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.

‘[Musical Mastering: How Mastering Can Affect Genre and Feel, and Vice Versa](https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/musical-mastering-genre-and-feel.html\)’

Musical Mastering: How Mastering Can Affect Genre and Feel, and Vice Versa

by Ian Stewart, iZotope Contributor May 17, 2021

Mastering is often viewed as a precise science—a clinical last step in getting a song or album ready for release and distribution. This sentiment tends to bolster the notion that somehow, there’s no room for creativity in mastering. But ask almost any mastering engineer and they’ll tell you that they also view their work as the final creative step in musical distribution.

How to Use Match EQ to Reveal That Pro Mix Sound

Today’s post was originally posted in 2018. It has been updated to include a video tutorial to illustrate the procedures below.

from Why Logic Pro Rules — Chris Vandeviver

Records of the Year: An Analysis of the 2021 GRAMMY® Nominees

The GRAMMY® awards are on March 14th, and there’s a lot to learn by analyzing some of the records that have been nominated. But where to start? There are so many questions surrounding music production, mixing, and mastering, especially now that streaming services have started to move towards loudness-normalized playback. How loud should I make my master? What tonal balance should I aim for? How high should I set my limiter ceiling? How dynamic should my record be?

iZotope posted a fine article examining the tonal contours of some of the 2021 GRAMMY® awards

Power to the People: Simple DIY Mastering with Ozone

by Jett Galindo, iZotope Contributor June 29, 2020

Today’s innovations in music technology have empowered everyday creators to explore more complex production techniques. One thing, however, has remained a seemingly intimidating task for many: mastering. To the non-mastering engineer, it’s a discipline still shrouded in mystery, with many “how-to” resources overwhelming the everyday reader with technical jargon and difficult-to-digest techniques. And within the fast-growing DIY community, there still lies the challenge of not having easy access to state-of-the-art listening environments or professional mastering studios.