Avoid These 8 Common Mastering Mistakes | Pro Tools | Production Expert

There has long been a debate on the topic of self mastering. Many believe it’s impossible for anyone to master their own mixes… yet many do. Personally I do master the music I work on and the world hasn’t swallowed me up yet. There are of course very good reasons for hiring a pro mastering engineer, not least for their all important subjective “second set of ears” that will highlight all manner of pros and cons in a mix. All of this can really help elevate the results of a master, however, this post isn’t about how to collaborate with mastering engineers, instead we are highlighting a number of mastering mistakes to avoid if you master your own music. I’m not going to discuss the pros and cons of mastering your own music but I will say it does come with a number of challenges that you should be aware of, if you want your masters to sound amazing… starting with:

A good set of things to remember (or forget). It is a master, not a mix. The goal is a finished, high-quality recording.

Vocal Production Tips! A Mega List To Check Out | Production Expert

There are many significant junctures capable of enhancing or undermining the quality of a song’s vocals. In this article, iZotope Contributor Philip Nichols shares some common vocal production practices—some to use and some to avoid. Of course, it’s best to start at the source.

A great refresher when doing pre-production work. It really helps to know how you plan to make your recording the best it can be,

Mixing In Stereo — Everything You Need To Know To Make Your Music Mono Compatible | Production Expert

Think you know everything there is about mixing in stereo? Think again. FabFilter has published an excellent three part video series produced by Dan Worrall titled How To Mix In Stereo Without Sucking In Mono. This series is extremely well presented explaining stereo mixing fundamentals, panning, stereo microphone placement, phase, the effects of comb filtering, width, mono compatibility and more.

I just watched the first part — “Toeing the Blumlein” and stayed fascinated throughout.

I do a lot of mono monitoring to make sure things don’t get lost, but I rarely make changes that will make the mono mix down work really well. These videos are an excellent pointer.

Using Logic built-in plug-ins I think it will require several steps (made easy by the FabFilter tools)

Bus effects — independent panning required?

Logic EQ would need to have two instances, one for Mid and one for Side. Probably 2 aux channels…no, simply use the EQ in “Dual Mono” mode and work with Mid and Side channels as desired. Unfortunately there are no documentation resources for the “Dual Mono” mode of the EQs in Logic. The documentation says use two plug-ins. I will try to compare other EQs and see how easily things can be adapted.

Ozone 9 EQ essentially has both available “easily” along with pan and width.

Mid, Side, and Everything In Between (A Mid/Side Deep Dive)

Mid/side processing is an undeniably powerful technique, and one which gives the mastering engineer a wide range of sonic sculpting tools not available with traditional stereo processing. However, as we all learned from Spiderman’s Uncle Ben, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

IK Multimedia has a nifty new EQ — T-Racks EQual…

IK Multimedia — EQual

The new EQual digital equalizer is a 10-band, ultra-clear, high-end parametric equalizer with an extremely transparent sound, ultra-precise editing and a vast array of filter shapes that are based on the typical curves of classic British and American analog EQ’s. This incredibly flexible “hybrid monster” gives you the best of both worlds — digital precision with transparent clarity and on-demand analog character that works perfectly for high end mastering as well as individual track work.

Also need to look at the Imagers….