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Mastering your audio recording is a very important step that you should consider before you manufacture or release it to the public. Many people overlook this step simply because they are not familiar with what mastering is. Mastering is simply the process of preparing and transferring all of your audio sources to one final source by which all the replicated copies will be produced. Today, the delivery format of popularity is the digital format, however, some still prefer to use analog, such as analog tape. Though in the internet driven world we all live in today, even those analog tapes will more than likely get converted to a digital format of some sort for consumers listening on CD’s, Ipods, media players, etc. Hopefully through this article, you will have a better understanding of what mastering is and through this knowledge you will choose the right mastering engineer for your project.

To begin, before you enter or approach any mastering engineer, you should have a few things ready to go. This list will help the mastering engineer and it will also just make your session go smoother. Make sure you check with your mastering engineer to see what types of formats are accepted (digital or analog). If you are delivering digital data on a hard drive, DVD, CD, etc., check to see what file formats are accepted. The most widely known are file formats are.wav and.aiff. You also want to make sure you have the right sample and bit rates. Here is a few of the standard rates: 44.1 KHz, 48 KHz, 96 KHz, 16 bit, and 24 bit. You should note that the MP3 format is generally frowned upon due to the fact that they are compressed data and they are limited in bandwith. MP3 convertors generally get rid of frequencies in the lower and higher spectrum to allow quicker streaming of audio over a network. It is best to not master MP3′s but rather master the.wav or.aiff files to preserve its sonic integrity.

You need to familiarize yourself with ISRC (International Standard Recording Code. ISRC’s are issued through the RIAA and will not cost you a penny. They are simply codes that are embedded in the audio during the mastering process for digital tracking purposes. These codes will ensure that you get paid through online distribution. In fact, most of the bigger medial players and digital distributors will not even accept your digital recordings unless you have these codes. You want to make sure that you apply for these codes well in advanced before your mastering session as they can take a few days to receive. The last bit of information that you will want to have for the mastering engineer is a track listing with all the text information you want to show up on players that read CD text. Generally, CD Text consists of album name, artist name, track name, and track artist name.

Once you present your mixes to your mastering engineer, he will listen first and then develop an overall understanding of what he can do to enhance them. He will likely run the audio through several devices in his chain such as equalizers, compressors, limiters, and spacial enhancers. Each device will produce a different effect so they are used to accomplish specific goals. Through compression and limiting, engineers are able to maximize the loudness of your mixes while preserving their natural dynamic range. After equalization, you should hear your mixes clearer than you have ever heard them before and you will also hear consistency between all tracks.

Another very useful tool used in mastering is the track spacing. This is how one track ends and the following track begins. Track spacing will dramatically effect the overall listening experience for your audience. When the mastering engineer has completed his work, you should have a consistent presentation with tonal balance and flow ready to present to the public or the manufacturing facility.