producers choose to add a step or two between production and release. Most outsource projects to third party engineers to finalise a track. These are usually mix and mastering engineers.

Mix engineers and mastering engineers are artists who specialise in polishing tracks. 

To conceptualise what this looks like, let’s use some food analogies (one because it makes sense, but two because I absolutely love food). Think of writing a song as gathering ingredients for a cake. The production process is putting in those ingredients and adding sugar and spices. Once your batter is put together, it’s time to bake the cake. This is when your ingredients are combined and the majority of what makes a cake a cake is done. This is similar to mixing a track. You’re baking the ingredients together to create one cohesive (and delicious) unit. Once the cake has been made, you then frost it. Mastering is that process of finishing off a track and approving it for release. 

If you’re a fan of baking shows, you’ve probably seen some crazy amazing bakers decorate their cakes in immaculate ways. Some of them carve into the cake and create sculptures with crystals and vibrant colors. Others simply add a delicious layer of frosting that finishes off the cake nicely. This is what mastering is.

Okay Spike… seriously… enough about cake… Just tell me what mastering is!

Fine!

Like I said earlier, mastering is the process of preparing and approving a track for release. There are many elements that go into this. The most noticeable is that mastering makes your track louder. When music is recorded and mixed, it’s usually pretty quiet. That’s because most producers and engineers leave room in the track so that it doesn’t blow out your speakers. The problem is, if the track is so quiet, it’s hard to appreciate it while listening over speakers. A mastering engineer will take the track that your mix engineer has prepared and make sure it’s release-ready by making it as loud in comparison to the other songs you listen to on Spotify or Apple Music (or radio if that’s still a thing).

What else do they do?

A mastering engineer adds the final layer of polish to a song. That can mean a lot of different things. Most of the time it involves some sort of equalisation and adding of colour/tone (in addition to the final step of making the track loud). These are usually subtle adjustments that make your track as polished as it can be. 

So now that we’ve got the concept of mastering down, let’s get practical.

What are your mastering options?

My #1 recommendation is to work with a mastering engineer. Mastering is a delicate art and you’ll get the best results by working with someone who specializes in it. If you’re interested in this, my in-house mastering engineer, Nicholas Di Lorenzo, has a great blog post on how to find and hire a mastering engineer. A professional master will run you anywhere from $50-$200. 

However, I totally get that budget can be an issue! If that’s the case, I recommend using LANDR. Landr is a subscription based AI assisted mastering service that will get your track polished easily and in little to no time! Thirdly, if you want to explore the process of mastering your track yourself, I would look into Izotope’s Ozone Elements Plugin which goes on sale for $29 multiple times throughout the year. Ozone is an AI assisted plugin that can help you get your track sounding polished in just a few clicks!

My last recommendation is IK Multimedia Lurssen Mastering Control which is one of my favourite mastering plugins, efficient and super easy to use with some assisted presets to get you started.

Mastering can definitely seem like a mysterious art at times. Hopefully this blog brought some clarity!

As always, feel free to get in touch with any questions,

Spike