10 Essential Mastering Tips
By Craig Anderton
Make very small changes when EQing, because an increase or decrease in one frequency range has repercussions elsewhere. For example, if you boost the treble, the bass becomes less prominent. It’s amazing how even a 0.5dB change can make a noticeable difference. Adjust EQ to what sounds right, then halve the amount of boost or cut you added. This gives your ear a chance to get acclimated to the change in sound. You can decide later whether you want something more drastic.
Always save and back up your original unmastered, 2-track or surround mix before you start mastering, and work on a copy.
Duplicators will often reject CDs if the level hits 0 for several samples in a row. Yet these very short overloads may not be objectionable to the listener. To get around this problem, after assembling the entire CD, normalize it to -0.1 dB. This leaves just enough headroom that the CD won’t be rejected for “overs.”
- Don’t add song fade-ins or -outs when mixing. Tunes may need a longer or shorter fade than anticipated. If you build a fade into the mix, you can only make it shorter.
