The Problem With Online Mastering Tutorials

There are enough videos and tutorials out there about about mixing to allow someone to teach themselves that skill. I can't say the same for mastering, though; this is THE single most comprehensive video I've seen on mastering out there. Thank you for taking the time to make this!

I'm so glad I bumped into this specific video, it has helped me FINALLY get a grip on the multiple stages of finishing off a track once I'm happy with the writing, recording and arrangement. There is a staggering amount of detail work that goes into it after you're done creating the song you want if you want it to sound the way you intend and this video neatly lays what to think about doing, in what order, and more importantly.... why you do it.

Hey Michael, awesome job! Can you please explain about Microtonality and how can I achieve it in FL Studio?

I laughed too hard at "well, that looks about right."

dude can u explain when we need faster attack and realse or slower at compresing and limiting pls

thanks G

How is this even possible to have it at -5 Lufs though. I thought Spotify is turning everything over -14 down. So therefore I thought if you go at -10 Lufs with let's say 0dbTP Spotify will turn it down 4db to -14 Lufs and -4dbTP and therefore you would sacrifice too much Headroom.

Oh man i never thought on doing the last step!! It could really help thanks!!!

Love your videos bro. Always well thought out

mate, what experience do you have with Mastering Audio? any links to discogs to check your credits?

How can I find out if there's more issues with my soundtrack such as spikes or something else to further clean up/improve it's mix? Also Tonal balance control cost money correct? By the way great video! This will definity help those to compose soundtracks.

Helpful 💪🔥🔥

Mega info !!!
👁

One question, why export the stems in 24-bit and not 32-bit?

why the heck should i worry about the phase of the one single track on the master channel? it can rotate all it wants, it has nothing to conflict with anymore. what is it that i don't know?

Very impressed with your clear instructions on mastering, presented in a cohesive way to understand. I'm now eager to implement the stages of masting into my own music production practice and next mix. Something which has been sadly lacking due to little understanding of terminologies used. Many thanks for that Michael.

Great video, thank you for sharing. Two things I’d like to point out:
1) soft clipping colors the audio, hard clipping only clips, therefore hard clipping may be more transparent
2) some limiters aren’t always cleanly ducking the audio and might introduce clipping of their own.

Thank you so much, that was so helpful and appreciated!

hey I hope you see this big thx for all the help , I tried cutting some low end out my sides but in my case its so much information that lies there, it changes my tone of the track drastically , do you sometimes keep it ? , I was trying to make a quality mix/master for all devices.

Could you do a video on mastering to -6 lufs?

I am so confused in mastering well it confuses me a lot. How to put a best master chain so that tracks gives quality standards for record labels 🥺

Excellent content as usual 🔥🙌

Default hang out for music engineering, I mean how many YT channels have a million subs talking engineering ? Love it…thanks for the thought and prep that goes into the content here 🖤😎🍭🙌

This is an excellent video. Great mastering tips you mentioned on your video, the loudness topic is challenging at first but it's totally doable over time. Nonetheless, I do believe that "mastering" your own song wouldn't be the most appropriate way to call it. I think you mix your songs as best as you possibly can, even if you're an extremely talented mixer and the track is 99 percent ready in regards of sonic image, loudness and tonal balance, another experienced mastering engineer would pick that 1 percent that you missed to reach the full potential of the song. Therefore, I don't think a person can master his own song, even if opens a new project and put stuff on the master channel and call it "mastering", I still consider that as "2bus mixing". There is no difference if you process the whole mix in a 2bus channel or in the master channel, that to me it's not mastering. If you don't know what you're doing to your whole mix, it's best just bringing up the volume to commercial levels and leave it like that, that's not mastering either, just a perfect balanced mix. Therefore, if you master another song from other people, that's another story, as you would be learning the purpose of mastering: making a difference in the song with another pair of ears.

Buy Ozone 10 elements for $60 and do your mastering in 5 minutes. Results as good if not better as any $ 300 mastering.

excellent!! thank you

What if your mix is lower than -15 integrated? Does that mean you need more volume to your mix?

As always writing a comment to support the channel

Just use good recording gear / synths. The best mastering is no mastering 🤷

Wow. Thanks again Michael. I've always felt a bit lost in the mastering process, now I know things to look and listen for.

I really loved this video because it explains each technics very clearly.

Thank You bro 🙌🙌Very Heplful Video🔥🔥.

Hai , I AM GOING TO IMPORT ALL TRACKS IN ONE LOGIC PRO PROJECT FOR ALBUM MASTERING , WHAT BPM SHOULD I USE ????

Thanks so much maestro! You rule man

Your skills, your way of explaining, the examples you give, your honesty are a continuous inspiration.

Excellent video

I was wondering how did you route Spotify audio to loudness meter!!!!!! thank you :)

Greetings for your wonderful work and your great ideas in benefiting every product around the world by explaining the work of each machine, how to operate it and the basics of its work .. Really, thank you... 🇱🇾 From Libya - Benghazi city
[ Outlaw Beats Studio ] Producer)

Hopefully this video prevents my hard drive being filled up with files like “song 1 final 4 FINAL 3 version 2 version 3 fart final 2 master 3.mp3”

Hey bro,
So I went and downloaded your plugin Reviver and what downloaded was something different than what I see in your video. I ended up with some plugin called Rx 8 breath. I don't see the reviver. Any idea as to why? Im using a Macbook Pro 14. I have Fl stu 21. And I checked the path to where it was downloaded to and actually see it there but not in my Manage plugins from the DAW. Need a little help.

The problem with mastering tutorials is that mastering is A. A craft. B. can’t be taught it must be learnt through practicing techniques and having an advanced working knowledge of all tools at your disposal and C. Every piece of material is different and must be approached with that in mind.

I'll be watching this video again while taking notes. Great job Michael!!!

Excellent tutorial. Thanks a lot

There is a lot to take from this video!
Also, can anyone throw an explaination/video about the whole LUFS thing? I go by peak vs. rms and these "new" terms kinda baffle me o_o'

I noticed that newer songs tend to become louder and louder.
I recently listened to "Kings and Queens" by Ava Max on my 770 Pro X's and was absolutely baffled by how much distortion there was in the mix. Thats probably not a big issue on Air Pods f.E., but its still weird having such a big song missing the quality of a well balanced mix.

I've noticed that there are no videos explaining the frequent nobs you usually find on Fl plugins(like Pan and OSC). You mentioned that you suggest we watch this video alongside mastering... Can you do a video wherein the first half, you explain the most frequent nobs in Fl, then in the second half you play instruments (suggesting 4 of the base instruments like piano, guitar bass and maybe a brass or breathy instrument) utilizing those nobs you explained in the first half. It will allow people to keep coming back to the video plus you'd be helping the synthesizing process for a lot of people, plus we'd be able to come back to the second half which is pure sounds in 5 or 10 second intervals or go to the direct explanation.

ok why does youlean loudness not working when i put it on and when i solo it in the mixer on the master and use the Mix knob the audio stops harsh and audio turns up slowly when using the mix knob ? i cant figure this problem out ?

Excellent video 💯 🤩👌