James Stewart

The following excerpts are from Bob Katz’s web site, http://www.digido.com/

You should stop by and visit Bob’s site if you have any questions about mastering or audio in general. Bob is a major authority on all things audio. I highly recommend picking up a copy of his book “Mastering Audio” and reading the articles on his web site. You’ll learn more there then you would anywhere else.  – James

“It’s not how loud you make it, it’s how you make it loud!”

Mastering is an art and a science. Mastering is the final creative and technical step prior to pressing a record album (CD, DVD, cassette, or other medium). Compare mastering to the editor’s job of taking a raw manuscript and turning it into a book. The book editor must understand syntax, grammar, organization and writing style, as well as know the arcane techniques of binding, color separation, printing presses and the like. Likewise, the Mastering engineer marries the art of music with the science of sound.

The Craft of Mastering: The audio mastering engineer is a specialist who spends his or her entire time perfecting the craft of mastering. Audio mastering is performed in a dedicated studio with quiet, calibrated acoustics, and set of wide-range monitors. Signal paths are kept to a minimum and often customized gear and specialized tools are used. The monitors should not be encumbered by the interfering acoustics of large recording consoles, racks or outboard gear. In other words, the acoustics are first optimized, and all other considerations must be secondary to the acoustics. For optimum results, mastering should not be performed in the same studio as the recording or with the same engineer who recorded the work. It is important to find a mastering engineer who will bring his expertise and unique perspective to an album project, to produce that final polish that distinguishes an ordinary recording from a work of art.

What is a Mastering Engineer? The mastering engineer must have a musical as well as technical background, good ears, great equipment, and technical knowledge. Ideally, he should know how to read music, and have an excellent sense of pitch. He knows how to operate a range of specialized technical equipment, much of which is not found in the average recording studio. The successful mastering engineer understands many musical styles (and there are a lot out there!), edits music, and puts it all together with sophisticated digital processing tools. He is sensitive to the needs of the producer and the artist(s), and treats each project with individual attention. He must understand what will happen to the recording when it hits the radio, the car, the internet, or the home stereo system.

Can’t I just mix and put the file on the internet or CD? Every recording deserves good mastering. When you’re through mixing, your work is not finished. Mastering adds polish, it sounds more than just a record…it becomes a work of art. The songs work together seamlessly, their sound can take on a dimensionality and life that enhances even the best mixes.

Get more details at http://www.digido.com/