The Least Understood Aspect of Recording
by Jonathan Wyner
Most people don’t even know what mastering is, and why should they? It isn’t until you record your first or second album that you even encounter the idea, much less try to comprehend why you might undertake it. So it isn’t surprising that people would be easily led down the path.
When a client walks into my studio to work on their first album, I invariably find myself spending 15 to 20 minutes simply educating them about what it is that I will do. Often the only reason they've come to me is that someone more experienced said to them, "You've got to master before you put it out ..." Mastering is likely the least understood part of the recording chain. So, for the uninitiated, I will try and fill you in on what happens when you master.
It has always been possible to skip the mastering process altogether. You can't skip recording and mixing, and of course you need the replicator and duplicator to make copies, but mastering? What's the advantage to spending the time and money when you're likely running out of both? Why is it that even engineers and producers such as Bob Clearmountain and Don Was insist on having their projects mastered?
The first job of a mastering engineer is to ensure that the audio that comes back from the plant sounds at least as good as it did when it left. This may seem trivial, but if you listen to stories about the trials and tribulations of getting out a CD, you will inevitably hear a tale of woe about someone's tape, usually a DAT, which was sent off to a CD pressing plant and comes back sounding different. We have heard all the jargon about digital media and the ability to copy it over and over without loss of information, so why would this ever happen? The blame can lie any number of places. While most people are quick to blame digital media, the truth is that errors often occur because of practices employed when handling them. DAT is far from perfect as a mastering format. It is delicate, prone to errors, and is usually recorded without time code. The fact that it is found in many bedroom studios, and in the hands of inexperienced engineers, makes it far more likely that a DAT that arrives at a plant will contain more errors than will a 1/2" tape. Half-inch tape machines are not often found in bedrooms. So one place that can be the source of a problem is the tape supplied to the plant. Care and vigilance in the preparation of a master is crucial!
Jonathan Wyner has mastered more than 4000 CDs during the last 21 years, spanning every musical idiom (and some nonmusical idioms as well!). He is an adjunct professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. Credits range from the extremely well known (James Taylor, David Bowie, Aerosmith, Kiri Te Kanawa) to the more idiosyncratic and independent artists/labels. Jonathan prides himself on the fact that he is among the elite group of mastering engineers to have run a marathon in under three hours repeatedly. Visit www.m-works.com.
