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In an earlier post, we talked about the “Loudness Wars” (also called the “Loudness Race”) and answered the question of if you should partcipate.

Essentially, the loudness wars are about the growing demand for music artists to increase their tracks’ loudness as much as possible to stand-out in the competitive marketplace.  As a result, this has led to a sharp decline in the quality produced.

Today, I want to point you to an excellent movie that offers visuals of what’s happening at:

Download the Movie

This movie shows how when CDs first started, there was a respect for quality.  Then, as passed, loudness has increased to an extreme today.

About the Author:
Lorenz Vauck is an Audio Mastering Engineer, Musician, and Internet Entrepreneur from Dresden, Saxony, Germany. He is the Managing Director and Chief Mastering Engineer of XARC Mastering, one of the world’s first online audio mastering studios established in 2003.

Too often musicians think of mastering as something you should do as a last minute step and fail to put their full attention on getting the best possible result.

They don’t realize mastering can offer far more than just simple adjustments… and that it’s essential to standing-out in the marketplace.

For this reason, here are 5 audio mastering tips to make sure you get the most out of your mastering:

1. Go for overall quality, not just an improved single effect (such as loudness).

A common mistake with mastering is that you become so focused on adjusting just one aspect of a track that you sacrifice the overall quality.

This is because just about every adjustment you make is tied to multiple aspects of the song. And if you don’t know what you’re doing, your adjustments can have many negative unintended effects.

The most common area where this takes place is on loudness. Increasing the loudness is an important part of the mastering process. However, it’s easy for artists to go too loud, while ignoring what happens to the quality of the music.

You want an album to stand the test of time and have something your fans want to listen to many years into the future.

Sacrificing one part for too much of another is just not worth it in the long run.

2. Talk with your mastering engineer about what can be done.

Good and detailed communication is essential to getting the best possible sound from your mastering session. Be clear on exactly the sound you’re going for and seek-out an experienced mastering engineer’s opinion on what can be done.

3. Keep the mastering in mind through the recording and mixing processes.

If you have a poor quality mix or recording, then there’s only so much the mastering engineer can do.

Ideally, you should communicate with your mastering engineer during the recording and mixing processes. This ensures you get a quality mix the mastering engineer can take full advantage of.

Although a good mastering engineer can significantly improve a poor quality recording, he or she is never going to get rid of all the problems. 

Poor recordings are always going to be about compromises to bring out the best possible sound.

4. Adjust your mastering techniques to each genre and type of music.

You should keep in mind that every genre of music has its own unique adjustments that can be made.

Mastering is not something where the same techniques are used on every single track. It varies.

Talk to your mastering engineer about what’s commonly done to your genre of music to get new ideas of what can be done for you.

5. If you’re attempting to do it yourself (which we don’t recommend), avoid cheap plug-ins.

There are some plug-ins that are designed very well, but most are cheap and won’t produce a quality result.

If a professional engineer is not an option, then keep it simple and always save the original version before you make any changes. Since it’s often impossible to undo any effects you’ve already applied, this will allow you to get professional mastering done later.

As you can see from these tips, communication is a very important part of mastering. If your mastering engineer does not give proper feedback or listen to your ideas, then you’re not going to get the best possible sound.

About the Author:
Lorenz Vauck is an Audio Mastering Engineer, Musician, and Internet Entrepreneur from Dresden, Saxony, Germany. He is the Managing Director and Chief Mastering Engineer of XARC Mastering, one of the world’s first online audio mastering studios established in 2003.

Glass mastering is the first stage of the CD and DVD replication process – and the most important. It requires the experience of a skilled glass mastering engineer (separate from the audio mastering engineer) to ensure that no errors occur.

The glass mastering requires the use of special machines and must take place in a clean room.

During the process, your mastered music is imprinted onto to the “Glass Master” (a glass plate, about 10”). This is done with the use of a “Laser Beam Recorder”. This machine uses high-powered lasers to put your audio on your Glass Master.

After the glass master is formed, then the “Father” is created. The father is another disc made from the Glass Master using a process called, “Electroforming” (which adds nickel onto the glass master).

The father is then used to create another disc that is called the “Mother”. The mother is then used to create additional “Stampers”.

Stampers are the final disc… and are used to produce commercial CDs or DVDs. The audio on the stampers are pressed onto the CD or DVD.

The Father can also be used as a stamper. However, the mother is only created to create additional stampers once the Father has worn out.

Good glass mastering ensures that the quality of final CD is up-to-par. It would be a waste to work hard and then lose it during the replication process.

To begin the replication process, you can find numerous facilities online who can do this task for you.  This step should be done after your music has undergone audio mastering (at a mastering studio) to improve sound quality.

About the Author:
Lorenz Vauck is an Audio Mastering Engineer, Musician, and Internet Entrepreneur from Dresden, Saxony, Germany. He is the Managing Director and Chief Mastering Engineer of XARC Mastering, one of the world’s first online audio mastering studios established in 2003.

You may have heard that audio mastering is best left up to a mastering engineer. But, how much of a difference does a pro really make?

After all, anybody can pick-up some software and plug-ins and begin mastering on a home computer, right?

At first glance, this can seem like the case. Because after spending weeks, months, or years putting together an album, it often does not seem like much more can be done (other than maybe a few small adjustments).

However, when you take a deeper look, you discover there’s more to mastering than it first appears.

Because, just like any profession, mastering takes a lot of training to get good at it.

For instance, you can’t just waltz into a restaurant and become the top chef without any training. Nor, can you walk into a hospital and perform surgery without going to school.

Mastering is no different. If you want to get top-quality work to give your music the “Hit sound”, then you need to invest in somebody who specializes in the craft of mastering.

Additionally, there are varying degrees of expertise. There are the rookies and then there are seasoned veterans (just like there are cheap and gourmet cooks). Each one produces a world of difference in results.

What you want is somebody with a track-record for helping to create hits.

For instance, which lawyer would you want defending you? Somebody who is brand new, but seems to know the law backwards and forwards… or somebody who has a track-record of winning juries over time-after-time?

Of course, you want to lawyer who has proven himself.

But, experience is just a tiny part of why going with a pro mastering engineer is so important.

A key advantage a professional offers you is a fresh look at your music.

You may know exactly what you want your music to sound like. However, it takes a lot of people to help you get there, including a producer, recording engineer, mixing engineer, and a mastering engineer.

Each has spent years of difficult trial-and-error studying a specific part of music production. Your job is to create the final vision of how you want your music to sound. Then, let a specialist who knows all the details of how to do it best help you get there.

As a result of investing in the best expertise you can afford, you’re going to get a much better sound with less stress than you could ever get on your own.

It’s just like going with an expert chef to cook your meal, a well-trained surgeon to operate on you, or a proven lawyer to defend you.

If you want the best possible result, investment price should not be your key consideration.

About the Author:
Lorenz Vauck is an Audio Mastering Engineer, Musician, and Internet Entrepreneur from Dresden, Saxony, Germany. He is the Managing Director and Chief Mastering Engineer of XARC Mastering, one of the world’s first online audio mastering studios established in 2003.

Getting signed to an established label isn’t easy. There are thousands of talented acts out there, all fighting for a few open slots.

This means if you want to be chosen, you can’t hold back. You’ve got to do everything to make the right impression and stand-out from the crowd.

One of the most vital (yet often overlooked) parts of doing this is professional mastering.

You can think of mastering as the “Polish” that makes your music sparkle. It’s what gives your music the professional, “Big label” sound by bringing-out the best in it.

And this is vital. Because when the A & R manager has a big stack of demos to go through, he or she is going to give very few of them a serious listen.

Some are going to get dumped on the spot based on first impressions. While, others are going to fail to grab his or her full attention.

Moreover, even if you are the most talented artist on the managers’ desk, that does NOT mean he or she is going to realize it… because your demo just did not stand-out enough when stacked-up against those of better quality.

You see, mastering communicates that you’re a serious act… and, as a result, encourages those listening to give your music the deep look it deserves.

It does this by:

• Making all the sounds cohesive,
• Increasing the loudness to grab attention,
• Bringing-out the right instruments or vocals in the best amounts,
• Helping to eliminate or reduce errors (that can occurr during the recording and mixing),
• Plus, much more depending on what you and the mastering engineer feel the songs need.

In other words, mastering gives your music that little extra edge you need to get signed… because it allows you to be pictured as a successful act.

And this is what the key to getting signed is all about. The label must see you as an investment that is going to pay-off quickly and easily without a lot of effort.

Mastering paints this picture and helps get you a deal so as many people as possible get to experience your music long into the future.

With that said, you should also keep in mind that there is a world of difference between a professional mastering engineer and an amateur.

A professional knows what to listen for, the exact adjustments that need to be made (as the wrong ones can ruin the music), and has the equipment to do a serious job.

You should not expect a “Big label” sound by doing it yourself on a home computer or by hiring an amateur who doesn’t fully understand the aspects of “real” mastering.

About the Author:
Lorenz Vauck is an Audio Mastering Engineer, Musician, and Internet Entrepreneur from Dresden, Saxony, Germany. He is the Managing Director and Chief Mastering Engineer of XARC Mastering, one of the world’s first online audio mastering studios established in 2003.

Dear Friend,

I wish you and your family a very happy and prosperous new year 2011!

Happy New Year! 🙂