Mastering in software Feature MT

MT Feature Master your music

Mastering is the vital last step in the production process, and with so many software
solutions around, its easier than ever to get involved. Hollin Jones explains all
he evolution of music technology in recent years has seen mastering,
once seemingly the most mysterious of processes for the uninitiated,
become something that almost any producer can do for themselves.
Thanks to powerful computers, advanced applications and plug-ins,
the tools needed are now far more accessible than they used to be.
Plus theres a greater
understanding of what
mastering is and how to go
about it. It does, of course,
remain as much of an art
form as it ever was, and
simply having the tools is
meaningless if you dont
know how to use them or you lack the musical judgement to make the right
creative decisions.
In truth, with a little guidance most people can create great-sounding masters,
and the good news is that your DAW provides almost all the tools you need to do
so. There are some specialised suites and plug-ins that will make your life easier
if you have the option of using them, and a decent set of monitors and a
sympathetic listening environment are also crucial to any mastering session,

Witth just a little gu

uidanc
ce
most peop
ple can crea
ate
great-soun
nding ma
asters

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MT Feature Mastering in software

regardless of whats going on inside the computer.

But the great part for producers of any level is that
mastering in software is now accessible to all.
What were going to do is take you through the
process, from mixdown to selling your music online,
and show you the key stages youll need to go
through. As with any creative process theres the
caveat that every piece of music is different and
needs to be mastered according to its own unique
characteristics, but underlying this is a common set

Every piece of
music is different and
needs to be ma
aste
ered
according to its own
ch
haracteristics
of techniques that will help you get a great, radioready sound.

Blue Cat Audio makes some

excellent analysis and metering
plug-ins that provide an
amazingly detailed view of
whats really going on inside your
audio signal.

What is ma
Wh
mast
ster
st
ering?
Before talking about how to master audio its
important to understand what the term actually
means. When you work on a track you are
concentrating on recording, editing, programming
and arranging it, and when you come to mix it
whats important is the relative balance of all the
different elements. So youre EQing the guitars a
little here, automating the vocal a little there and

adding reverb so that everything blends together,

and so on. What youre not doing at any of these
stages is worrying very much about the gain and
power of the track as a whole. Of course you want it
to be loud enough, but during mixing your only real
concern as far as the master fader goes is that
nothing is clipping or peaking and nor is the master
level too quiet.
The goal of mixing is to get the perfect blend of
sounds, and the final step of the production process
is mastering. Here you take your mixed-down stereo
file (or possibly some stems, though this is a little
more complex) and process it as a whole using
specific kinds of effects to try and achieve a solid,

MT Technology Who needs record labels?

Its never been easier to sell your own music online, with more
services than ever enabling you to have a presence on major digital
music stores such as iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and others. As well as
getting your music into these
stores they also usually provide a
centralised hub for managing
earnings from your music and
downloading sales reports, so,
for example, you can see which
stores are performing the best
and in which regions of the world
youre selling the most.
Although services like these
will rarely screen music based on
genre (unless its a very genrespecific service, of course), there
are audio quality barriers to
entry. These arent hugely strict
(any halfway decent production
ought to be sufficient), but
producing a good master will
help a lot with the saleability of
your music. Digital distribution
services are likely to reject

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anything thats ridiculously quiet, or that has digital clipping

anywhere in it.
There are a fair few of these services around and most charge a
one-time fee for uploading your
music. Some charge an ongoing
admin fee, so look for one that
doesnt unless youre sure you will be
earning a decent amount from sales.
Mondotunes.com is pretty good
and only charges once, and you
should also look at CD Baby, Ditto
Music, and ReverbNation. Of course
you can sell music yourself using the
excellent Bandcamp.com, which has
become the go-to self-publishing
platform for musicians, and also
showcase your stuff on SoundCloud.
Theres never been a better time to
sell your own music online, so its
vital to get the best-sounding results
in order to maximise sales potential.
MondoTunes is one of the better digital
distribution services as it only has a one-off
initial charge.

Mastering in software Feature MT

MT Step-by-Step Mastering a track using Ozone

Load up your stereo mix in a DAW and

create an instance of Ozone. Start with
a preset that sounds close enough to what
you want, and then make the necessary
tweaks. You can cycle through presets while
auditioning the track, and dont be afraid to
try one or two whose names might not
automatically match your style of music.

01

Go through each processing stage and

activate the ones you want to use, setting
parameters as you go. Here we have dialled in
some EQ to pull specific sounds up in the mix a
little. Using a wide Q value for an EQ point
creates a broader EQ curve and a narrow Q
value means that only a very precise frequency
is affected.

02

powerful gain level and an EQ curve that perfectly

sweetens the signal. The aim of mastering is to make
the track sound as good as it possibly can on all the
playback devices on which it will be listened to.
As you can imagine this is something of a tall
order since there are many possible ways to listen to
music: from a car radio and phone earbuds, to
high-end hi-fi systems and everything in-between.
Nevertheless, if you get your master right you will
achieve this seemingly impossible task. Mastering is
the very last step before your music is released to the
world, which is why its so vital to get it right.

Star
St
artt wi
with
th tthe
he m
mix
ix
A lot of producers, even some at the top of the
industry, now work almost entirely in-the-box, which
means that music is started, worked on and finished
without ever leaving the computer. This has a
number of benefits, not least that it greatly reduces

Tech Terms
OA/BING
The process of temporarily
muting processing to hear
the original version of the
signal and judge how you are
changing it. Also applies to
comparing your work-inprogress with commercially
mastered material to help
decide if youre heading in
the right direction.
OSTEMS
Groups of tracks that bear
some relation to each other,
eg, drums, guitars or vocals.
Stem mastering enables you
to alter the balance of these
elements during mastering,
which isnt otherwise
possible if you have a stereo
file to work with.

The Maximizer section is where the

limiting takes place, and here you
should set your output level to 0dB or -0.1dB.
Then use the Threshold and Margin sliders to
drive the input level up against the limit to
squeeze more gain out of the track. Use your
judgment and leave some dynamic range so
the track isnt being squeezed too hard.

03

the amount of physical equipment you need to do

your job. For those of us working in home or project
studios its very useful to be able to do everything on
one setup.
All major DAWs, such as Cubase, Logic, Pro Tools
and Reason, now make mixing in-the-box a powerful
experience. Although its possible to layer up lots of
plug-ins on modern systems, its strongly advisable
to separate the mixing and mastering processes
because they have two distinct and different aims.
Mixing is about balancing the elements of a track,
and mastering is about affecting the overall sound
once the mix is done. You will probably spend a fair
amount of time on your mix, and possibly go slightly
mad from listening to the same track hundreds of
times, so its a very good idea to leave a little space
between the two processes. Have at least a night off,
preferably a couple of days, before you come back
and start mastering. Its also a good idea to master
tracks in the same sessions if they are destined to
end up on the same album so theres an overall
coherence to the sound.
What you should end up with after a mix session
is a track or a bunch of tracks that sound well
balanced and hang together nicely. You might have
also already used a little master buss compression
during mixdown, which is a good trick to give a kind
of audio glue to your mixes and magically bind
everything together.
When you export a mixdown you will have a few
options. The most common technique is to export a
stereo audio file at the same quality as the sessions,
which might typically be 24- or 32-bit, and any
sample rate from 44.1, 48 or even 96kHz. Dont start
reducing quality during mixdown, as its much better
to keep everything at maximum and compress web
versions and so on much further down the line.
Some producers will mix down a collection of
stems for mastering and this is technically fairly easy

IK Multimedias T-RackS is a self-contained mastering suite whose

modules also work as plug-ins. It has a nifty loudness suggestion
feature so you can master appropriately for a specific genre.

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MT Feature Mastering in software

MT Technology On the move? You can still master!

Mastering hasnt just made the leap from professional to home
studios, its now even possible on iOS too. There have been advanced
DAW apps on iOS for a couple of years and its possible to use insert
effects in those, just as on your own desktop, to perform mastering
tasks. Cubasis, Auria,
GarageBand, NanoStudio and FL
Studio Mobile HD are just some of
the apps that will enable you to
do this. With advanced
technologies being developed for
iOS all the time, things such as
Audiobus and Inter-App Audio
now enable you to stream audio
between apps without having to
export it from one to the other.
Perhaps the most interesting
development has been the
release of a couple of dedicated
iOS mastering apps. Positive Grid
produces Final Touch (10.49), an
excellent iPad-based mastering
solution with a slick interface
that has a maximiser, pre- and
post-EQs, four-band dynamics,

stereo imaging, reverb and dither, and is perfectly optimised for the
touch interface. Far more advanced than you might expect, it has
detailed controls for every aspect of the mastering process as well
as great metering and comprehensive import and export options for
putting music directly online.
Alternatively, an app called Audio
Mastering, also for iPad and priced at
8.99, has a more scientific interface
but is nonetheless very powerful. It
has a parametric EQ, stereo imaging,
multiband compressor, reverb, stereo
imaging, maximizer, spectral analyser
and more, and has basic and
advanced control modes.
Just as with your computer you
will want to use a proper audio
interface and serious monitoring in
order to get the best possible results,
but its interesting to know that you
can now master on iPad using very
similar tools to those that you would
use in your studio.

Masteriing is also possib

ble in
n
you
ur DAW by creating an au
udio
track and using inse
ert effe
ects
to do by using mixer grouping and batch exporting
from a DAW.
Stems are groups of tracks that all have a common
theme as defined by the producer, so for example you
might export drum stems, guitar stems and vocal
stems for mastering. The idea is that this affords you
more flexibility during mastering because you are
able to vary the levels of the different stems (which
you cant do using a stereo file of the whole track),
effectively tweaking the mix even after mixdown.
Its an interesting approach, although it does add
an extra layer of complexity to the mastering stage. If
youre fiddling around by altering stem levels you
might get bogged down in changing the mix instead
of focusing on the mastering processing. Technically
its not so different from stereo mastering, its just
that you load up four or five synchronised audio
tracks and route them all through master effects
instead of just the one. Potential problems can arise
from giving yourself too many options, so consider
whether you trust yourself enough to get the mix
right and use a stereo file, which is usually simpler.
Of course if you are mastering material that has been
mixed by someone else, getting stems will give you
more flexibility in the event of a poor mix.

Starti
St
ting
ng tthe
he process
You can master in various different kinds of software
since its really just a case of loading up an audio file

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Using master buss compression,

such as here in Reason 7, can
help to glue a mix together and
mean that less compression is
required at the mastering stage.

Final Touch is a dedicated and powerful

mastering app for iOS.

and running it through some effects. As you might

imagine, though, some apps are better than others. A
simple wave editor that can load plug-ins will do in
a pinch, but a pro audio wave editor is preferable
because it will usually have a more efficient way of
handling plug-ins, looping, metering and the like.
Steinbergs WaveLab for Mac and PC is designed
specifically for mastering, and Sonys Sound Forge is
another excellent choice both have some great
built-in processing and editing tools. Sound Forge is
now available for Mac too, though it is rather
different to its PC sibling.
Mastering is also possible using your DAW by
simply creating a single audio track and then using
insert effects on that channel or the master buss to
process the mixdown that you import. Any major

Mastering in software Feature MT

DAW will enable this, and as youre not going to be

using any MIDI or arrangement tools the only really
important thing to do before you start is make sure
the project settings match those of the audio you are
importing so that no unexpected format conversion
takes place. Although the vast majority of mastering
effects come in plug-in format there are some
dedicated mastering apps as well, probably the most
complete of which is IK Multimedias T-RackS CS,
which has some excellent tools and is a staple of
many peoples mastering setups.
Its quite possible to master using the bundled
plug-ins that come with your DAW, though these will
of course vary in quality depending on how high-end
the software is. The core effects you will need are
compression, EQ, limiting and ideally some stereowidening and metering tools as well. The major DAWs
such as Cubase, Logic, Pro Tools and the like come
with most of these. Others can be added for free, but
if you are doing serious mastering its worth looking
at some more heavyweight plug-ins. Suites such as
iZotopes Ozone or some of Waves plug-ins are great,
and not just for mastering but for general tracking
and mixing tasks as well.

Sque
Sq
ueeze
e th
the so
soun
und
d
Theres no strictly defined order in which to start
processing your master but many producers like to

FabFilters Pro-L is a great

limiting plug-in that can be used
to squeeze the maximum
amount of power out of your
tracks without crushing them.

Tech Terms
ODITHERING
Changing the bit depth of
audio, say when mixing down
from 32-bit to 16-bit, can
introduce distortion into the
signal. Dithering adds noise
thats more or less inaudible
to our ears in an attempt to
minimise this.
OGLASS MASTER
An increasingly outdated
concept, the glass master is
the master copy of a digital
album that is used to press a
large number of CDs from.
Your pristine, full-quality
digital files that result from
mastering fulfil much the
same role.

begin with compression. If you have applied master

buss compression during mixdown you may want to
go a little easier during mastering so as not to
over-compress or pump the sound and risk sucking
the musicality out of it. Used carefully, compression
is an excellent way of pulling together the louder
and quieter parts of the signal to create a more even
feel, ensuring that quiet bits arent inaudible and the
loud bits dont deafen you. Listen to any track where
a singer practically whispers one line then screams
the next and yet both seem weirdly about the same
volume: thats compression doing its thing.
With mastering you want the compression to glue
the whole signal together and smooth out the peaks

Parallell compress
sion ca
an
bee
ef-u
up yo
our tracks an
nd gre
eatlyy
in
ncrease pe
erceived loudne
ess

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MT Feature Mastering in software

and troughs but without sounding artificial. As

such its usually better to apply a relatively gentle
amount with a low-ish ratio and an attack time thats
not too quick. When you apply a compressor across
the whole signal it has to deal with everything from
the bass to the crash cymbals, so using a decent
quality model is preferable.
Singleband compression is common but you can
also use multiband compression if you feel confident
enough. Multiband compressors enable you to set the
crossover points and compression levels for several
frequency bands independently, so you can effectively
pull different bands up or down selectively. Though
different from EQ this can be a very useful trick
because it helps you to deal more effectively with
rogue groups of sounds. For example, if the bass is
too loud in the mix, using EQ to take it down might
lessen the power and impact of the track, but using
multiband compression to control it serves to level it

With your audio

glued togetther by
compre
ession,
sweeten and balance
th
he sound with EQ
off rather than knocking it out and should also help it
to blend with any nearby frequencies.

Beco
come
me tthe equ
qual
alizer
With your audio glued together by compression its
time to use EQ to sweeten and balance the sound.
You will invariably find that a little EQ during
mastering can really help, even for a track that has
been mixed well. A parametric EQ is a good choice as
it provides a nice visual representation of the EQ
curve and will have multiple points and Q controls.
The aim of mastering EQ is to pick out certain
elements of a track and then either back them off or,

Tech Terms
OMULTIBAND
Any processing that works
across several frequency
bands, usually with
adjustable crossover points.
Compression and EQ are the
most common multiband
types and are both used
extensively in mastering.
OMASTER BUSS
The stereo output of your
DAW through which the whole
signal passes. During the
mastering process this is
where you would normally
place the effects, although
they can also be used as
inserts on your single audio
track if you are only working
with one track at a time
instead of stem mastering.

A good parametric EQ will serve

you well for mastering. If your
budget stretches far enough
then Steinbergs Portico 5033 EQ
is an excellent choice.

DAWs on the iPad such as Auria have advanced insert effects sections
that you can use for mastering on the move.

more usually, enhance them by pulling their

frequency up a little. The Q settings of a parametric
equalizer are particularly useful here because they
control the width of the area around the EQ point
and thus the amount of frequency to either side that
is affected.
So to perform a broad boost to the lower mids,
for example, you might use a wide Q value and a
gentle rise in the gain. To isolate a single sound such
as a guitar, use a narrow Q value and pull the sound
up or down, leaving similar sounds to either side
relatively untouched.
As good as your mixdown is you will always find
small improvements that can be made at this stage,
especially when the other mastering effects have
changed the character of the sound in their own
ways. Because you are applying an EQ curve across
the whole track you can control the feel of the
soundstage much more easily. There are some
commonly used techniques here in addition to
sweetening the sound, such as performing a very low
bass roll-off to deal with any sub sounds, and either
adding or cutting very high frequencies to add
sparkle or remove hiss.

Take iitt to tthe limit

Ta
The third core process in mastering is limiting,
which means driving the input level of the signal
while ensuring it doesnt exceed a predetermined
level. The goal here is to squeeze as much gain and
power out of the signal as is appropriate but without
causing it to clip and without crushing it so it
becomes dull and lifeless. Limiting comes at the end
of the processing chain because anything placed
after it could interfere with its operation by
negatively affecting the signal.
At their simplest, limiters just have input and
output gain controls. You need to set the output level
to 0dB or just below, say -0.1dB, in order to ensure
that the signal will not exceed this level and thus not
clip. Use the input gain level control to drive the

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Mastering in software Feature MT

MT Technology To really understand your masters, you need to check the meter
When mixing and mastering you spend a lot of time looking at the
master level meters in your DAW or on your mixing desk. This is
indeed where you can see if your signal is too loud or quiet, but it
offers only one kind of visual feedback.
To fully understand whats going on you will need to use some
more advanced metering tools. These can be applied as inserts
across your master buss and dont process or change the sound,
they simply analyse it. Your DAW may come with an analysis
plug-in or two but there are excellent third-party models
available too from the likes of Blue Cat Audios Analysis Pack and
Waves Dorrough Meter Collection and PAZ Analyzer.
What you gain by using proper audio analysis tools is a better
insight into the way the frequencies in your master are really
behaving. When you listen to sound through loudspeakers it is
being affected by all kinds of factors including the character of
those speakers, their placement and proximity to walls, and your
position relative to them. For example, bass can sound very
different depending on how you stand in relation to the speakers.
By analysing the sound before it leaves the computer, plug-ins
can show you whats truly happening across the frequency
spectrum with phase issues and so on, and enable you to correct
these during mastering.
The modules in T-RackS CS also work individually as well as in a suite,
and can be loaded into any DAW.

signal until you get a solid and consistent level,

which means your level meters are spending a lot of
time up near 0dB.
The aim is to bolster and boost the sounds gain,
and careful limiting is the reason so many
commercial tracks sound much louder than those
produced in home studios. Its also the culprit behind
the loudness wars where commercial studios have
tended to limit harder and harder, a phenomenon that

Use judgement in
balancing a strong
level ag
gainst re
etaining
the right amount of
dynamic range
reached its nadir with Metallicas Death Magnetic, an
album so tiring on the ears that some listeners
actually sent it back.
Its quite possible to over-limit and crush your
signal, either by running the output level over 0dB or
more likely by driving the input gain too hard. If your
level meters are consistently hammering up against
the zero mark, step back and listen to whether your
track is in fact being squeezed too hard. You dont
want to suck all the dynamic range out of it because
this kills its musicality the levels should have a
little movement left in them.
Its generally accepted now that the loudness wars
went too far; its not necessary to crush your tracks
to death, just use some judgement in balancing a

Tech Terms
OIN THE BOX
Any production that takes
place entirely inside the
computer. Increasingly
popular as a standard
working method, some
producers start, work on
and finish off whole tracks
without ever leaving their
digital environment.
OMASTERING SUITE
A collection of plug-ins or
processing modules that
collectively make up a
mastering chain. Typically
comprising EQ, compression
and limiting they may also
have stereo widening and
mastering reverb too.

strong level against retaining the right amount of

dynamic range.

Best
Be
st o
off the rest
st
As well as the processors mentioned above you may
also want to use stereo widening, and some more
advanced metering can also help. Stereo widening
should be used sparingly because it can quickly start
to really mess with the soundstage if you push it too
far, seriously altering the mix. Its good to use a
stereo widener with low and high controls and a
configurable crossover point so you can keep the low
end tight and centred while adding a little width to
the top end.
Regularly A/Bing your master both with its dry,
unprocessed signal and with commercially mastered
songs in a similar style can be invaluable in helping
keep you on the right track and getting the best end
results. Youll also need a decent set of monitors
because you need as accurate a picture as possible of
how your master is shaping up. And preferably get
yourself kitted out with a really good set of
headphones, since many of your listeners will
experience your music this way.
When your master is done you can export it out to
a stereo file and then top and tail it in a wave editor
to deal with any errant reverb tails or clicks. Before
signing off on a master its vital to listen back to it on
as many systems as you can in case you find that for
some reason the bass disappears on an iPhone, or the
cymbals are way too loud on a car stereo. Stuff like
this does happen and its well worth going back and
refining the master to account for it.
With a little practice and the right set of tools you
can use mastering to really enhance the finished
sound of your tracks. MT

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