The debate and discussion over mastering is really getting hotter. It seems that mastering is a strange and very confusing audio technique which is necessary but at the same time confined to a niche of very few specialized mastering engineers. Is it really so difficult to understand? If so let's at first deal with the question, 'What is mastering?' or 'What is the definition of mastering in relation with audio?' Online Merriam-Webster dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mastering%20/17-04-2009/1:02 am) says, mastering is "3. to produce a master recording of (as a musical rendition)." Then Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_mastering 17-04-2009/1:05 am) with all the debates of its being too democratic to deal with the authenticity of knowledge, puts it as "Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the art of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master); the source from which all copies will be produced (via methods such as pressing, duplication or replication). The format of choice these days is digital masters, although analog masters, such as audio tapes, are still being used by the manufacturing industry and a few engineers who specialize in analog mastering. " Another very interesting definition of mastering has been given by an online journal Music Biz Academy.com ( http://www.musicbizacademy.com/articles/gman_mastering.htm /17-04-2009/1:10 am). It reads in a very attractive informal way, " Once you have finished recording and mixing your songs, the tracks are shaped, sculpted, scooped, equalized, compressed, and finessed into sonic splendor (well, you hope) through the audio process known as mastering. Mastering is what gives depth, punch, clarity and volume to your tracks. It is part science, part craft, and part alchemy. . . just like songwriting, singing, performing and recording." There are lot more ways how audio 'mastering' is being defined everyday all across the world. But from these three popular definitions of mastering it is very clear that mastering is a technique to produce a master copy or a final track for replication as well as to get the best continuous sound out of the recorded material. Achieving a sense of continuity through out a compilation of different tracks or a single track is also an essential goal of mastering.
Naturally the next point of curiosity brings in the question, " How to do mastering in relation with audio?" Now when recorded audio materials arrive at the desk of mastering engineer, he can do a few steps to achieve the goals of audio mastering as stated above. He can usually do the following manipulations,
Raise the overall level.
Raise the punch and warmth of the whole track.
Even out the track levels and Eq individual tracks (if available) for cohesion.
Correct minor mix deficiencies with eq and plug-ins.
Manipulate the space between different tracks as required.
Eliminate noises between tracks.
Of course all these steps require a lot of support of high-end good quality dedicated gears to achieve the best quality of sound. For a basic mastering studio the required gears are as follows.
EQUALIZERS
COMPRESSORS
CONSOLE
CONVERTERS
TUBE GEAR
DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATIONS
MONITORS.
In the market there are many high-end professional audio gears, which could be bought to get a good mastering set-up. For your convenience I am giving a set of good equipments that could make a high quality mastering set-up.
1. EQUALIZERS
Massenburg Labs (http://www.massenburg.com/)
Avalon (http://www.avalondesign.com/)
Sontec
Weiss (http://www.weiss.ch/)
Mellennia Media (http://www.mil-media.com/)
Pultec
2.COMPRESSORS
Daniel Weiss (http://www.weiss.ch/)
Focusrite Blue 330 (http://www.focusrite.com/)
Tube-Tech (http://www.tube-tech.com/)
Millennia Media (http://www.mil-media.com/)
3.CONSOLE
Crookwood (http://www.crookwood.com/)
4.CONVERTERS
Apogee (http://www.apogeedigital.com/)
Mytek (http://www.mytekdigital.com/)
5.TUBE GEAR
Giltronics
6.DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATIONS
SADiE (http://www.sadie.com/sadie_home.php)
Sonic Solutions (http://www.sonic.com/)
7.MONITORS.
B&W (http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/display.aspx?infid=2441)
Dynaudio Acoustics (http://www.dynaudio.com/flash-index.php)
Courtsey: http://www.discmakers.com/
Useful Links:
1.http://www.discmakers.com/soundlab/masteringgear/index.asp
2. http://www.discmakers.com/soundlab/advice/index.asp
3. http://www.discmakers.com/soundlab/whatismastering/index.asp
4.http://www.musicbizacademy.com/articles/gman_mastering.htm
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