Surprisingly, a lot of what goes into mastering doesn't have anything to do with software or hardware at all. We'll be covering buss processing later in this guide, so don't worry too much about it right now. Most of the time, a mix can benefit from some form of stereo buss processing, even if it's just a gentle touch of buss compression. In some rare situations, the answer is "nothing." If you're completely satisfied with your mix, you can export it and upload it to streaming services as is. What are you meant to do to your song when mastering it? With there being almost no technical limitations that you need to overcome when mastering your music for streaming services, you're left with a problem. The formatting requirements for uploading a song to Distrokid are minimal, and it's highly unlikely that your music will get rejected. Luckily, there aren't many rules you need to adhere to when mastering your music for streaming services. Additionally, if the dynamic range of the show you mix for Netflix is too small, the show could get rejected by Netflix. If you're mastering a song for vinyl or you're mixing the audio of a show for Netflix, there are precise formatting requirements that you have to adhere to.įor example, if the grooves cut into a vinyl record are too large, they can cause the needle of a record player to jump or skip. When someone tells you their song has been "mastered," they likely mean that stereo buss processing has been applied to the audio file this is done in an attempt to enhance the audio file's playback quality for the destination format (vinyl, CD, streaming, etc.). Try release times between 200 to 300 milliseconds to start.Įvery voice is different, and every style demands a different approach with the compressor, so start with these suggestions and augment them while you listen to the signal.Technically, and regardless of the quality, any file you bounce from your digital audio workstation (DAW) and upload to streaming services is considered a master file. Long release times are perfect for vocals and tend to smooth out levels. Release – This controls how long it takes for the compressor to stop working, after the signal drifts below the threshold.For vocals, you can use very fast attack times, about 2 or 3 milliseconds, since syllables are so quick. Setting the attack to 10 milliseconds means that the compressor starts working ten thousandths of a second after the threshold is crossed. Attack – Defines how fast the compressor works.
It can kiss the threshold on every word, but if you drop the threshold so that the compressor is always on, the signal begins to sound a little strange. You need to experiment with this so that your signal is only occasionally going above the threshold. Setting the threshold at -10 decibels means that the signal is only compressed above that level.
It is often expressed as 3:1 or 4:1 and means that every 3 decibels are compressed to a single decibel, for example. Ratio – Determines how much the signal is compressed.There are a few different parameters to understand first: