Guidebook: Mastering Audio – The Indie Approach to Produce Pro Recordings

Mastering audio i.e. a song or jingle or even voice clips, without being a professional mastering engineer can be challenging. But with some essential tips and tools, you can achieve great results. Here are ten tips to help you master your songs effectively:

1. Consider Your Destination and Appropriate Loudness Standards

• Understand where your song will be distributed (e.g., Spotify, YouTube) and their loudness standards (typically -11 to -16 LUFS, with -14 LUFS being common).
• Use this knowledge to avoid overly compressing your track, ensuring it has enough dynamic range for streaming platforms.

2. Collect Genre-Appropriate References

• Gather reference tracks in a similar genre and style, preferably in lossless formats like WAV.
• Use these references to guide the tonal balance and dynamic range of your master.

3. Get Yourself a Meter for Mastering Audio

• Use meters to visualize loudness (LUs), frequency content (spectrum analyzers), stereo width (correlation meters), and dynamics over time (loudness history graphs).
• Tools like iZotope Insight provide comprehensive metering capabilities.

4. Start Mastering Audio with Only Three Tools

• Focus on EQ, compression, and peak limiting.
• Avoid over-processing by sticking to these foundational tools, which can effectively shape your sound.

5. Set Level First with Limiting

• Begin with a limiter to set the final level, giving you a clear picture of your song’s loudness potential and how the limiter affects the sound.
• Work “into” the limiter to make necessary EQ and compression adjustments in context.

6. Level Match Your Master to Your Mix

• Compare your master to the original mix at the same loudness level to objectively assess improvements.
• Use loudness meters to ensure accurate comparisons without clipping the mix.

7. Level Match Your Reference Track to Your Master

• Similarly, level match reference tracks to your master for effective comparison.
• Adjust EQ and compression based on how your master stacks up against professional references.

8. Translation is Key

• Test your master on various playback systems (studio monitors, headphones, car speakers) to ensure it sounds good everywhere.
• Make adjustments based on consistent issues across different systems.

9. Monitor Consistently

• Use a fixed monitoring level to make objective decisions and avoid ear fatigue.
• Maintain a secondary, quieter monitoring level to check how your master sounds at lower volumes.

10. Rinse and Repeat

• Mastering audio is iterative. Cycle through the steps quickly, making small adjustments to avoid getting lost in details.
• Take breaks to reset your ears and maintain objectivity.

Bonus Tip: Export and Dither

• When exporting your final master, consider the destination format. For streaming, 24-bit files at the original sample rate are typical; for CDs, use 16-bit, 44.1kHz WAV files.
• Apply dither when reducing bit depth to avoid introducing quantization noise.

Conclusion

Mastering audio or even your own music takes practice and patience. By following these tips and focusing on essential tools and techniques, you can achieve a professional-sounding master that stands up to commercial releases. Experiment, reference, and repeat the process to develop your skills and create great-sounding music.

Read More > YouTube in Active AI Discussions with Major Music Labels – UMG, WMG and Sony to Protect Artists’ Rights