Mastering is a big mystery for many musicians and home recording starters. Sure, almost anyone can record a song these days – the technology is affordable and the first notes are played in quickly. Mixing music  is an art – but with patience, passion and a piece of freeware, the first steps can be taken quickly. And mastering? Almost every musician knows the word and knows that it is important. It becomes more difficult with explanations. This brief mastering tutorial shows that it is more than just re-mixing.

MASTERING IS THE FINISHING PROCESS AFTER THE MIXING

Put simply, mastering is the finishing touches to a recorded track. The last step in post production. The previous mixing concentrates on individual elements within the audio tracks, “glues” the individual tracks together. When mixing, the song grows together. The mastering polishes the total work of art again. Audio mastering is almost always done by a different mixer than the rest of the mixing. Mastering has two goals:

1. The track should once again fully exploit its own ambitions. Not in the measured volume, but also in the “felt” volume: the track builds muscles in the mastering process and becomes more dominant where it is supposed to dominate.
2. The track should have the same quality on different speaker systems. Best of all, each instrument in the mix sounds just as powerful on the car radio as it does on headphones or on the hi-fi system in the living room.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: MASTERING OFTEN STANDS FOR A SECOND OPINION AND A NEUTRAL PAIR OF EARS

When you’ve mixed a song, at some point you’re blind to certain nuances. Especially if you’ve recorded the song yourself. In addition, fatigue your ears, even if their when mixing listening quietly (and should their – preferably between 75 and 85 dBspl, decibel sound pressure level). Mastering is also part of mixing, but it should be done by or at least with a second pair of ears. That doesn’t mean it always has to be done by a professional. You could team up with a befriended band and master each other’s tracks. If you really want to do it yourself: Leave at least 48 hours between mixing and mastering.

MASTERING STEP 1: LISTENING TO THE TRACK (AGAIN) FOR THE FIRST TIME

The first listening pass (with a little time lag) is the most important! Sit down in peace, take a notepad. Listen carefully to the mixed track for the first time. Ask yourself these questions:

• Do the high areas sound too pointed or too dull?
• Are the deep areas too dominant, is the track muttering?
• Does the voice stand out or is it buried under the other instruments?
• Does the track sound muddy or rather too clean – or does it rumble (not enough)?
• Which instruments do you hear the least or not at all?
• Is the sound aggressive, organic, light-footed enough for you?

MASTERING STEP 2: USE A REFERENCE AND LOOK AT YOUR TRACK IN THE GRAPHIC ANALYZER

Most musicians consciously or unconsciously use reference tracks when mixing and mastering. Sure, nobody wants to copy a style. But nobody is unaffected either. We always have role models and musical roots in other bands and artists. Do it very consciously and look at both your track and the most important reference track in the Graphics Analyzer. In addition to your ears, you can also use your eyes to find problem areas. Look for valleys and peaks that seem suspicious to you and listen to them one by one. Note: Every song has an individual frequency spectrum. A direct adjustment of songs does not make sense. It’s just food for thought.

MASTERING STEP 3: MIX BUS COMPRESSION

Compress again? Didn’t we do that (enough) in the mix? Yes, but compressing individual instruments is different from compressing a bus track. “Mix Bus Compression” is the compression after the mixdown, which is supposed to thicken the whole track again.

• Starts with a ratio of 3: 1. This is a good starting point that you can adjust later.
• Lower the threshold until you reach approx. 8-10 dB gain reduction. Don’t be surprised, you’ll change that again later.
• The release should be very quick as a starting point, maybe 5 ms.
• Sets a fairly slow (i.e. high) attack time of 100 ms. Decreases this value until the track’s transients dull, then adjusts back a little.
• Now increase the release until you have the feeling that the song and compressor are working on the same clock
• Now you can loosen the threshold again until you feel that it fits the song.
• You can now reduce the ratio from 3: 1 to 2: 1 or increase it to 4: 1 as a test. Try what goes better with the song.
• After the compression, don’t forget to give the whole track a little power back with the make-up gain.

MASTERING STEP 4: EQUALIZING

It is best to use a linear phase EQ (“phase linear equalizer”) in mastering, as we want to make very narrow, subtle cuts or increases. An example would be that we want to remove the resonance frequency of a snare. With other EQs we would have the problem that the phase shift would also have a noticeable effect on the frequencies around the problem frequency. A linear phase EQ removes the annoying resonance without changing the overall sound of the snare. Basic rule: lowering (subtractive equalization) is more pleasant for the ear than raising it. If you want to emphasize a certain frequency range, it is often more effective to cut the frequencies around, below, or above this band instead. Don’t worry, you can get the volume back in with the limiter.

 MASTERING STEP 5: LIMITING

The limiter should be the last plug-in in the chain. It provides extra muscle strength on the finished track. Your track should level out around 0 dB. So let’s first look at the output level. We should limit this to -0.5 dB. In this way we avoid clipping even where a sound system adds gain itself.

Basically, you proceed in a similar way to the compressor from step 3: Start with careful initial values for attack (100 ms), release (500 ms) and input gain (8-10 dB gain reduction). Then you slowly work your way up until you reach your optimum, your personal sweet spot.

After many years of touring and meetings with organizers, we know that there is something that you as an organizer may wonder about. Especially if you are new as a stage plot designer, so here are some explanations and tips.

The room

We play on a flat floor and we have the seats for the young audience with us. If you have a very large stage that meets our measurement requirements, we can play on stage with the audience sitting on stage. Just make sure that it is safe for the audience to go up on stage and that it is accessible to those who, for example, is in a wheelchair.

Load

Should we be on another floor, there should be an elevator. Keep in mind that some scenography elements can be large and long. Talk to us if you feel hesitant. The best thing is to be able to load straight into the game room.

How important is it that you follow our local measurements?

It is very important that you measure so that the room keeps the dimensions we need; otherwise, the scenography will not go in. Do not appreciate and think that “we usually have a theater here”. Be on the safe side and measure. We usually have a stage sketch that we send out. There you can see what it looks like with the scenography set up. If you have photos on the premises (mobile photos are enough), feel free to email them to us.

Ceiling height

In order for us to have space with our scenography and our light stands, you need to measure the ceiling height from the lowest point. Are there hanging lamps, projectors or anything else in the room? Maybe it’s possible to tie up?

Blackout

If we want blackout, it is because we have lighting that the show depends on. If it’s too bright, much of the magic disappears. We usually write that it “should be so dark that you can show a movie”. It does not work with ordinary curtains that are drawn unless there are special blackout curtains.

Elen then?

If we need 16 amps, it does not work with 32 amps even if you could believe it. This is what a so-called glove can look like. The red lid says if it is 16 A or 32 A or something else. The outlet should be close to the venue, but if it does not – contact us. We have a cable that is about 20 m long with us and we can bring another cable if needed.

Is construction / carrying assistance important?

Yes, it is! We always state on information sheets and in contracts if we need carrying assistance. We carry and build every day sometimes when we tour. If we get help, it makes it very easy. The construction time is also based on the fact that, whenever we request it, we have carrying/construction help.

It should be adults who can help carry and build before the show, and after the show when it will be torn down and carried again.

Does anyone need to receive us?

Yes! It needs to be a person who knows the room, knows where the electricity is, knows where we can change and who can show us emergency exits, fire extinguishers, etc.

Audience safety

The organizer is responsible for the safety on site and for the safety of the audience. This means that there must always be someone responsible from the organizer on site during the time there is an audience in the room.

It’s important to understand that people won’t just follow you when you release that mixtape, album or single.

To cultivate a fanbase you have to be someone worth following. Someone that your fans will look up to, and in turn be inspired by you…

How Do You Define Music Marketing?

The simple answer is that music marketing is defined as how musicians effectively build an audience of fans and build rapport with these fans over time through effective communication.

Obviously, with musicians, the ultimate goal is to sell more music, sell more beats, sell more t-shirts and concert tickets. We all can agree on that.

Your audience will want to invest in you, to follow your story, and will want to feel part of the journey.

Just being original, or different won’t suffice. You need something that will attach your personality to the music.

How To Tell Your Story

How many times have can you post the same songs and the same album covers over and over again on social media and expect people to follow you.?

It’s crucial to understand that storytelling is the ESSENTIAL ingredient when it comes to music marketing. If you are struggling to decipher what storytelling is with the music industry look no further than the artist that inspired you.

Try and record yourself asking questions that will help to draw the story from you.

Consider Who?, What?, When? and Where? Method?

• Why Did I Make This Record?
• Who Helped Me Make This Record?
• Where Did I Record The Song?
• What Was The Mood Like In The Studio
• Was It Hard Or Easy To Write The Record?
• What Went Through Your Mind When You Heard The Final Recording?
• How Does This Album Differ From The Other Songs Your Have Made Before?
• Who Inspired You?
• When Did You Get Started In Music?

This is the main strategy I use over at The Corporatethief Beats when I am promoting my hip hop beats.

These are some simple questions that your future fans might ask? Also the help you cultivate a narrative around your music career.

Rather than relying on the music to promote the music, now you are using the power of story and content as a promotion tool to share your music.

Then you can record this into mini segments like for stories or shorts for sites like Instagram, Twitter and Tik Tok.

Long-form content can be added for sites like Facebook, Instagram TV and YouTube.

Remember We Live In The Times Of The SCROLL BUTTON. !!!

Most people will scroll past with the volume on mute. It might be a good idea to add subtitles or graphics to the video just to BREAK THEIR ATTENTION SPAN…

Building Your Narrative

One of the major mistakes that we musicians make with social media is that we treat it like PROMOTIONAL MEDIA.

It’s time to build a narrative around your project with words, photos and videos over which you have complete control.

The core issue I have with social sites like Facebook and YouTube is that we are competing with advanced algorithms for attention.

The sad reality is that the draw of related content on the same page makes it all too easy for someone to ‘click away from your content to something else.

One way around this is to Build A Website and an Email List.

Click here to learn about effective music marketing, learn how to build an artist website and email marketing for musicians.

Learn How To Curate Content

Your site can be your social hub where the focus of your fans is solely on you. You can create a website for a couple of bucks today…

It doesn’t have to be complicated, either. Many sites are now Curated Content sites or Content Aggregators where they syphon popular content resources in from sites Reddit, SoundCloud, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.

Consistency is key. So your site needs to update a couple of times a month. And it needs to be promoted with the use of your email newsletter and social sites.

There’s got to be a reason for your fans to come back and visit your site repeatedly. Your site’s audience will give up if there’s nothing new to see for weeks on end.

Use your site to push your story with a new blog post or video. If your audience knows they are getting new content every couple of weeks, they’ll spread the word.

How To Outsource Your Music Marketing?

Let’s face it marketing promotion is a pain in the butt…

There are simply too many tasks for one person to focus on. It’s so easy to burn yourself out or spread yourself too thin. There is just never enough time to create and manage every single site.

Some of the most successful musicians have one secret weapon when it comes to music marketing. Outsourcing!!

Outsourcing the majority of the grunt work within your music marketing is the best solution. Hiring help to do mundane, repetitive music promotional tasks is something that will free up a ton of your time.

Here are 2 of my favorite places to outsource…

Onlinejobs.ph This is my preferred method of outsourcing my music marketing tasks. All of the freelancers here are from the Philippines.

Filipino’s influenced by American culture. Their level of English is very high. This is a significant reason why I outsource all my work to the Philippines. Filipino’s are incredibly hard working.

Fiverr is a global online marketplace offering tasks and services, beginning at $5 per job, hence its name.

This site is primarily used by freelancers who use Fiverr to offer services to customers on a global scale. … You can find a freelancer to carry out Graphic Design, like logos, or artwork.

You can hire virtual assistants and social media managers. You can find people to distribute your mixtape to hip hop blogs who will post your music.

Some of the services here are amazing, and some are complete trash. Please read the reviews before purchase or hiring anyone from Fiverr.

Never be afraid to try new things and hacks to help you in promoting your music. When things get rough and hectic, you can always hire someone to assist you with your task like a virtual assistant who will work on your music marketing strategies.

If you found this article to be an eye-opener please feel free to share this with someone you think will benefit from it.

Keep your chin up and keep working hard…

Daniel Hartnett, aka The Corporatethief Beats, is a hip-hop beatmaker, songwriter, and music marketing blogger from Dublin, Ireland.