Modern Mastering. Part 2: Working at a professional level

What are the secrets that divide project studio mastering from what the professionals achieve? Mark Cousins masters the art...

While it’s easy enough for any software-based musician to lay their hands on the tools of mastering, the exact art and skill of creating a finished production-quality master remains as elusive as ever. If you managed to catch the first part of our series on mastering, however, you should have a better understanding of the essential principles and techniques behind the process. But beyond the fundamentals of equalising, compressing and assembling the final running order, what are the factors that can really transform what you achieve in the last and most vital part of the recording chain? As you’d expect, the solutions require a little more attention and effort than just stumbling on the perfect plug-in setting, but the results could finally allow your music to be presented in the way it deserves.

This feature first appeared in Music Tech Magazine issue 35
Filed under General Features, Mastering

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