Do You Need To Get Your Music Mastered?

Not sure if you should get your music mastered? Learn more in this video...

Thanks to @MusikHack making this video possible and supporting Audio University.

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00:00 Intro
00:55 Brief History Of Mastering
03:47 Reason #1: Quality Check
05:37 Reason #2: Frequency
11:14 Reason #3: Loudness & Dynamics
17:43 Reason #4: Stereo Characteristics
19:16 Reason #5: Fresh Perspective
22:24 Reason #6: Cohesive Album
24:39 Reason #7: Distribution Formats & Metadata
26:08 What is the purpose and intention behind the track?
27:12 NEXT VIDEO - How Clippers & Limiters Make Your Mixes Louder
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#AudioUniversity

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[audiou]

Kyle, another great video. Well done. Couple of things to add...
Not mentioned: Mastering engineers generally have gone to the trouble and expense of setting up a room that is far more accurate than the bedroom (!) the music was tracked in. So, when THEY master your music, they are more than likely going to hear things you didn't.
Also, through the 70's-90's, it was common for artists to record songs in different studios around the world, and for those songs to be mixed by different engineers. So another task for the mastering engineer was to take a bunch of mixes (which may have sounded fine as standalone tracks), and make them sound cohesive/balanced when played back-to-back.

I hadn't heard of the plugin, Masterplan until I saw this video, and loved the fact that it reports 'crest factor'. This is something I have to explain to other engineers too often. It seems not enough people talk about it. For those who've not heard of it, it is simply the difference (in dB) between the peak value, and the RMS value, of a piece of audio. In essence, you can think of it as a quick numeric 'judgement' on how much the dynamics of a signal have been mangled/compromised through audio compression.

[GingerDrums]

Short answer: 80 bucks for peace of mind and an experienced second pair of ears is great value

[griffini]

Here is my take on your video.

You are obviously a very smart guy and really trying to help younger engineers understand the various aspects of recording music. Bravo

I understand that your videos are aimed towards engineers with limited experience. That said…

I have been recording and mixing for about 50yrs. And have been very fortunate to work with some of the greatest musicians of my lifetime.
I have Grammy’s for musicians including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Michael Brecker etc.
So I do have a bit of insight.

I think one of the most important aspects of using a Real Mastering engineer Is the fact that they will listen in a completely different space, using very different speakers in a very different setup. Plus they have fresh ears when approaching a project that as mixing engineers we can get toooo close to the music.

Around 23min into your video you spoke about a very important part of mastering for a full record. About making all the tracks sit well together. I know that these days there are few artists actually releasing full records as many people are releasing a single song online.

But the idea of truing to master your mix, in the same room with the same speakers seems a waste of time. If that’s the situation just keep mixing till you think it’s as good as it can be.

The best Mastering engineers like Bernie Grundman, Mark Wilder, Doug Sax etc will charge you $400-600 an hour. And worth every penny if your music deserves it.

[nabman_]

One of your best episodes. Great explanation covering nuances of what goes on at the professional process. 👍👍👍

[Manmademadman]

Thank you for this video! I bought Master Plan early and ended up using it on individual tracks as well for punch and clarity. Of course, I also used it on the Master Bus JUST as much for its simulation as for increasing overall loudness... Smart people making a really smart plugin!

[drewinman]

I'd be interested to hear your take on the Loudness Wars.

[berkeokur]

I don't do mixing or mastering but this video was incredibly entertaining and informative, like always

[eye-trick]

The best advice I have gathered over months is listen to similar tracks and see how yours compares using same system(s) this way you get a good idea of where your tracks are at.
There is at least one plugin that has compiled sonic levels of hundreds of tracks to get you averages and show where yours is at.
Once you know how to hear and what to listen for the technical aspects usually will fall into place.
So many plugins, just pick a couple a see what you can make happen with them if nothing it's probably not the plugin,
Sign of the times I guess overcomplicating things, some of the greatest tunes were created and mastered using way less stuff than today, everything is re-mixed re-mastered today 😉

Anyway there's only one way to know if you can master tunes release a couple in the wild and see the reception, what's the worst that can happen you don't get that Grammy you were expecting😁
Thanks for all the great videos!

[vidtech]

Fully Agree, on Vinil, what you hear and like is the mastering, it's not the pure recording .

[DerekPower]

Mastering is the optimisation of the final approved mix for its intended medium.

[sekritskworl-sekrit_studios]

@audio university, Thanks for all of your amazing content. I learn SO much!

HOWEVER, the graph at @7:26 is a bit confusing... within the box you share a legend about masking... but there are no markers which indicate the vertices on the graph where these are taking place based upon the labels you created. I am admittedly very new to all of this stuff. But if the markers for the legend are not on the graph, it can be confusing to recognize/absorb for many of us.

Thank you for your time.

[TeslaDanser]

Master as you go and save money all while learning.

[johnvender]

Back in 1981 I was a member of a Sydney indie band and we got some free time in University of Sydney's radio station's studio, three weeks, and we recorded an EP there. It had a Tascam 80-8, a Soundcraft console, bunch of microphones including a Neumann U 87 and some other stuff. I was the keyboard player but I had four track home studio experience so I did the producer/engineer job since we had the studio to ourselves for those three weeks with nobody there other than us. The final mix was to a Revox A77 two track. EMI in Sydney had a mastering and pressing service for indie bands and the guitar player and I went to their Studio 301 to master the EP. The engineer at first looked like he was only doing the job because he got paid for it because at the time lot of the work was badly recorded punk. He put our tape on a Studer two track machine and aligned the heads to match the misaligned Revox. Our stuff was nothing like punk and he quickly became enthusiastic and I was totally blown away by how much he improved my mixes. Then he cut the first 7" 45 rpm master on a lathe there. Experience I will never forget.

[databang]

Yes, I’m interested how the loudness wars are going. But I’m also curious about how modern independent musicians (like bedroom producers) approach track transitions when uploading albums to streaming platforms. Do they usually upload each song as a separate file, or do they create a continuous mix and then use software to delineate tracks? What’s the best practice for ensuring smooth transitions between songs when skipping the traditional mastering stage? Would love to hear your thoughts in a video!

[phoenixrise]

Mastering is a must to make your final product professional.

[gregedenfield]

imo: "don't master your own mixes"(if possible) its another rabbit hole you will for sure and needlessly go down. Sometimes project $ doesn't allow for it and you have to do it. The cost of being in "THE FUTURE" (insert reverb and Delay here) lol

[MatthewClary-gy]

Kyle. Thanks for this video. I downloaded the free demo and it only seems to be the manual. Is there a plug-in included? I haven't ever used a plug-in outside of the included devices in my DAW. Using Reason 12, fyi. Thanks for any help.

[JerridFoiles]

Since you said "this requires several videos" several times, and since I'm a drummer...

*hits china cymbal 4 times*

[goodtimejohnny]

To help my learning about things I've loaded many cd wav files into daws for reference. So I can say that when you measure lufs and peak rms on commercially released music the loudness war idea is very evident. Sometimes even hitting plus 6 db peak. Also when trying to tone match some instruments you can do so by utilizing crazy EQ band increases or cuts. I've seen the EQ tricks in many videos and thought wow is that a lot. Same with compression. Most music now is uninteresting to me because of these techniques. Reminds me of a cookie press. Especially in hard rock music. Gobs and gobs of compression on drum especially but can also be heard on guitar, vocals and bass. In my opinion I shouldn't be able to tell that compression is being used. Today's music is just plain and simple over analyzed and over processed.

[ferenclucas]

what is the reason for the upc looking stripes in the audio treatment behind you ? :)