Blog
The power of referencing
The power of referencing is the key to critical listening and making sure your mixes and masters really work professionally.
Stereo image masking
If you have not thought about the stereo impression and just gone with its default output, you have not made a choice, you are using someone else’s pre-set. Never a good way to achieve a unique sounding outcome, which is after all that makes famous tunes famous; well-crafted songwriting and outstanding production.
Pass Filters In The Mastering Process
I think it’s a misconception to say we should always use pass filters (High Pass Filter [HPF] / Low Pass Filter [LPF]) at the start of the mastering process to remove unwanted frequencies. This in principle should have been actioned during the mixing process by the correct application of pass filters to each individual track.
Loudness then & Loudness Now…
As the decades went on, this dynamic range became more and more squashed sadly. This was not necessarily for any technical deficiency, but because sonic tastes required it and something called the Loudness War became something entrenched in audio and music society.
Comparative Techniques In Audio Mastering
As a Mastering engineer, two of the most important considerations when working on an album are: ‘Have we improved the aesthetic of the sound overall? Have we taken away or masked any aspect we liked in the essence of the original mix?’