What is Mastering?
What is Mastering?
Audio Mastering is the art/science of assembling individual songs into a cohesive album. ALL commercial releases are Mastered. The steps taken and/or tools used in mastering vary from project to project, but in general can include:
Noise Reduction
EQ
M/S manipulation
Multiband Compression
Sidechain/Bandpass Compression
Overall Compression
Limiting
Dithering (always)
Relative Level adjustments between songs
Fade ins/outs
Track Spacing
Input of PQ codes (see below)
Some of the things Mastering can NOT do are:
Remove Distortion in individual tracks or the mixdown
Remove excess reverb or effects
Change the left/right location of one instrument in the mix
Turn a bad recording into a good one