The "problem" with mastering tutorials online is that it is very difficult to hear the subtle changes to the audio. Expert mastering tips and techniques are often given without a context and most (great!) tutorials are highly genre dependent. The result - you might not be able to accurately apply the tools and techniques to your own music. My solution to this is a 5 step mastering system that will give you consistent, repeatable results in any genre and using the skills you already have.

My usual long-form content includes many "before and after" audio examples and demonstrations. Learning to listen for these subtle changes takes many examples, lots of time and plenty of practise on your own music. I decided to outline the whole process here instead of wasting time on overly specific audio examples.

Save this video and watch it step by step when you next master your own music.
View this as though you have a friend working with you as you master your own music. You don’t need to watch the whole video and try to remember everything, just take it step by step and you’ll have an amazing master by the end.

0:00 - What's this all about?
1:10 - Step 1 - Error and Phase Check
3:49 - Step 2 - Balance and Tone
8:28 - Step 3 - Loudness Target
10:14 - Step 4 - Dynamic Range Reduction
11:10 - Step 5 - Final Limiting and Dither
13:09 - How To Improve


Notes and Tools Used:

Throughout this video, I use some plugins for the examples. These are only a tiny selection of the possible tools you can use. However, some of the basic tools you need are listed below:

DAW or Audio Editor (They can all do this. Ableton, Pro Tools, FL Studio, Cubase etc)
A dedicated editor such as iZotope RX is useful but not essential.

EQ - Any high-quality EQ with Mid/Side and Left/Right filters. Good options include TDR Slick EQ M, ProQ3 and Ozone Equaliser.

Compressor - A good compressor with as many controls as possible. Ideally controls over knee, peak and RMS release such as the free TDR Kotelnikov. Pro C2is a good premium option etc

Analogue Style EQ - Used for tone shaping, there are hundreds of free and premium options. Ideally with stepped 0.5 or 0.25 dB increments. These make it easier to dial in subtle amounts of processing.

Clipper - A clipper with a “Soft” clipping mode. A free option is Venn clip although it is a little difficult to dial in. A trusted premium option is StandardClip by Sir audio, although I have not used it personally.

Limiter - Ozone Maximiser, Pro L2, Sonnox Oxford Limiter v2, TDR Limiter No6 GE (the new one) are all great options. There are so many to choose from, I prefer a limiter with as many controls as possible.

Transient shaper - A multi-band transient shaper such as BSA Reviver is a great way to bring back some dynamic range and punch to your master.

Loudness Meter - Your limiter might have a built in loudness meter, but I have always trusted the Youlean Loudness Meter 2 (Free or Pro). LUFS are simply a measurement of perceived loudness relative to the dB scale. LUFS are the primary loudness unit used during mastering to asses the average and short term loudness. However, dB True Peak is still used for the absolute loudness ceiling.

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