With all the changes in technology over the last two decades in the audio industry there have become what is known as “the loudness wars”.  Ever since the late Sixties, early Seventies there has been a push to make everything louder. This has ushered in new developments in microphones and other pieces of gear. However, with the developments in digital technology the emphasis on how loud a recording can (or should) get has really become evident. Let’s take a look at the dynamics of a mix and a mastered mix.

A lot of times folks will miss conceive the mastering process with the idea that it is all about just making the recording louder. Although getting a mix a little louder is often one of the goals of mastering, it doesn’t have to be the end all be all. There are many times when the aesthetics of a song/recording calls for the sense of headroom and airiness. These are not often qualities associated with brick wall limiting mastering techniques. There are, however, some new tools that are available to mastering engineers that can really open up a mix. Do you need more width? Maybe using tools that have frequency specific panning is the tool. Do you need more depth? Again, utilizing frequency specific tools can push elements of the mix back and forward. Do you need more dynamic range? Try getting out the pencil tool. The most important part of mastering is knowing how to improve the aesthetic that is already there.

Sometimes, however, that does mean it is time for the squasher. One of the reasons squashing a mix has become so important is because of the wide range of playback systems that are now used. Remember, iTunes launched in 2003… Before that there really were not many different ways folks listened to music. Now your song has to sound amazing on dozens of vastly different playback systems. Luckily there are some amazing tools out that can turn a beautifully dynamic mix into a brick of sound, and still keep some sense of musicality. Multiband compressors, linear eq, transient clippers, and a host of other new tools ar changing the way we master audio. Simply throwing a limiter on and normalizing a mix just doesn’t cut it anymore.

All things considered, all the tools in the world will not give a good mastering session if you are going in the wrong direction. As I mentioned before, the most important part of mastering is the aesthetic of the source material. If you are mastering a singer songwriter the same way you ar mastering EDM… Then you probably are missing the bigger picture. It is equally important for both the client and engineer to have the same aesthetic goal in mind. Once that is established it is up to the engineer to achieve that goal. Not all songs are the same… So using the same mastering techniques for all songs just makes no sense.