You have a song, you’ve mixed it up, and you’re happy about it. Probably months have past since you’ve had a decent rest, and you think you’ve said all that could be said. Now, friends and advisors tell you to master it. Come on, after all the effort? Well, if you want to succeed. Here are the 4 main reasons mastering improves your submissions.
It sounds more professional
No matter how much effort you put into audio mastering your track, the fact that it’s there is enough to make reviewers and agents more interested in you. Doing the mastering yourself is a thing, yeah, but don’t expect you’ll do a great job first few times. Anyways, if the reviewers are able to hear that there were some tweaks here and there, they’ll be surer you mean business.
A quality mastering won’t make a bad song good, but it can emphasize your strengths. If you’re doing a mediocre job with it, you’d better have a whole hit worth re-mastering. The listeners will also feel it. Tracks without mastering sound robust, kind of dirty, and unbalanced, and this will stay no matter how well you mixed it up.
It really balances the song
EQ and other tricks of the trade make the bad noises simply disappear, and the good ones get an appropriate care. With audio mastering, your mixing will be taken to another level, to the fact that all your bits and pieces of the song work together.
Don’t make me tell you a story of this guy, really talented, bringing me a demo deck back in the day with two songs. But I’ve heard three! He didn’t have the cash to finish the second song in one go, so he waited until he had the time and cash. Same equipment, but a little nudge on the dial, made it sound like two different songs. With good mastering we were able to balance the odds out and make a coherent story of the track.
No need to tell you about the stereo trips and how wider you can make your song!
Noise requirements
Don’t tell me – you’re a Dj or a Band that want to make a difference in the sound and loudness is your staple? Well, that ain’t how that goes. On most popular music submission websites, there are loudness regulations that dictate how loud a song can go. Even if you pass the submission, the algorithm will make sure your track doesn’t pass the decibels in question. And that means ALL of the track will be turned down!
The world of perceived loudness
Don’t let the last story worry you, because here’s where the mastering can really help you out. Not only will the process make sure no machine can detect any part of the song as too loud, no. The true art of mastering starts with the professionals (and you one day hopefully) knowing the ways to get into your listeners head and make it SOUND louder even though it isn’t.
