Whisper to a scream (short version)

[Pedaling Prince]

Thank you!
I'm on it, i will post a new version in the next days (work business).
Maybe a mastered one as well!

What do you mean by "mastered?"

Dictionary.com offers a myriad of definitions of the word "mastering," but for the purposes of this discussion I'm concerned mostly about definitions 2 and 20.

Definition 20, which is the "recording" definition, defines "mastering" as "a tape or disk from which duplicates may be made." That is ALL the term "mastering" means: the creation of the final "master" of a recording from which your copies will be made. Mind you, today that "master" is more likely to be a computer file than a tape or disk, but the principle is still the same: the creation of a "master" from which all the CDs, AACs, MP3s etc. will be created.

However, it seems to me that a lot of people now think of "mastering" more like Definition 2, "an owner of a slave, animal, etc.," as if "mastering" is some mysterious process more akin to breaking in a horse, as if the final mixdown is inherently "wild" in some way and must be "tamed" to sound its best. This belief has led to many unfortunate messes where otherwise fine recordings were totally destroyed in the attempt to "master" them. Case in point:

http://discussion.cambridge-mt.com/showt...9#pid13979

The shape of the sound of a recording is shaped not by "mastering" but by MIXING. All the decisions you make about the playback of each track in a mix, level, EQ, compression, panning, automation etc., THOSE are the decisions that create the sound of the final product. The ONLY thing that "mastering" actually does is take all those tracks and, based on the decisions you made about each track's sound, mixes them all together into the two tracks that ordinary stereos can play; that is, in fact, why the process is CALLED "mixing."

So basically all "mastering" is is the final mixdown you do once you're completely satisfied with your work; that mixdown, in turn, becomes the "master" from which all copies of your recording will then be made.

There was a time when SOME adjustments to that final mixdown would have to be made during the creation of a master in order to compensate for the limitations of home stereo media of the time. Masters intended for duplication into records, for example, had to be carefully peak limited in order to prevent creating grooves with peaks high enough to throw the needle out of the groove. Masters intended for cassette or 8-track had to be lightly compressed and EQed to fit within the limited dynamic range and frequency response of those media.

However, with digital sound there are NO PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS to cope with; the full fidelity of the studio mixdown can be preserved in the "master." In other words, once you get your mix sounding the way you want it, all you have to do to "master" it is complete a mixdown. Voila: there's your "master."

So if by "mastered" you mean you want to create a "final" version that you're 100% satisfied with that you feel you don't need any further advice on but just want to share, please do. If you mean something else? Well, IMHO anything else is not "mastering" at all.