Are You Listening? Ep. 1 | Audio Mastering Basics

What is audio mastering? What are the differences between mixing and mastering? Follow along as professional mastering engineer and iZotope Director of Education Jonathan Wyner answers these questions in Episode 1 of 'Are You Listening?'—iZotope's audio mastering video series.

Note: The audio examples you hear have been altered from their original recordings to bring attention to the core concepts highlighted in the 'Are You Listening?' Series.

0:00 Introduction
0:50 Audio mastering basics
4:29 What is mastering?
5:49 Can you mix and master at the same time?
7:14 Level vs. loudness
8:06 How genre influences loudness
10:56 Are there rules in mastering?
13:29 Download Ozone, free trial

#AreYouListening #iZotope #Mastering

[jrileyhill]

Mastering engineers are always so thoughtful and well spoken haha

[channelderek]

I like the way you post audio examples and give us a chance to use our own minds to figure out what’s wrong and what’s right with each example....

[sirjcurry]

Loudness potential? Brilliant point. Some songs can't be as loud as others and still maintain their personality, core, heart, soul. Thanks, amazing point. When I mention this in negotiations with clients you will be in my heart.

[dulla]

i think that izotope are having meeting everyday on how to revolutionize this music industry

[josephpurdue]

The 'Loudness Potential' is the best thing about this video I think. We've all been confused in the past by 'why does my piano and vocal song sound twice as loud as the full band/orchestra song?' But he explains this very well. I'd never considered the phase from wide tracks making things quieter. Also mid range verse, high end or low end was interesting. These are great videos.

[georgpopp]

The song that is used as an example:
Needs & Wants - Latrell James

[surfaceairr]

What a nice Valetine's day gift. Thanks iZotope

[TheWiseMonk]

This was the first time I tried to seek knowledge about mastering, and honestly, this is good.

[nikolaikitanov]

Perfect explanation of mastering! I am music listener for more than 45 years and have great interest of making good sound from a famous professional like mr. Jonathan Wyner! And all that high class aducation for free! I am from Sofia, Bulgaria. There are so many studios in Sofia, very well equped, but all they work as "secret societies". I am very grateful to mr. Wyner and professionals like him. Having this information music fans will increase their listening abilities! And highly appreciate his perfect english! Thank you very much Jonathan!!

[BedfordLevelExperiment]

9:35 "solo tuba recording" got a legit LOL out of me. This episode is great, I'm really looking forward to more.

[studiogorilla]

Great stuff! I've been using Ozone since version 5. I'm running 8 advanced now and LOVE IT. I use it in my mixing and mastering. Even though I won a Grammy for mastering one project, I still learn something every time I sit down to do it. I'm eager to soak up what I can from this series. Thanks!

[SoundmanCH]

iZotope audio software is worth every cent. I am an electronic music producer beginner and ended up frustrated a lot because my mixes sounded awful. iZotope helped me getting better results instantly simply by using their assistants and presets. I fully get that they are not meant to be „auto-mixing and mastering“ tools, but my point is, that they really motivate me to learn about the physics of audio engineering. I discovered so many interesting topics and in conjunction with online material like this it‘s just a dream and super fun to learn and experiment. Thanks a lot for providing these videos 👍

[MikeHeebz]

This is exactly what is needed & has been missing from other Mastering Tutorial Videos. Thank you to Jonathan Wyner & iZotope for sharing this information. 'I Am Listening' =)

[ayoungethan]

Notes from watching that are standouts for me: Mixing is "getting the trees together." (my words, not his) Mastering is "turning the trees into a forest." Birds' eye, big picture view. Ways to think of stereo: Mid-side or correlated-uncorrelated. Mixes with a strong center channel will sound louder. Rules? Sure. Stay within bounds and practice good hygiene. Within bounds: not too loud, not too soft. Balanced dynamics, loudness, EQ. Good hygiene (a little less clear on this one): probably clutter. Don't add crap in that doesn't need to be there (like FX, compression, EQ). Otherwise, lots of room for creativity as long as it translates well. Mastering typically uses smaller incremental changes because it works across the entire mix. EG a .2db boost in a stereo master of a 10 track recording is equivalent to a 2db boost (spread evenly across all tracks as a .2db boost on each track). Good stuff! Thank you!

[Darragh]

This was a great tutorial. Johnathan Wyner and Greg Calbi are the reasons I love mastering. Such a privileged job in a way. Big decisions.

[lucasgerow]

Watching as many videos on what mastering even is, is a great idea for those of us trying to make our mixes sound mastered while mixing. It helped me to realize I'm making my elements work together while mixing, while also creating a vibe. When I master, I'm trying to push/pull that vibe until it becomes something you really feel no matter what you listen on.

[mcfontaine]

Thank you for this. I hope more people get to see these videos and then realise that Izotope is the absolute goto software for anyone who wants to create great audio.

[matthewlloyd]

I'm just getting started on my studio engineering journey. This is extremely helpful - thank you!

[alysoncastonguay]

This is so great! Thank you. What a time it is to be learning about Mastering. I feel very fortunate.

[ManniDmusic]

I have seen so many videos on mastering, but this one is by far the best in explaining the basics of mastering. Thanks to Jonathan's speaking skills I'm going to watch all his episodes on Are You Listening...thank you iZotope for making this series available.