Mastering Cheat Sheet

Mastering music is an art all of its own, and is very often misunderstood. It is the
process of creating a final product that is polished compatible with the the platform the
music is going to be distributed on. During this process, the music receives dynamic
control, EQ, and limiting.

Mastering Prep
Before mastering a track, it is important to get a high quality mix that is prepped for
mastering. During our process, we make sure the mix is not hitting louder than -6, or -3
at the very loudest parts. This will ensure that you have plenty of room for eq and
compression while mastering.

Once the mix is ready to be bounced, bounce it into a stereo WAV file to achieve the
highest quality. After the mix has been bounced, import it into a new session (we use
Pro Tools for mixing and mastering, but use whatever is comfortable for you will work)
with the same sample rate and bit depth settings that you bounced the WAV file.

PRO TIP: Bounce your mix in 88.2 sample rate and 24 bit before you master. This
will give your mix a much wider stereo image and a more HD sound.

Dynamics/Compression
When we master our buss compressor goes first. A good compressor for you to
experiment with is one that comes with Pro Tools that is called “Impact” (not included
with Pro Tools First, only with Pro Tools Standard and Ultimate. We would suggest SSL
Buss Compressor from Waves for $29). Put this as the first plugin in your chain.
Experiment with the attack and release times.

A slower attack (30ms) will give you more punch on your tracks, and it will feel more
open. A faster attack will give you more control and smoothness, but can quickly over
compress if you’re not careful.

A faster release will give you more life and animation on your tracks, while a slower
release time will give you a thicker heavier feeling track.

As for ratio, a lower ratio is usually best when mastering. We typically use 2:1 and
sometimes 4:1 depending on how “tight” we want the sound to be. If you are mixing
big 808s and bass, 2:1 will give you a bigger bottom end.

Be carful when using the threshold on the compressor. You are not going to want very
much compression on the master. Generally we will have 1-3 dbs of compression on
our master compressor.

Saturation
Saturation is the process of adding distortion or thickness to a track in the mastering
stage. In our process, the saturation comes after the compression. A great plugin for
you to experiment with for saturation is the “Decapitator” plugin from sound toys.
Experiment with the different styles of distortion (A, E, N, T, P) and see which one fits
your track. We generally stay with A, E and N, but any of them may work for you. Feel
free to mess with the “drive” knob, this is where the saturation comes from.

Once you have found a setting that works for you, mess with the “mix” knob on the
bottom right. This will allow you to blend the un-processed sound with the processed
sound until it feels just right.

EQ
After the saturation we use EQ. Generally we will use 2 EQs at this point. A good EQ for
you to experiment with is the “PuigTec” EQ from waves. This EQ will give you some
nice bottom end (30hz or 60hz) and a nice polished top end (12khz or 16khz) with a
little gain on both. Experiment with the “bandwidth” knob at the bottom as well. This
will increase or decrease the range of frequencies being boosted or cut.

PRO TIP: Using the a small amount of the “attenuation” knob next to the “boost”
knob on the PuigTec is a nifty trick that will allow you to get more control of the
frequencies and boost them more without them getting harsh or “in the way”.

After the PuigTec EQ we generally use the Fab Filter Pro Q3 in “linear phase medium or
high” mode. We use this eq to filter some of the extreme high end (above 20khz) and
some of the low end (below 20hz).

PRO TIP: You can experiment with using the S1 stereo imager from Waves at this
point in your chain to widen the master a little bit. Be careful not to widen it too
much or you will lose the middle of your master and it won’t sound as punchy.

Limiting
The final plugin for your mastering chain will always be a limiter. A good plugin for you
to use for limiting is the Waves “L2 Ultramaximizer” limiter. Set your output to -.5 and
use the “threshold” slider to gain the volume of your master to the desired loudness.
Be careful not to make it too loud here, this will squish all of the dynamics out of your
master and make it feel dull and lifeless.

PRO TIP: A very good, fairly inexpensive limiter for this exact purpose if the FGX
Limiter from Slate. It may be something you want to look into if you are going to
be doing a lot of mastering.
Loudness and Compatability
Today, mastering loudness is determined by “LUFS”. LUFS measure the overall
loudness of your music or audio file. On the LUFS scale, a larger number means
quieter, and a smaller number means louder. For instance, a song that is 12 LUFS will
be quieter and less compressed than a song that is 7 LUFS.

Generally we will bounce two master files, one that is louder for non-streaming (CD,
website etc.) and one that is a little quieter. Depending on the song, we will make the
loud master anywhere from 10 - 7 LUFS depending on the style of the music and the
request of the client.

Each streaming platform (iTunes, Spotify, YouTube etc.) has their own processing that
they put on every track that goes on their platform. To get a master that is widely
compatible with all platforms, we suggest you bounce your streaming master at 12
LUFS. It may seem quiet to you when you are bouncing, but once it goes on the
streaming platforms it will be as loud as every other track, and it won’t sound squished.

PRO TIP: If you don’t have a loudness meter, here is a link to a free metering
plugin: https://youlean.co/youlean-loudness-meter/

As always, experiment a lot and HAVE FUN!

-MasterFade Music