Mastering is the crucial last step in the song/album creation process.
All professional music has been mastered by a specialist with years of "golden ear" experience. The process involves just the right balance of fine-tuned equipment and experienced ears. Actually,
95 percent of mastering is not in the tools - it's in the ears. Unless you have the ears (coupled with YEARS of experience), you can't expect any plug-in to provide the results you're looking for. Not simply pumping up the volume to a "commercial" level, mastering is a subtle art involving top-notch multi band compression, limiting, EQ and occasional stereo field adjustments to bring an entire album or EP together as one cohesive piece. It can easily take run-of-the-mill songs and turn them into
award winning hits.
They say it takes money to make money, and in this case it couldn't be more true. Your music is an investment, and is something that will still be around long after you're gone! You need the best possible sound to reach your music's true potential, and that's what we're all about. Whether it's your career or just a passion, mastering your music is
definitely worth it.
New software has given people the (in many cases) false impression that they can master their own music with the same professional results. While it may be partially true in some cases, this is dangerous, because it's very easy to
over-compress, over EQ and permanently ruin a perfectly good mix.
Can my recording studio do it?
Many bands just have their band mates or recording studios do their mastering...they'll never know how much better off their music could be in the right hands. Even the
best audio engineers in the world hand their mixes over to a separate mastering engineer for a fresh perspective and pair of ears. This is the way it's been handled for years in the music industry - even the top mastering specialists send their own work over to another engineer because they're "too close" to the music. They've heard it over and over (and over) during the tracking and mixing processes and want to keep it as fresh as possible for the best results.
We do most
mastering online for our clients here at Last Drop, we recommend getting a
free sample to hear our work firsthand. The difference is night and day, try mastering with Last Drop today!
Recording studios
CAN do it, but that doesn't mean they
SHOULD.
Beware of cheap mastering online, and always make sure you've heard your options before committing to anything. Check out the
Before and After sample we have up (click
here), and also know that we'll be happy to give you a sample
master of our work (click
here) Remember, there's a right way and a wrong way to get your songs mastered!
Mastering Online with Last Drop
Benefits include:
- Experienced engineers
- Free before and after clip to hear the difference firsthand
- Efficient and convenient process for mastering online
- Rate plans for just about everybody - from novice musicians to world-class professionals
- Very fast turnaround time and excellent customer service
