Concepts for Final Mastering of Music

 

An album of music should be treated as whole, not as many individual songs. Yes, each song does need to be looked at and worked on individually, but the project needs to flow from top to bottom in a logical way. These are my goals for every project I master.

 

  1. Each song needs to sound the best that it can, this includes Clarity, Warmth, and Level.
    1. Clarity – Songs should start and end cleanly with no hiss or buzz. Reverbs should trail out smoothly and not sound clipped. Songs should be easily understood at loud and soft volumes.
    2. Warmth – Songs should sound sonically large with an extended low end and bright crisp high frequencies without being harsh on the listener’s ears.
    3. Level – Songs should fill the sonic capabilities of the medium that it is being distributed on (CD, Tape or Vinyl).

  1. The collection of songs is an album of music, and should be treated as such. This means that the album should have a distinct flow for the listener, from the first to the last song. This includes Placement, Spacing and Volume.
    1. Placement – Songs should be placed in a logical order. This can be subjective. Possible examples are: putting the lead single first or not putting to many slow songs in a row. The purpose of this to keep the listener interested throughout the whole album.
    2. Spacing – Time between songs is important. Sometimes it’s good to have very little or no time between songs (ex. Fast loud songs) other times leaving extra time between songs is good so the listener can reflect on what was just heard (ex. love song or ballad)
    3. Volume – An album of music should sound consistent with other albums on the market. The flow of an album is dependent on the volume changes from one song to the next. Dance songs should be loud while love songs will have a lower apparent volume. What I mean by this is that dance songs tend to have louder overall sounds including fast, loud bass drums, constant percussion and loudly sung vocals, whereas love songs or ballads will have softly played string instruments, light percussion and vocals that are sung with tender emotions.

 

If a dance song feels louder than a love song that’s ok, but if a love song is louder or equal to a dance song the dance song will seem less exciting to the listener. Quiet songs sometimes have elements that are loud, particularly percussion instruments. Sometimes a song will build to a grand moment making the song beginning and end seem low. This is why song placement and spacing are important. By leaving extra space between a dance type song and a love song the listener will not feel as if the volume has gone down but only that the mood has changed.

 

Tim Conklin

Taurus Dog Productions