The need for mastering bears little relation to the quality of your recording engineer's mix. It is a completely separate process. While a recording engineer knows how to make a great song, it takes a mastering engineer to make that song sound great whether it's playing on a CD or vinyl, on the radio or through a car stereo system, an audiophile system or a mini system.
In the studio, one song at a time is recorded, sometimes different studios are used for songs in the same collection. This results in songs that may peak at different levels and have different EQs. A mastering engineer unifies the album by using EQ and compression to give it a consistent sound from track to track.
Mastering can also raise your album's overall level through use of compression. In the digital format, music cannot be louder than the digital zero ceiling. Transient peaks that creep into every recording are often too brief to be audible and prevent the overall level of your music from being as hot as possible. Once the mastering engineer eliminates these peaks, he can boost the entire program without too greatly affecting the dynamic range of the music. When done properly, mastering can make your music sound much hotter.
The difference between a mastered song and an unmastered one becomes apparent when the two are played back-to-back over the radio. Radio stations compress songs to such an extreme extent that unmastered songs sound thin and weak compared to mastered ones.
One way you can tell if music has been properly mastered is if the mix sounds the same at any volume. Perhaps the real advantage of mastering is that an unbiased sound professional has the opportunity to evaluate your master tape and determine how to get the most out of your production.
We start with listening to each mixed song individually and making adjustments. First the introductions and outros are addressed - (top & tail) count offs are removed, incidental noises cleaned up, and the fades at the end of a song are made to sound more natural. Next, musical edits can be performed on each track - sound pops or slight distortions can be fixed and slight level drops in your mix can be boosted to make the song consistent. Additionally, different sections of the song can be replaced by improved mixes. For example, the background vocals in the third chorus were not as strong as the first two, so you can simply copy the first chorus and move it into place where the third would be and create a stronger song. Once in the mastering studio, we can add EQ and compression to not only make it sound consistent , but also to make it sound good on the radio. Radio, as a rule, uses an extreme amount of compression when it broadcasts. That's why every song comes across your car radio at the same volume, whether it's Tool or Justin Timberlake. If your mastering engineer doesn't have a lot of experience in mastering for radio, there's a good chance that your record will sound pale, thin and muddy when it's played on the air.
Yes,
it's yet another thing to spend your money on, but it will make your
music sound better. After all, you only have one chance to make your
music sound its best...
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