What is mastering?  It’s what happens to your music after you’ve finished recording and mixing it.  This includes:

  • Arrange tracks and spaces between into their final order
  • Perform any minor edits that may be required
  • Remove noise
  • Adjust levels
  • Sweeten tracks by proper application of equalization and compression
  • Adjust ambiance or stereo width as necessary

This is of course an over-simplified list.  My good friend Steve Turnidge wrote a book explaining the mastering process in great detail which is about to be released.  He’s a very talented guy,  so if you really want to make your music and studio recordings shine I highly recommend you check out his desktop mastering book.

 

Desktop Mastering Book

Update:  Here’s a video of Steve explaining how audio production is like pie.  Sweet, delicious pie.

Did you find this article interesting or useful? Why not share it!