When we discussed the art of mastering in week 11, it was the first time I’d ever understood the difference between mastering and mixing! While this information was a little overwhelming I decided to have a crack at mastering my track. I like the idea that a good master can make the tune more listenable on a diverse range of contexts (Spotify, youtube, in the car or in headphones).
From what Mandy Parnell was talking about, I think the most important part of the mastering process is having a neutral set of ears…but, in lieu of such a set I mastered the track once (terribly) and then again (better) so I’d have a couple things to audition against each other to really hear the difference also against the mixed version.
Here’s an 8 bar section from each track so you can see the difference.
distortion happening 🙁
improvement on distortion and louder/clearer
For both mastered tracks I used Match EQ with Still Dreaming as the reference track to try to capture some of those luscious low end and sultry high end tones of the inspiration track. On the first Master I think I used a compression that was too heavy and also a Channel EQ preset that was too much (it was called Boom Box…), oops! We live and we learn though. Second Master, I used the warm vocal EQ to smooth out the lead vox and a gentler compression. I’m happy with the second attempt. I will submit that version, I think.
Here’s a soundcloud Master that I paid $8. Not too bad either…