Red Mastering Studio
Blog Post
Where the Practice of Audio Mastering is Currently Standing
- By Red Mastering Studio
- •
- 27 Jun, 2017
- •
Mastering music is a final part of a post audio production job. Read here where the standard practice of audio mastering is currently standing.
Mastering is a final part of audio production. One of the vital goals of audio mastering is optimizing the track for different formats like CD or vinyl. But recently the mastering process of CD release and digital distribution has become identical. In the both the cases producers required 16 bit .aiff or .wav file to submit. So the final product engineers are making today for the CD release are also usable for the digital distribution.
In the last few years, we have seen the rise of online distribution also. Continue reading to know where the process of mastering is currently standing.
Where We Are Currently Standing
Currently, loud mastering has become a standard rule for many music genres for both CD and online releases. Music genres like rock, pop, hip-hop, and dance-mix have mainly become the victim of the loudness war as engineers are following the trend of increasing its natural level.
However, other types of music like country, folk, jazz, classical or acoustic have suffered less. The improvement of the digital limiters has supported audio engineers a lot win the loudness war. There many techniques that can help you to end up with loud mastering, but limiter is omnipresent in all the cases.
It is a fact that enhancing the loudness of your music can damage the depth, detail, punch, dynamics, space, and clarity of your track. Even if you see loud mastering from the perspective of fidelity, you will understand that it is not a good practice even for FM radio play. So it is always suggested to hire the best online mastering service
provider if you want to achieve the loudness without harming its real tone.
The Sign of Changes:
Mastering is a process of optimizing tracks for
different formats and sound systems. While
mastering a song, it is important for the engineers to consider the fact that
their songs are going to play for different types of audio systems like iPods,
multimedia speakers, Mp3 Player, smartphones, Car stereos, audiophile hi-fi
systems and more.
So the job has become all about how good you are judging the track while mastering. It is important to discuss the possibilities and further changes coming in mastering. But, there are some distinct changes, which can differ in terms of their goals like:
1. iTunes Mastering Program:
An audio engineer needs to meet the standard requirement for submitting a song to the iTunes. Apple wants to get the best fidelity in their 256kbps AAC encoding algorithm. The company always encourages the high sample rate for audio submission. It should at least meet the sample rate of 44.1 kHz with a minimum resolution of 24-bit.
2. Volume Normalisation for Media Player:
This is a process of achieving constant gain on an audio track to take the average amplitude peak to the norm. If you apply the same gain on the entire track then relative dynamics and the signal-to-noise ratio will be unchanged.
An audio engineer needs to meet the standard requirement for submitting a song to the iTunes. Apple wants to get the best fidelity in their 256kbps AAC encoding algorithm. The company always encourages the high sample rate for audio submission. It should at least meet the sample rate of 44.1 kHz with a minimum resolution of 24-bit.
2. Volume Normalisation for Media Player:
This is a process of achieving constant gain on an audio track to take the average amplitude peak to the norm. If you apply the same gain on the entire track then relative dynamics and the signal-to-noise ratio will be unchanged.
Bottom Line
So this is the status of the audio mastering process. Audio producers and artists can hire a company that offers online mixing and mastering services
because it will be much easier for them to control and track the progress of a mastering project in their busy schedule.
Every individual, who is familiar with the music industry knows that mastering is a major procedure that can determine the success of a song. However, if the mixes are not prepared properly, mastering can never generate positive results.
How can you make the CDs sound too good as you want?
By the process of mastering, you are able to balance each track with the other with respect to level and sound for creating a coherent and satisfying result. Most of the people mainly find the posts that indicate the people who want to get close as they are having the CD mastered by the sound engineer. Though these following tips are general and will give the advantage to anyone who wants their CDs go sound good, the mastering process is applied equally, regardless of the level of the skills.
1. Think Big Always-
Mastering is the process of making the album from a total collection of songs. Now, it is not the time to go into the details like whether the vocals are too high in one track or you can add the guitar part to the another track, will be discussed later. When the mixing is over, go to the next part! Realize about the songs that are related to each other. Check the lines for the songs, so they are having a good flow.
2. EQ and Volume Are Everything-
The equalization, talking about the bass, treble and middle balance of each of the tracks that require being at the right position before anything will start. While choosing the right type of EQ, the level requires being in the right position. But the EQ mainly influences the level that you are choosing. Sounds like too difficult? Yes, it is so. You have to adjust the EQ, repeat the process until you are satisfied. The dynamic compression is the important process.
3. Always Have an Open Mind-
Most of the professional for CD mastering give advice not to worry too much regarding the mastering the process at home. If you are thinking to do it by yourself, keep your mind free from all the misconceptions and ideas that you are having in your mind. Always try to cut the swathes through all the detailed decisions and reasoning. The mastering engineer gives the impartial option about what it is the best.
4. Match the Vocal Levels-
When you are choosing how loud each of the songs is compared with each other. It is simple yet confusing. Follow the rule of thumb for balancing the vocals. If you are not able to get the vocals for each of the tunes to sound, it will be simple as the ballpark, almost everything will be done after that. When you are not having the vocals to listen, you can pick the melodic element.
These are some of the good CD mastering tips that should be followed to get a good sound. Better, you can send the raw files to the professionals to work on it for many years.
By the process of mastering, you are able to balance each track with the other with respect to level and sound for creating a coherent and satisfying result. Most of the people mainly find the posts that indicate the people who want to get close as they are having the CD mastered by the sound engineer. Though these following tips are general and will give the advantage to anyone who wants their CDs go sound good, the mastering process is applied equally, regardless of the level of the skills.
1. Think Big Always-
Mastering is the process of making the album from a total collection of songs. Now, it is not the time to go into the details like whether the vocals are too high in one track or you can add the guitar part to the another track, will be discussed later. When the mixing is over, go to the next part! Realize about the songs that are related to each other. Check the lines for the songs, so they are having a good flow.
2. EQ and Volume Are Everything-
The equalization, talking about the bass, treble and middle balance of each of the tracks that require being at the right position before anything will start. While choosing the right type of EQ, the level requires being in the right position. But the EQ mainly influences the level that you are choosing. Sounds like too difficult? Yes, it is so. You have to adjust the EQ, repeat the process until you are satisfied. The dynamic compression is the important process.
3. Always Have an Open Mind-
Most of the professional for CD mastering give advice not to worry too much regarding the mastering the process at home. If you are thinking to do it by yourself, keep your mind free from all the misconceptions and ideas that you are having in your mind. Always try to cut the swathes through all the detailed decisions and reasoning. The mastering engineer gives the impartial option about what it is the best.
4. Match the Vocal Levels-
When you are choosing how loud each of the songs is compared with each other. It is simple yet confusing. Follow the rule of thumb for balancing the vocals. If you are not able to get the vocals for each of the tunes to sound, it will be simple as the ballpark, almost everything will be done after that. When you are not having the vocals to listen, you can pick the melodic element.
These are some of the good CD mastering tips that should be followed to get a good sound. Better, you can send the raw files to the professionals to work on it for many years.
