Finishing a new track every week requires a certain amount of discipline. Creating musis is a creative act, and there is a sense in which the possibilities are limitless. This applies to every stage of the process: not just the creation of melodies, but the sculping of the overall sound [mixing] and to the final act of polishing that allows you to say that the track is finished [mastering].

Many people say that mastering is a dark art. It is true that there are – and will remain – extremely dedicated and talented people who have specialised into mastering alone. Mastering engineers do this for a living, focussing exclusively on bringing out the best in other people’s music, and the best ones achieve levels of fame on the basis of this particular practice alone. They take tracks that are fully mixed, and already complete from the perspective of the musician, and add the finishing touches. 

On the other hand, not everyone can afford to have all their tracks mastered by a dedicated professional. Even if they do, many dance producers will still do an initial master themselves – think of a producer working in Ibiza who wants to play one of their tracks that evening in a club to test it out. Ultimately, they may pass the track to a mastering engineer before releasing the track on a label, but the first cut will likely the theirs. 

Even when I ask Jaytech to master The Jig for week 10, he did the mixing as well. Jaytech is a producer rather than a mastering engineer exclusively.

When I am mastering tracks for this site, I am typically looking to achieve these things: 

Loudness – making sure the track plays at the right volume, whilst retaining a decent dynamic range. (I aim for -12db as a rough target). 

Balance –  ensuring that there is harmony between the different frequencies of the sound. 

Musicality – bringing out the best of the track and helping it to fulfil its potential.

Coherence – dance music consists of many different instruments which must work together.

To work accurately and quickly, though,  I find it works best to constrain some aspects of the process. At this point my mastering chaing tends to have these elements as staple: 

MClass Stereo Imager

This is the simplest of tools and sits, untouched and infallible, in the first slot in the chain. I use it to convert all the stereo info in the very low end (below around 70hz) to mono. 

FabFilter Pro-Q 3

A quite superb EQ. It is not known for having its own sound or character; rather for its ease and joy of use. I’d have to have a particular reason to use anything else, and whilst I will occassionally use other EQs whilst mixing tracks, for mastering, it’s Pro-Q3. 

Townhouse Bus Compressor

I don’t go overboard with this, but it does add a sense of overall cohesion to the track, encouraging its different elements to feel like they are working together. 

Any decent Bus Compressor is fine – I just find this one sounds great without having a load of distracting options. 

FabFilter Pro-L2

The final element of the mastering chain that has an affect on the sound. Again, I don’t apply massive amounts of limiting, and don’t aim for my music to be very loud. Still: as you’re clicking through the different music on the site and don’t hear massive differences between the volume of each track, you have Pro-L2 to thank. 

ADPTR Metric AB

I use this to compare the sound of the track I’m working on with other tracks – both other people’s music and tracks from previous weeks. Using other music as a reference helps me to calibrate, so I can use the tools above more effectively. Metric AB allows for effortless switching between the track I’m working on and the reference material to which I am comparing. It also provides visual comparisons, such as the frequency balance between the respective tracks, their dynamic range or stereo spread. 

SPL Hawkeye

I leave this up on a second monitor so I can see what I’m hearing. I’m fond of Zen Koans, so I’ll leave you with that paradox unexplained.