Mastering: Should You Do It Yourself?

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[@earledaniels4539]

I am a hobby musician and have released my own Album and several singles. I love the entire creative process of recording, mixing and mastering and have always done all three processes myself (on all my own music). When I Master my own songs, I leave it for at least 2 weeks after the final Mix and the song always feels fresher.

[@scottakam]

It seems like the old adage of not checking your own work applies here. Although, this is more art than science and there isn't right or wrong.

[@elftone9301]

I'm about 3/4 of the way through Home Studio Mastering. I love It! You're teaching an old dog some new tricks and skills. Terrific course! Thanks Joe.

[@JazzBear]

I love how Studio One allows instant access to the original mix when you’re mastering. Such a great program.

[@oinkooink]

How does that work?

[@Sesaon3]

When you have learned how to mix I agree you should learn how to master as the critical listening required will improve your own mixes. I also agree that you should not master your own music (apart from the first album/EP to say you have the T-Shirt!) as a trusted second pair of ears is such good quality control. Part of the music creating process is learning to let go of "your baby/babies" - I find handing them to someone else to master helps so much with that; and when people hand me their "baby/babies" I appreciate the love and sweat that has gone into producing them and act appropriately.

[@DerekPower]

I think of mastering as the "optimisation of the final mix for your intended medium for distribution". (Mixing, therefore, is "making the individual elements work together to form a cohesive whole". Tracking/recording is "acquiring the individual elements")

[@larrycavallucci3258]

Derek! Great definitions, and you hit the nail on the head on all three.

[@clowncarqingdao]

Thumbs up for the very question .... will listen on ... well, my thoughts too. I kind of want someone to master my mixes, yet at the same time I would also hate to pay someone to do a worse job than I would do. Pay I would if someone is better than me.

[@piktormusic2538]

Joe, thanks for sharing these thoughts. Helpful, as always.

[@PSTproductsChannel]

Your expertise is great and I’ve learned a lot from you and enjoy to follow your channel… but one more thing: your voice is awesome 👍

[@MattLeFaitMusic]

Great video man!

[@MrMartinWC]

Thank you, Joe, from someone who lives in… Australia 😃

[@wolfgangdevries127]

It's fun to do. This month I started applying LP/HP filters after my limiter. By now I got a better understanding of the midrange. The first time I applied the "NS10 filter", my master was peaking 3dB+ in the red. Now I can apply several filters and they all peak where they should peak in a 0.1dB range. Also a great way to figure out where the energy is in a mix. It all, obviously in hindsight, sounds way better than before.

[@chrisdunnettmusic]

Nailed It!

[@shevyjohn9308]

Well big pro mastering engineers were just like us once upon a time so if one practice which will take a long while and using good equipments and good room treatment you will get like them

[@officialWWM]

I write my own songs, play all the instruments, sing all the lyrics, mix the songs then yes, I master it. I don’t have a budget for mastering. Also, I have Ozone 10 and it works great :)

[@holvix2musicreport958]

I would say yes to the first two questions. Why? After recording and mixing , i save an wait 2 weeks to review the full song an then master the recording a another week later.

[@Anders01]

Yes, I think mastering is fun and it's also a practice for me. And it's interesting to try different mastering chains to find out what it can do to the mix. That's different than top professional mixing engineers who send their mixes to mastering engineers who have all kinds of fancy analog gear.

[@paulfownes5001]

I always have two or three songs on the go at the same time. So I'll finish recording one, then go back to another and mix it, then master that or even a third. I used to write stories, and, again, have two on the go at the same time. It's a bit schizophrenic, but I can't do it any other way. Unless I find a friend to exchange mastering with lol.

[@marcotrosi]

not only related to mastering, but what I would like to be able is to get the soul and life of the 70s recordings. For me they are the pinnacle of music production. After that the loudness war started (don't quote me) and til today mixes lost more and more their soul and life. I don't like todays mixes very much, especially not in comparison to the 70s. So what I need is a guide that explains how to mix like in the 70s, instead of how to use Compressor and Limiter and EQ tricks to make every instrument more audible. Why would I want a hospital clean mix if it is lifeless and basically acoustically dead? Musicians normally put their heart and emotions into a song, and then everything gets flattened by the mixing engineer. Great. That's not what I want.

[@TheHirade]

In a perfect world, mastering should be only about loudness (... for the different target platforms too) We look always to have a mix that don't need any further tone manipulation.

[@pjsnijdersmusic]

I'm actually pretty convinced that if your mix is great in balance, there is not much mastering needed. I only use a limiter in my mastering process, very little EQ or compression.

[@eddy2fast260]

After hearing my song all day while recording all guitars and vocals and mixing. I think it sounds fan fkn tastic. And everyone deserves to hear this great song. Hear it a few days later and im so releaved no one but me heard it. My proublem is i write a song, record it. And then NEVER play it again. If asked to play my songs i cant, i dont know them 😂 So im learning and creating the song on the day of recording after a rough write up of an idea is down on paper. I love it now, but fk!!!!! I srtruggled for years this way. But how else without a band. My tip is : Record a song and master it. But dont do anything further to it. Repeat this for say 3 songs. Take a break for a few days then go back and listen to the shit you mastered and do whatever to turn it back into the great song you know it is. Let the song tell you what it needs. Learn how to hear its hidden voice directing you. " Feeeeeelll !!!!.... Its like a finger pointing to the sky. Dont concentrate on the finger.... or... you will miss all... that heavenly glory" Bruce Lee

[@piscesman54]

I don't know. It's a bit like sending your child off to some boarding school. It has to be not only someone you really trust, but also someone with whom you have some kind of conceptual affinity. I've seen fairly good mixes come back from the mastering engineer not necessarily sounding bad, but just not what the producer was aiming at. Having said that, it is an art and a craft, and like all arts and crafts, it has a learning curve. I would rather keep trying even if I don't get it right from day one. Let's face it, unless it's way off or out of balance, 99% of listeners will never notice the minor flaws and subtleties that would make a pair of trained ears cringe. Does that mean we can get sloppy? Definitely not, but I don't buy that if your song isn't mastered by some wizard, it won't sell. The Beatles' first albums (and even the last ones) had tons of flaws. Those songs sold millions of records because they were good, not because they were expertly mastered.

[@anhellehna6858]

Talk about bureaucracy, Joe!! I've always been concerning about the consequences in the distribution process that the master engineer of my recordings claim to have a part of rights on my music, if I send it to him to master my song. Because Distribution service ask if you own the all rights of the final master of the song. Do I still own all the rights of my song that I've recorded every piece of instrument, but sent the project to a mixing engineer and then to a master engineer that I hired professionally? If not Joe, someone with a real life experience could also answer my question. I'm open to every answer of help.

[@GaryMeadowsMusic]

I try to get away from my mix for a week or so, then go back with a fresh outlook. Also, let others hear and get their opinions. I have had songs mastered, but it's an extra expense.

[@John2009R]

Hi Joe, enjoyed and learned from your video as usual. Question: when you are mixing and mastering your own song, aren't you temped to just do it in the same project? What if, from your example, you find the snare gets too quiet from the mastering. You could just tweak the mix rather than do real wizardry in the mastering.

[@noodletribunal9793]

i think ill get great value from having a professional do it for me the first time so they can tell me what mistakes i made in mixing(fairly certain ill make a lot)

[@insomnia1on1]

Will you ever try mixing in Atmos??

[@steeliewheelies]

I do a lot of EQ, use of limiters & fine tuned compression in my mixing. Will that make the mastering more difficult/less effective? Am I lowering the quality of my mixes by attempting to semi-master them before they’re mastered? Should I even be concerned with the quality of the Master-Track of a Mix?

[@Sesaon3]

Roland I think you'll find the vast majority of Mastering Engineers will recommend not using a limiter on the mix bus and leaving about 3-6db of headroom between the peak signal and 0dB Full Scale as this will give them room for manoeuvre. It's easier to cook a rare steak further to taste but an over cooked one is well ... over cooked. Definitely OK to use EQ and gentle compression on the mix bus (top down mixing). As to the last question make your mix sound as radio ready as possible - the ideal goal is to let the Mastering Engineer add a limiter and turn it up so it sounds great and nothing else required - rarely happens because we are all still learning how to make the perfect mix :-)

[@kenmasuda7696]

Funny just got this to my inbox. Coincidence? idk. I did consider Artificial Intelligence programs for mastering last night however. What is your take on that direction? It is very intriguing.

[@legendarysolidproductionsl6299]

Hi, I am mixing and mastering engineer but I'm always ITB, I would like to ask if you still using studio live mixer in your studio and can you hook it up with and outboard gear? My main daw is protools.

[@WhistleVenky]

When I use noise gate (up to 30 db) to remove floor noise (i can't avoid floor noise as i live next to a highway), my whistle song is getting choppy. How to set gate control to eliminate floor noise without affecting the song audio. Here is a sample of my Whistle song, pls guide me : kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYCri42OeJmoeLc

[@gregtapevideo1464]

I am on studio one artist. No mastering tools.

[@michaelstubbings8677]

You can 'master' in SO Artist by putting EQ, Limiters etc on the Main Output Channel

[@gregtapevideo1464]

@@michaelstubbings8677 yea. Done that. But no multiband compressor or expander or the other cool toys!!

[@verdi260]

Dear Joe who else would do it if not me?

[@peterbrandt7911]

No!

[@besenkopf77]

If you're a hobbyist who isn't any good, no "pro" with any amount of experience or expensive gear is going to make your bad music good. If you're a hobbyist who is good, the few people who hear your music will like it, no matter how it's mastered. People still listen to Louis Armstrong's hot fives/sevens, Robert Johnson, and Charlie Parker. If you're a hobbyist, it doesn't matter if it's "radio ready" or "streaming service ready" anyway, because nobody is going to hear it. You're making music for yoirself, so why let someone else decide how it's going to sound? Of course, if you're a dentist or a blues lawyer, you can afford it anyway, so have a ball. But for anyone else, why bother?