What is mastering?
Mastering is the final step in post-production, where a song or project is refined to sound its best across all listening systems and environments.
It’s a creative and technical process, involving equalization, compression, distortion, harmonic generation, and stereo imaging to enhance both the track’s emotional impact and its overall quality.
Mastering demands years of expertise, a deep understanding of sound, and access to high-end equipment to achieve the perfect result.
In Detail
Mastering has evolved over time, beginning with engineers who transferred audio from tape to vinyl. Early on, they used equalization and compression to improve the sound during the transfer, helping records fit the technical limitations of vinyl. Some engineers, with their personal touch, learned to manipulate these tools to enhance the audio’s overall quality.
Today, mastering is a refined process that involves more than just technical skills—it’s an art form. At our mastering service, we combine years of experience with cutting-edge tools to bring out the best in your track. From EQ and compression to creative enhancements, we ensure your music sounds amazing across all platforms and listening environments.
A brief history about mastering
Mastering first began when the engineers responsible for transferring audio from tape to vinyl began to use equalization and compression during the transfer process from tape to vinyl.
Although some “transfer engineers” kept things simple and performed transfers by-the-book, some became highly skilled in using equalization and compression to enhance the sound of the record with their personal taste.
They found that by affecting the signal collectively, it could easily be altered to better fit the technical limitations of the vinyl medium. Compression was and still is used to compress the dynamic range of a signal and the EQ to sculpt the frequency balance to get the most out of a record on vinyl in terms of volume and sound quality.
The proof
As the profession progressed, disc jockeys noticed that their listeners enjoyed these processed records more than the quieter, less processed records. This positive reaction on behalf of listeners resulted in better sales, which helped to illustrate the value of employing talented and skilled mastering engineers.
Soon, mastering carved its way into the post-production process, and is now a staple of professionally engineering music.
The role of mastering
It is now and has always been, a way to make a mix sound better, and perform better on the medium with which it’s distributed.
With that said, both the technical and creative aspects of making something more enjoyable for listeners work together in this process.
Mastering is now and has always been,
a way to make music sound better.
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