How to Master a Song

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Mastering a song is done to give a mix a more professional sound. It is meant to enhance the sound and make things clearer. The industry standard for today's masterings is to make the track sound as loud as possible. Although this can have some negative effects on the audio itself, if you want your track to compete with commercial recordings, this must be done. I will also be showing you how to enhance the audio and make everything sound more clean and less muddy.
Here are some key points from the video above:
  • Use an EQ to level off the frequencies in the mix.
  • Use an exciter to bring up the treble a bit.
  • Use a multi-band compressor to compress certain frequencies certain amounts.
  • Use a stereo imager to enhance the stereo effect.
  • Use a bit of reverb if necessary to "glue" the track together or make it sound less dry. This is not necessary if you applied a lot of reverb while mixing.
  • Finally, and always finally, apply a brickwall limiter. This makes everything loud.

Plugins used:
ReaPlugs VST FX Suite: http://cockos.com/reaper/reaplugs/
QuikQuak Upstereo: http://www.quikquak.com/Prod_UpStereo.html
Loudmax Brickwall Loudness Maximizer: http://loudmax.blogspot.ca/
Blue Cat FreqAnalyst: http://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Product_FreqAnalyst/
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