WHY Pro Masters Sound Better Than Yours

Follow me on IG: josh.bartel
Audio Example: Cormac Grant - spacebetween
open.spotify.com/track/0e7HyZ...
00:00 - Mastering Definition
00:36 - Why do pro masters sound better than your masters?
02:30 - How can I get better at mastering?
03:19 - Mastering preface
03:48 - Mix
04:30 - Mix analysis
09:10 - Master
09:45 - Mix vs Master
11:12 - Level matched comparison
12:14 - Summary

[@DanBires]

A great master starts with a great mix. If you have a terrible unbalanced mix you won't get a good master. So it goes further than mastering. It starts way at the beginning of production. When a mastering engineer gets handed a high end production there is not much needed to add the final sheen to the mix because its almost there. Just that simple. I been around this all my life. So back in the day before mastering yes there was a time when no one mastered engineers made great final mixes and that's it. Now comes the digital age and things changed through editing. Master your mixing skills 1st if you are an engineer. If you just go into mastering that's great but if someone hands you a crap mix sorry a great master won't come from it. Your mix should be near close to almost a master mix itself. The master is the last stage that brigs a little more life and clarity or not. I have seen mixes come through that were so good there was barely anything needed for mastering. He is right just like anything the more you do it, education knowledge, mentoring under a pro or someone with experience will make a big difference. You notice now a days everyone is like I will show you this trick lol. Their tricks are just normal things not tricks. Just lack of knowledge. IT takes time and there are millions of videos on this stuff.

[@Josh.Bartel]

100%. This is great further insight that will apply to most of my audience as they’re mostly mastering their own mixes unlike myself

[@TangleWireTube]

Thanks for doing the level matched comparison. It was an impressive improvement. Especially in the low end, really brought the groove out of the track and upped the stank face factor. Really nice work.

[@PAZPERDEE]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge

[@sekritskworl-sekrit_studios]

Great content! I hope that I find that you have videos covering "compression".

[@Josh.Bartel]

Thank you! Can do compression videos, I’ll pop it on the to do list

[@TheSignOfficial]

Great content as always! I'm getting excited about your workflow with analog gear...maybe a studio tour next? With some explanation of which gear you use and when:))

[@Josh.Bartel]

Yesssss that’s great to hear. I have a plan to show a ‘mastering from start to finish’ and explain how and why I’m doing things so that should cover what you want to see 🙂

[@intoalter]

Would love to see a detailed full start to finish mastering video also how you izotope rx and everything included in one video!

[@Josh.Bartel]

I’ll make a little note in my video ideas of this. Great idea 👌🏼

[@Linguae_Music]

Oh thank you Josh!

nice 1, it would be very interesting to see you mastering more electronic music or hip hop music.

[@Josh.Bartel]

I could definitely showcase that 👌🏼

[@DepressedCapitalist]

I'll never get to this level of "quality quecking" but this video is great!

[@emiel333]

Great ❤ video. I’ve subscribed.

[@EdwinDekker71]

Great video, thanks

[@Josh.Bartel]

Glad you liked it!

[@themagicianofsound]

Very interesting, I'm new here and already love your channel and the quality of information provided here. You are one of the few mastering engineers on KZbin to match the mix and master level in your demo, and for me this is super important because streaming platforms like Spotify normalize the music to -14 LUFS. Even if the master is louder than the mix, if you upload the mix and master separately to streaming platforms, most of them will play them with the same LUFS loudness level, so we need to see what the real improvement is at the mastering stage and make sure the master sounds better than the mix. In your case, your master sounds much better than the mix, it's an excellent and perfect job. Have a nice day! 🌞 Kind Regards from Montreal, Canada! 🎼🃏🎵🎶😀👋

[@paulgreblick]

Amazing what the "after" was for that low end.

[@Josh.Bartel]

I LOVE the low-end in the master too!

[@Josh.Bartel]

Please excuse my stank face in the audio example

[@LonetrackTV]

great video, this channel needs more exposure asap!

[@CharlesK441]

Great video! Are you saying Streaky is misleading? 🤷🏾‍♂️😯🤔

[@Josh.Bartel]

haha nah I answered this in a previous comment. I'm not a fan of calling people out, i just searched mastering tutorial in youtube and scrolled through for b-roll.

[@CharlesK441]

@@Josh.Bartel 🙏🏾👍🏾🙏🏾

[@richertz]

I know you kinda agree - but hardware does make a difference. I’d do a video how far can you take plugins before hardware takes over (I can usually hear the subtle smoothness of hardware). I love plugins so it’s sometimes a shame they just cannot get there yet specially with the cost of hardware.

[@Josh.Bartel]

I completely agree. I think that would be a tough video to do objectively. The analogue version will sound better, mainly because I know how to use it better than plugins as that’s how I was trained. I’ll have a think of a way I can construct that video with less bias, but it does sound like an entertaining idea.

[@davidevans1420]

Finally illustrated your ability. Previous videos, not so much... :)

[@Josh.Bartel]

Haha let’s not talk about previous videos. I cringe whenever I watch them. Aiming to up the quality from here on.

[@pajarodebarro]

... the gear isn´t actually the issue ... haha... Thanks for the video! ...

[@lordberly]

Been quite awhile since your last upload

[@Josh.Bartel]

It has! Life and work has been a bit crazy this year so the KZbin videos have taken a back seat for while. Keen to get back into some regular uploads 👌🏼

[@surgicalaudio8829]

Want a Pro master ? Get a pro sounding track and then a pro sounding mix Fortunately you have both here ! So people hoping the master will do everything to their track , it's NO

[@Josh.Bartel]

Yes actually, I probably should’ve included that

[@synthoelectro]

it's also hard to mix a good song with muddy samples, or audio. Nothing in the world will make that amazing sounding easy. I once took 3 months from poor shoddy files to something beautiful, but it took great work.

[@tcibeatrecords4707]

When you get that stankie face you know your heading in the right direction 🎉

[@REMRODFILMS]

STANK FACE LMAO!!! GREAT JOB

[@mykdubz128]

Mastering tip #1: Listen through the whole song from zero to end. And yes, unfortunately there is a sad reason why I point this out.

[@jackc8120]

Blows my mind. Kids open youtube channels and they become instant mastering engineers. SO THEY THINK

[@saxmanash]

The more I see of this stuff, the more I come to the conclusion that I'll just have to be patient and learn while producing stuff. But then even great bands like Arctic Monkeys have admitted that they could barely play their instruments on their first album, so it's worth having a go and keep being open minded.

[@synthoelectro]

23 years of mixing and mastering. Every single master makes you better, and no software will fix that in a quick fix.

[@willowlacrosse3728]

Level matched the original mix sounds great and more balanced than the master, especially the bass. Could be KZbin conversion of course.

[@Josh.Bartel]

That’s very interesting! I absolutely love the bass in the master and the entire track sounds much more consistent, together and engaging to me. I prefer the listening experience musically of the master. Maybe I should have added a comparison to a reference track to show further why I went in that direction 🙂

[@paulgreblick]

I'm not arguing with your verbiage, but I couldn't stop listening to "only" the bass in the mix, then I noticed the fragile vocals, without knowing how to describe it until he said it. (I could have different monitors, though - try on phones - it'll maybe stick out there 👍🏻)

[@raabw8218]

@@Josh.Bartel bass sounds amazing in the master. willow's probably using phone speakers

[@willowlacrosse3728]

@@raabw8218 No I am not of course. I do have a well treated room with a professional monitoring system but this time I've listened on a pair of Sennheiser HD600 phones. Of course I do hear a powerful bass in this master but to me it sounds like a part of the ultra lows got a boost while somewhere in the middle I notice a small cut ( change in harmonics ). It's funny you mention phone speakers. I took the challenge to audition the mix on my iPhone and it's almost impossible to hear what the bass is doing. Usually a form of saturation is being used to give the bass a little more presence in low mid frequency territory. I am not an authority by any means so please have great day and enjoy music!

[@Josh.Bartel]

Yeah remember there are no real correct answers! Music is subjective and I appreciate everyone’s comments ❤

[@JeromeBanaay]

But first why pro Mixing engineers are sound better than yours

[@Josh.Bartel]

Future video idea 👀

[@FUFUWO]

😴😴😴😴😴

[@jackc8120]

What made you think my masters sound not as good as pro masters. They probably sound better

[@Josh.Bartel]

It's not personal haha. Just an educational video explaining the differences between amateur and pro.

[@aselma10]

No offense but the mix doesn't sound so amazing ( pre mastering)

[@Josh.Bartel]

I didn’t mix it so I’m glad you like my mastering haha so that’s actually a complement. I think all the elements of a good mix is there still.

[@sword-and-shield]

Why? Pro Mastering Engineers have years of experience. This is something most everyone these days calling themselves "Pro" don't have. Same with mixing, reading a book and following techniques is just the start, its like any trade, years of hands on make the difference between the hacks and the pro's. Mixing just allows more leeway then mastering when it comes to experience. If you are going to pay for mixing seek out those who mix with the ear like you want in your mix, with mastering? seek out the ones with years of hands on.

[@docsidetheaters4064]

The low end sounds absolutely fantastic.

[@sword-and-shield]

@@docsidetheaters4064 IF it matters, with some art and or artist's it doesn't.

[@dimitrisgakis9206]

Answer : Because they mastering mixes done by pros

[@davidasher22]

I like how you showed mostly Streaky thumbnails when mentioning misinformation. I still have a hard time believing that guys credentials. 😂 I feel like maybe he was good at his craft but had zero technical prowess. Or maybe he was just a rich kid who could afford the gear. But he says some back Assward stuff. And he’s pretty consistent with his flubbery. 😂

[@user-me6sj9qe2o]

Ive watched a bunch of his videos and I always get the sense that he kinda sorta understands things but explains them so awkwardly and without any real substance. His big appeal is to the drag and drop fire beats community. I have picked up a few interesting ideas from him though and you have to admire anyone that's a working professional in mastering. Josh's approach was far more sophisticated and thoughtful!

[@Josh.Bartel]

No no no hahahaha I was afraid someone might notice this. I literally just typed mastering tutorial in KZbin to get generic b-roll. This isn’t a specific roast haha

[@Josh.Bartel]

@@user-me6sj9qe2o That’s actually super flattering and that comment kinda made my day. I try to be brutally honest and open about the process. It can be very nuanced, so that’s why I always say ‘use your ears’ or ‘this isn’t a go-to rule’ because it’s true! The same approach won’t work on every track. So thank you for appreciating it 🙏🏻

[@davidasher22]

@@user-me6sj9qe2o yeah. Some people are just not good teachers. That doesn’t mean they don’t do their job well. I’ve seen some pretty big name engineers explaining things about how this compressor works or why they use this plugin for so and so, and their logic is so flawed but they get the sound they want. Guess you can’t fault that. But Streaky holds a special place in my heart because he’s constantly saying something totally backwards and mind baffling. He had some quick 60 sec trick the o5her day and he took a mono signal and sent it to two aux tracks and panned on right and one left and said “and now you have the beautiful studio quality spread!” But it was literally jus the same Mono vocal double. panned He must have forgotten to put something else in there like a delay or maybe two different reverbs. Idk. But it was hilarious. Th3 comment section was on fire. Oh well, I have a buddy who loves him.. so to each his own I guess. Lol

[@davidasher22]

@@Josh.Bartel oh man… my bad. Now I feel bad for talking shit. Lol smh. The way you lined up that clip with what you were saying gave me the wrong impression. But man. Streaky does say some ass backwards stuff sometimes. Read what I told the other person on this post about Streakys recent mix tip. But in his defense There is a difference between being able to master a record and being able to technically explain how to master records. Plus I think he got his start with the EDM scene out of Britain in the 90s. So it’s possible he was just the most sober level headed of his crew so they gave him the quality control job! Lol 😂. I don’t.. What I reall wanna know why they call him streaky! That could possibly answer a lot of questions. Lol

[@whatskraken3886]

i hate these snake oil mastering videos. mastering is not the silver bullet that will fix your mixes.

[@Josh.Bartel]

I agree that mastering isn’t a silver bullet that will completely fix your mixes. The scope of the video is about educating on the differences between pro and amateur mastering.

[@whatskraken3886]

@@Josh.Bartel A perfect mix needs no mastering beyond a limiter to achieve target loudness. Therefore, a "pro master" vs "amateur master" is really the difference between a pro mix an amateur mix.

[@Josh.Bartel]

Haha I feel like we’re mostly on the same page. I agree that a perfect mix doesn’t need processing. From my experience the vast majority of mixes will benefit from mastering (extra quality checking in an accurate room with the potential for improvements). Also, this video is about mastering specifically and is presented from a mastering engineer’s perspective. I’m comparing the difference in ones ability to master a track.

[@whatskraken3886]

@@Josh.Bartel You know what, fair enough

[@peterwalsh5068]

@@Josh.Bartel …and the scope in life is figure stuff out for yourself and learn. It’s basically saying you’re not pro, you’ll never be pro, you’ll never be as good as me, or the pros.