Although mastering is the final stage of production, and to those without prior knowledge it might appear straightforward compared to recording and mixing, it is fairly complicated and involves many more elements than you might expect. A mastering engineer (ME) has many responsibilities beyond the obvious processing side of things, and their ability to enhance tracks and create impact is just one of the things that make them sought after. They provide an essential service to the music industry.
Using hardware and software, a practised and informed ear, and the technical savvy to make final tweaks to a track before it’s released – these are some of the things that define what an ME does. So, what separates this practice from the rest of the production process, and why don’t mix engineers do it themselves (they have the capability)?
Most of the time, a mixing engineer won’t master their own mixes because they’ve spent so much time developing the audio that they:
- might have a biased opinion on some issues.
- might miss specific things that need to be addressed.
However, it is very common in today’s music landscape to be an independent artist who handles every element of production yourself. The focus here is on what a mastering engineer does, but there will be plenty of valuable information for anybody in that position who has to master their own music.
The most popular MEs have spent many years defining a specific sonic quality that they can guarantee clients, making them desirable compared with the rest of the market. As with anything in music, this is done by growing a network of clients and building a reputation. The combination of unique ears, equipment, listening environments, monitors, plugins and processes sets them apart from the rest.
Let’s break it down even further and take a look at some of the things we’ll be exploring in this topic:
- ME responsibilities
- How do they do it?
- Misconceptions
Each of these items has an array of sub-topics that we’ll break down to establish the many angles of mastering and an engineer’s various roles. You might be surprised how much goes into this stage of production, and there could be some points to consider when doing it yourself or preparing your final mix for mastering.
The Responsibilities of a Mastering Engineer
An ME is responsible for a number of things, and some of them are, as you can imagine, fairly complicated and require a good deal of knowledge to carry out successfully.
Below is a list of things we’ll be exploring to outline the responsibilities of an ME:
- Final stage of production
- Quality control
- Processing
- Loudness
- Translating across multiple platforms and listening devices
- ISRC codes
- Compilation of albums and EPs
Final Stage of Production
In the vinyl realm, the role of the ME is to ensure that the final waveform of a track doesn’t excite the turntable needle so much that it jumps out of the grooves. Since this is a physical process where the vinyl spins and the needle follows the grooves by sitting within them (the grooves correspond exactly to the waveform), it must sit comfortably for playback to be clear and unaffected.
Nowadays, most music exists in the digital realm, which means there are fewer physical limitations to consider when mastering and a lot more freedom to experiment with how music can sound as a result.
The goal of any ME is similar – namely, to enhance the loudness, clarity, impact and feel of the audio they’re given, using their skill and experience.
Quality Control
This is the first thing an ME will do, and it involves listening critically to the audio and checking a number of its features and parameters.
MEs will listen to the entire track and make notes on anything that stands out or may need addressing. If something doesn’t feel right, they will use various tools to establish what could be causing the issue. Below is a list of quality control checks:
- Bit depth – the bit depth of your audio (16, 24 or 32-bit) tells the ME a lot. The higher it is, ideally 32-bit float, the more the ME has to work with. For instance, a file that is almost clipping will not be much of a problem if submitted as 32-bit float, and headroom will be less of a worry for you when mixing.
- Clipping – your mix’s true peaks need to be below 0dB to avoid clipping and the undesirable effects that can come with it (such as distortion – the wrong kind).
- Phasing – phase issues can make audio sound strange because of the frequency cancellation caused by mistimed and out-of-phase audio. This can make a listener feel uneasy, diminishes the audio quality and is undesirable. The mix will probably be sent back to you for revision.
- Down- or up-sampling – if your audio has been either down- or up-sampled, traces of unwanted artefacts could cause some issues.
- Distortion – this can be caused by a number of things and could very well be the desired sound, but in this case it’s the bad distortion that the ME will look out for. If it’s not meant to be there, it can ruin a track.
- Mono/stereo – some elements of a track need to be mono to avoid issues such as phasing and to translate across multiple listening devices without missing audio (yes, this can happen).
Loudness
This is a lot more complicated than a matter of decibels. The ‘loudness wars’ have been under way for a long time and pose a constant battle to standardise music’s perceived loudness. For example, a song played on the radio that sounds louder than the previous one will stand out more and grab more people’s attention, which could increase the chances of sales. So for a while, people tried to make their music as loud as possible.
However, nowadays most of the online platforms we use to share music apply loudness normalisation that can alter your music’s sound if it is too loud. This is where LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale) becomes essential. This standard of measurement takes human perception as well as the electrical signal into account, and the target differs from platform to platform. Some targets could be ‘-13 LUFS’, whereas others could be ‘-9 LUFS’.
MEs have to ensure that your track translates well across the different algorithms so that it sounds as good as possible wherever it’s heard.
Translating Across Multiple Platforms and Listening Devices
Music has become extremely accessible, which means a lot of it is now listened to on mobiles, laptops, televisions and so on. Not everybody takes the time to enjoy it through a good sound system, or can afford the luxury. This is where phasing and mono become important, because that’s what most personal devices offer.
A hi-fi system has stereo capabilities, meaning that panning and space will be easily perceived, but this is more difficult on a mobile. If things are out of phase, their frequencies might be cancelled out and become inaudible when played back through a mono system, and the track will not sound the way it should.
Another consideration is the difference in frequency response across devices. Mobile speakers are not big enough to reproduce low-end frequencies, but the low end still needs to be noticeable to the listener somehow.
ISRC Codes
The International Standard Recording Code is the unique code assigned to your recording to help track plays and pay out royalties. This is very important, because it helps determine whether you receive an income from your work.
MEs can embed the ISRC codes (usually issued by your distributor or label) in your files.
Compilation of Albums and EPs
Finally, an ME is responsible for compiling the record – be it an album or EP – so that it flows well, is consistent in volume and has similar sonic characteristics across all tracks. Afterwards, you should be presented with a final product that gels and sounds great.
How Do They Do It?
Trained Ear
This is not something money can buy or gear can help you with, because a trained ear comes from years of practice. It is arguably the most important tool of any mastering engineer, because without a skilled ear and the ability to tell what a track needs, you won’t consistently produce stellar work.
You can become a critical listener and hyper-aware of the frequency spectrum, but as with anything, it will take time and repetition.
Processing (In the Box and Outboard)
Once the ME is happy that your files have passed quality control and there are no significant concerns, they will begin processing the audio. Most moves in mastering are slight and precise, because the job is to enhance the audio without changing it too much (unless that is what’s wanted).
EQ, compression, saturation, stereo imaging and limiting all fit into an ME’s signal chain. Whether these processes are carried out with hardware or software depends on the engineer and their preferences.
Unique Processes (Specific Sound)
Each ME will have something that sets them apart, and depending on the type of music, there might be a specific outcome you’re looking for in the master.
The gear, plugins and techniques used in the process are where the differences arise and what sets one engineer apart from another.
High-Quality Monitoring and a Well-Treated Listening Environment
Equally important to having well-trained ears is having a high-quality listening environment to work in. Some monitoring systems represent a significant investment – if you’re looking at Kii Audio, for example – and they are worth every cent, especially if you can use them well. This is not to say you can’t do the job with a decent pair of studio monitors, but these systems are proven to be excellent and will be a defining factor in the sound an ME produces.
It’s worth noting that without a well-designed, acoustically treated room, the quality of your monitors matters less, and you might not benefit from them as much. For good sound to be experienced, there needs to be an environment to facilitate it.
For the most part, successful MEs have designed rooms that suit their needs, where they become very accustomed to the sonic character of that space, their speakers and their gear, enabling them to produce work of such a high calibre.
Misconceptions
A mastering engineer cannot fix your mistakes. So you need to be sure of your mix before you send it off. They will use what they are given and do their job to make it sound as good as possible.
Conclusion
A mastering engineer’s role is essential to the recorded music sector and the music industry as a whole. Since the role began, they have stood at the final stage of production, acting as gatekeepers of quality and compiling records whose sound and quality have touched billions of lives.
Their part in a record might not involve the most effort and time, but it has a major impact on the final product, which is exactly what they’re meant to do.
Ready to finish your tracks? Try the BandMix mastering service, or join BandMix.ie to connect with musicians near you.
