Mastering Essentials Part 1 - What is MASTERING?

[@dubfx]

Ian mastered my last album roots and he killed it! I sent the same track out to 20 different acclaimed mastering studios, one of them cost me 450 pounds! Out of those 20 that came back Ian's was the best by far. It was an expensive exercise but well worth it!

[@ProductionAdvice]

Wow, 20, really ?!? Thanks Ben, I *loved* working on your album, and I'm really proud of the result ! Anyone reading this should check it out: dubfx.com/roots/

[@XCurvyBarbieX]

Absolutely amazing! Amazing work from everyone! Wow!!!

[@rikloveridge128]

'Killing it' is good I assume; I can't keep up with street talk!

[@XCurvyBarbieX]

@@rikloveridge128 yes killed it means it was beyond expected good lol

[@timflatus]

@@rikloveridge128 I'm with you. It's a deeply confusing way of talking

[@albertoperezpuyal3740]

The most honest tutorial about mastering I've ever seen. Others try to make things very complicated in order to demonstrate how "good" they are. Thanks a lot!!!

[@ProductionAdvice]

My pleasure, glad you liked it 🙂

[@Audiojunkk]

Sound on sound makes the best content!

[@BoogieBear]

I’ve followed Ian for some time and if you want to learn how to master, this is the man!

[@SergioFilho]

Ian is one of the most importante contributors in the audio community. Glad you did this with him!

[@norbertocuevas7758]

Ian Shepherd's audio concepts are clear, professional, and easy to understand. I'll be watching the series ...

[@flavy1000]

I hope me too!

[@SoulPapiii]

Knowledge is power So that means Learning is your super power Dont ever stop

[@SoulPapiii]

💪🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[@SoulPapiii]

🎶🙏🌟🏆🏆🏆🏆

[@Audiojunkk]

Ah yes! Ian is such a legend! This is a link up of legends!

[@DerekPower]

Looking forward to these =] I’ve used the following analogy sequence between music production and writing: Recording:drafting :: mixing:proofing :: mastering:publishing.

[@ewetoo]

Definitely something I'll be following.

[@gravityfreaksmusic]

Man, this is so good. The greatest take-away for me is realizing that my self-taught way led me on the right path. Thank you SOS and Ian! Much appreciated.

[@JUMPMANKENYA]

I basically ama an Artist,A rapper to be precise ,been in the studio for the longest but never really understood mastering fully since them producers tend to make it look so complex untill i stumbled on to this great piece,17 minutes of pure genius at its simplicity that revolutionized my take in mastering concepts,Big shout out to you Ian,Keep inspiring.

[@ProductionAdvice]

Thanks, I'm really glad it's helpful !

[@dablizzoduve4576]

When i got his first course (mastering eq) I was so inspired that I had to purchase the second one(mastering with compression) And since then my idea and method for mastering and mixing has improved drastically... Love you Ian.

[@ProductionAdvice]

Thanks, so pleased it was helpful for you !

[@flavy1000]

King of Loudness..He has fought a lot about the "War of loudness", and I love his point of view!

[@danielnaron]

flavy1000 More like “King of Dynamics” really

[@dinosaursr]

Great use of photo refinishing to audio mastering. Well done.

[@kunstundfantasie]

Hi Ian, thanks for the video. Now I am watching the whole series. You're very nice :-) Stay great, Love and Peace.

[@PreRendered]

Love you guys, can't wait to check this out!

[@timflatus]

Perfick! I'm just about to perform final mixes prior to mastering. I came here from PLAP. Ian seems to explain things in a way I can understand. Very grateful for that

[@Bittamin]

I get recommended great videos, I save them to watch later. The cycle never ends 😅

[@VinylPro]

listening with high interest !

[@ianrunacres]

Absolutely brilliant. Clear, helpful and informative. Can't wait to work through the other videos and I've requested the PDFs too. I think this is all going to be invaluable.

[@Steaminlidz]

Brilliant. Just brilliant

[@ThomasSolom]

Very useful tips

[@smtonlinevideos]

This is a great video. I'm gong to be mastering my new EP for the first time in the next couple of months. I liked the photoshop analogy. Thank you for making this series. Looking forward to watching the other videos!

[@Redzircon]

An excellent explanation!

[@jimmyandrademusicjapan]

Very good video, thanks a lot.

[@philonico]

Thank you so much

[@COSMOPOLITA1966]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@大嘴鳥-t4m]

thank you for sharing this~

[@gabokvich]

Thanks!!!

[@RaduJon]

Please make a mixing / mastering series with Serban Ghenea. Everyone is dying to see what’s under the hood in his mixes.

[@The_Pyramid]

Amazing!!!!!

[@Claidheambmor]

This is superb content, deserves far more views and likes than it has. We are blessed to have access to this kind of thing. Thank you.

[@Portnowthrifts]

Thank you this is very helpful

[@mkson1978]

Interesting! I Come from a photographic background and I use to draw similaries all the time to photography and editing/printing now when I'm learning Music production/mixing/mastering 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻📸🎶🎚️🎹

[@akumusik3582]

Love it🎼🕊️

[@tk-zh3dd]

The sort of mixes we beginners receive definitely need more than 3 plugins :)

[@sidneygage]

thnx :)

[@trihangku]

When is the next part going to be available?

[@soundonsound]

It's in the final editing stage and should be live within 7 to 10 days. The other parts will then follow as soon as possible.

[@EkalavyaDas]

Ian, the audio of this video is outstanding! How do you do it? Looks like you have a windscreen / pop filter, correct? What mic are you using? Is it set for cardioid? How far is it from the windscreen?

[@EkalavyaDas]

Did you master / tweak the audio that you used for this video? What did you do?

[@ProductionAdvice]

Thanks - I have a Blue Yeti USB mic on a stand roughly 8 inches from my face - it's below the view of the camera, tilted up slightly to point at my mouth. And yes, there's a pop filter but it's not especially effective, the Yeti is very sensitive to pops. I use it set to cardiod pattern. There's no mastering, just some very mild processing - I have a low cut filter @ 90 Hz to reduce pops and thumps, plus a 2 dB cut @ 125 Hz because my voice is naturally a bit boomy at that frequency. I also have a de-esser to take the sibilance back a few dB, again that's for the sound of my voice. I also have some light de-noising to reduce fan noise from my computer's graphics card - it's in the room with me. Otherwise there's nothing going on - I tweak the vocal levels occasionally to keep things consistent, but that's it. I also have acoustic treatment in the room which helps keep it under control. Hope that helps !

[@EkalavyaDas]

@@ProductionAdvice Ian, thank you so much for your detailed reply. This is exactly what I wanted to know. The sound of your voice is super clear. I will use this video as a reference for good sound in making a youtube tutorial. I have visited your website, subscribed, and have been checking out the cool plugins that you have designed. I feel fortunate to have come across your offerings to the audio community.

[@ProductionAdvice]

My pleasure, glad it's helpful !

[@EkalavyaDas]

@@ProductionAdvice Yes, very helpful. Why no compression? I always thought that having some compression on the voice over would be helpful.

[@halrinach6]

I could not find the unmastered examples. I got the rescue files but it seems that the mixes are already mastered. Could someone post the link with the unmastered versions ?

[@ProductionAdvice]

'Promises and Lies' is here: cambridge-mt.com/ms/mtk/#JohnnyLokke 'Another Day Calling' is here: cambridge-mt.com/ms/mtk/#TurnBackToSpring Look over to the right for this link in each case: Unmastered Mix (WAV)

[@halrinach6]

@@ProductionAdvice Thank you so much Ian. Can´t wait to watch next episode.

[@ProductionAdvice]

@@halrinach6 My pleasure, glad you liked it !

[@AndyA1234]

A mix shouldn't be sent with hiss, clicks or blemishes. The dynamics of the song are surely a Production decision (eg. relative loudness of verses, choruses and middle 8.)?

[@funkybunkerv-sessions649]

Great series of videos. Really useful and informative. My mix already sounds better! :)

[@soundonsound]

Glad you are enjoying them. Ian S is a great explainer.

[@aprylrittenhouse4562]

I just subscribed. Ive got a qustion about mastering. Was it more ear back in thec70s. As to todays wavelabs. Im just wondering what mastering was like back then.

[@Bikerboythousand]

Do you do a video/series of videos of getting it to a proper quality from scratch? These are already mixed files, not straight out of a synth/whatever. This is where i am absolutely useless. Can I come and live in your house for a short time to see how you do it? I am fully house trained and apart from the noise, mess and general unwanted smells.... you wont know I'm there

[@AndyA1234]

Remember the old saying that you can't polish a t*rd. The mix should be right in the first place. Mastering is the final polishing of the music.

[@raminpartovi734]

Quality content!

[@Erocapi]

[@jesusjoelgarcia8115]

How come your room for this video is so boomy

[@jnanankur666]

kept waiting to see his effects chain😭

[@neilhampson]

Did he say mickrophone?

[@newlin83]

why is he talking about CDs in 2020? This should be mastering for Apple Music, Netflix, and KZbin. Unless this video is much older?

[@TheEJ1408]

Steinberg gives 50% off on WaveLab until October 7. Just saw it on their web.

[@Dreadwinner]

🖤🧡🧡💜🖤🖤💚🤎💙

[@danielrains2055]

9 minutes in.....

[@Funkybassuk]

The two thumbs down are clearly from ex-wives.

[@harry2house536]

Could be also collectors 😏

[@thegroove2000]

Izotope.

[@ulricvoncatalyst1507]

Not necessarily - people leave thumbs-downs for all kinds of reasons. For example: your comment got a thumbs down from me for being the sort of cliched neanderthal bullshit that should have gone the way of the dinosaur several decades ago.

[@carlosgueddes729]

This is simply a commercial for wave labs nothing more nothing less you cannot master your own music you’re losing out if you do that that’s just my opinion when you think about the great recordings of yesteryear those recordings where accomplished using a three-step process tracking ,mixing and mastering. That process involves three different people. nowadays it is all in one because they feel it’s more convenient that’s why music sounds the way it does the recordings of today cannot hold a stick to the recordings of the analog days now keep in mind analog is much more limiting then digital I know that and except that that said you cannot master your own stuff you’re losing out if you do.

[@MrMorganMakesMusic]

i agree with you almost completely but have to dispute the idea that tracking and mixing cannot be achieved by the same person. even in the analog world this often happens, and while it can be limiting, it can also improve the overall finished product, as the person who set up the recording session can have a more intimate or intuitive knowledge of how the tracks need to be mixed.

[@carlosgueddes729]

Well you certainly have a point when it comes to intimacy no pun intended but just think about this for a minute as I said in the last reply new ears 👂 to any project can give you a new perspective especially if you have the budget to hire someone that is world renowned I’m not gonna get into names but you know who I speak i of , if you hold some merit to my opinion.. just saying , I’m tired of wave labs pushing this narrative when most of the stuff I hear is straight garbage...

[@embiebie3063]

if mastering should 've been discovered or revealed to the average basic daw users...then master engineers like ian would have no job anymore , ...i know from experience ,,i can setup my daw to roll a wav in ....in a certain way so it flops out a ready master in sound en loudness.. and adjust a few automations for sqeez or roll ofs .....what i try to say ....without of all the information around ..loudness sweetspots and equalizations and phase allignments , mid side balance ...room applies , post pre faders etc.. it is possible for a basic average daw user / producer ,/ basic mastering diehard to master like a pro.. only thing u need is a fresh made ready template , and the know how ...how to present the wav to this template...