PROFESSIONAL MASTERING SECRETS

See how the best in the biz put the perfect finish on the world’s biggest tracks,

There are many schools of thought when it comes to the process of mastering, and the engineers that specialise in the field. Once seen as a clandestine community of secret boffins who practise sonic alchemy, the field of postmix and pre-production processing is now out in the open thanks to advances in digital technology, user-friendly mastering software and more awareness in general.

But what does the mastering process involve, exactly? Well, the term ‘mastering engineer’ is derived from the days of cutting vinyl, where a trained person would cut a ‘master’ lacquer from the original tape recording, which would then be sent off for mass production. In modern terms, it’s the final stage of a song or album’s production process, and also the initial stage of manufacture and distribution. Once an artist or mix engineer has created the best possible mix from the multitrack parts, he/she sends the final stereo mix to the mastering engineer, who takes the stereo file and applies any final correction and enhancement via careful EQ, compression, stereo processing, limiting and other treatments. Once the stereo mix sounds as consistent and polished as it possibly can, across as wide a range of playback systems as possible, the ‘ME’ then tackles any final editing, fades, sequencing (if mastering multiple tracks or an album), file conversion and submission for distribution.

Nowadays, we can all slap ‘do-it-all’ plugins on our master bus at the push of a button – so why pay a dedicated engineer when we have the techniques and software tools on our computers? Well, although you can master your own music, most record labels and clued-up artists still get their tracks mastered at professional studios by experienced engineers who use expensive analogue equipment, acoustically-treated rooms and monolithic full-range monitor speakers. And not only are you paying for the individual’s expertise and gear, but also for that impartial, tuned pair of ears to give your music the ultimate sheen.

To that end, we visited one of the world’s most revered mastering studios, London-based Metropolis Mastering ( metropolismastering.com). With over 20 years at the top of the game working on music for artists such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Adele, Blur and plenty more A-list clients, you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere better to send your final mix. Let’s find out how three of Metropolis’ resident gurus get the ultimate master polish…