Keeping a keyboard handy to determine the key of the song is a great way to learn to know the song when you are mastering. The EQ actually tends to be more musical on the keynotes of the master track and this gives us a head start when looking for our frequencies to boost (or dip if you are looking for problem notes). If a song is played in A major and you think it needs a push somewhere around […]
Also known as “EQ yin & yang”, contrasting EQ effects are the principle that every (wide) EQ change has an interactive effect. Every (low q) EQ change you do to the master track effects the mix as a whole. But depending of where you do the EQ change there is also an contrasting spot in the spectrum. For example a dip at around 8kHz gives a similar effect as when you are boosting at around 250Hz. Contrasting EQ in mastering […]
Mastering frequency chart This is a great eq frequency chart that you can use when mastering. I got it free with the book “mastering audio” by Bob Katz (that I highly recommend to read as a mastering engineer). You can find smilar charts online if you don’t find this one suitable. With these charts you can easily point out the frequencies of the instrument that you want to change with your equalizer. This is especially a great tool when you are not that familiar […]
Loudness matching One important thing to think about when you are mastering audio and music is to always loudness-match the material with reference songs first. After that you can set the characteristics with EQ etc. You have to keep the reference songs and the material you are about to master at the same perceived volume. I recommend that you use LUFS (Loudness units full scale) to measure the loudness. If your DAW (digital audio workstation) use RMS (if you don’t know, […]
Audio delivery checklist Here is a checklist to look through before delivering the audio material to a mastering studio. A summary checklist is provided at the bottom of the page. If you have any additional questions about your delivery please feel free to mail us at spektrummastering@gmail.com Before exporting To make sure the music isn’t clipping, set your project with a headroom of -6dBfs. Though remember that you will get better result if you lower the volume of every channel […]
We just bought a vintage Neumann U473 mastering compressor for the studio. It has previously been used in a French vinyl pressing plant.