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The Best Audio Mastering Book, Video, and Course by John Rogers


Let Me Show You How To QUICKLY Master Your Songs To Professional Radio Quality Standards!  Improve Your Songs TODAY!

Hello, my name is John Rogers owner of JR mastering and author of the current #1 Best Selling Audio Mastering Book on Amazon.com which is now available in a video course!  Since 1999, I've worked with over 8,000 satisfied clients (that's 6-8 per week).  I've also mastered music for grammy award winners, several songs charted #1 in Europe, and my masters have been played by DJs all over the world. 


audio mastering secrets video course


Audio Mastering Secrets Book




 

Book Pages

song master book article

I would say someone just starting out in audio mastering might take an hour to A/B compare a song and replicate it.  That time includes reviewing the song on different mediums like a car stereo, headphones, small speakers, etc.  That's an hour total time to master one song.

As you improve with practice, you can quickly get it down to 30 minutes per song or less.  A highly skilled audio mastering engineer can master a song in 10 minutes. At least that's how long it takes me.  Note - I ALWAYS split my audio mastering into two separate sessions so I can finalize on fresh ears.  I talk about this later in the book.

Some of you might think 10 minutes to master a song is too fast. It is if you're just starting out.  You will need more time to A/B compare and to test out different settings through trial and error.  But in time, you'll learn how to quickly diagnose what a mix needs and what to do to achieve your desired results.

Now (after many years), if I spent 10 minutes or 40 minutes to master a song, my results would be exactly the same.  An extra 30 minutes would not make my masters any better.

A good non-music example would be tying your shoes.  The first week you learned as a child, it might take you a minute to tie each shoe.  And you still might not get it right!  Now, you can tie both shoes to perfection in 5 seconds!

If you spent an extra two minutes tying your shoes, could you do a better job? No.  Whatever you can do in five seconds, the results will be exactly the same as if you spent two minutes.

The same goes for a highly skilled pro in audio mastering.

song master book article

I would say YES, most people can become a great mastering engineer. I say this because most of the mixes I receive from clients are pretty good and I know the audio engineer (the band member with a computer) has only minimal training.  He could easily be great if he put a little more study and practice time into it.  And if he had this book to teach him what took me over 17 years to learn!  Ha!

The bigger question is, how much time and effort are you going to put in?  You know, everyone can be in good physical shape, or at least in decent shape.  The choice is yours.  But, is there going to be a diet and exercise plan that's followed daily for months, or is everything going on eBay or craigslist a few weeks after January 1st?  It's up to each individual to do what's necessary to achieve their end goal.

You get out what you put in, even when it comes to audio mastering. This book gives you the knowledge and tools you need to become a great audio mastering engineer.  And you'll learn a lot faster than I did.  But it's still up to you to read this book in its entirety and put in the practice time.

song master book article

I've seen this question on the Internet many times.  The answer I always see is "Because all songs on the radio have been professionally mastered, yours should be too."  This is a true fact, but not an answer.

Your songs need to be mastered because you want them to have the same qualities of a well professionally mastered commercial song, and this can only be achieved by using effects on the stereo/main out bus.  Which is what mastering is, using effects on the stereo/main out bus.  Many critical processes can only be done in mastering.

Here are couple of examples of why a song needs to be mastered:

  • Do you want to be able to play your song loud without it breaking up? Then you need mastering. In mastering, you can compress the entire song as a whole (or in separate BANDS) so it doesn't peak too hot or distort during loud playback.  Compressing a song in mastering also kind of meshes everything together.  In mixing, you can only compress individual instruments like the bass, vocals, etc.  This does nothing for loud playback nor does it mesh the song together as a whole.
  • Do you want your songs to be as loud as the songs on the radio?  Then you need mastering.  In mastering, you can use a loudness maximizer and make your songs as loud as needed without distorting.  You can't do this in mixing by cranking up your levels.  You will distort before reaching your desired loudness.

This question is kind of like asking, "Why does my cake need to go in the oven?"  If you want it to be a real cake, and be similar to other cakes, the oven is the final process to get it there.  You don't have a cake unless it goes in the oven!  You only have raw mixed ingredients.  The oven meshes everything together to be like other cakes.

song master book article

Your main goal in audio mastering is to replicate the sonic qualities of a well professionally mastered commercial song, in the same genre and style as the song mix you are working on.

Yes, everyone has their own slight preference adjustments like a little more bass, brightness, etc., but overall you want to be at least 80% similar to the current industry standard. The only exception is if a client specifically requests an old school master.  If that's the case, then you're going to have to replicate the sonic qualities of songs from a past era (specified by the client).

Once every couple months, a client tells me they don't want their songs to sound like songs on the radio, because they don't listen to the radio.  That's a good reason.  Ha!  Then they give me a few crazy mastering requests like "Make my song's volume level -8db below industry standard, or keep the song real muffled, etc."

My two favorite requests happened while writing this book:

Genre Hip-Hop, "I want my CD to sound soft and analog." Ok, you want me to master the first soft analog Hip Hop CD?  I talk more about this at the end of this article.

Genre Heavy Metal, "Can you make my CD soft and warm." That's like saying, "I want an ice coffee, but can you make it hot?"  Or, "I'm buying a Ferrari because I like to drive real slow."

When this happens, I pretty much refuse these requests.  Here's why.

Any song I master is at some point going to be played along with other professionally mastered commercial songs.  If a song is very poorly mastered and way off industry standard, it will be painfully obvious to any listener when played right after a professionally mastered commercial song.

When I first started in the mastering business, I did whatever crazy request a client gave me, they approved the masters and paid the balance.  Job well done.  Or was it?  Note - This is also why the customer isn't always right when it comes to audio mastering.

The problems came weeks later after their family and friends listened to these ridiculously poor masters.  That's when I got a nasty "You don't know what you're doing" email and a demand for a full refund!  Even though I gave them exactly what they asked for.

My Point Proven - While writing this book, a guy uploads 20 hip hop songs.  I master an initial preview (like I have 10,000 other hip hop songs) and upload it for him.  He tells me him and his producer want the songs warm and analog sounding.  I tell him no one has ever requested warm analog hip hop songs in my 17 year career (which should mean something).  They don't care.  They know more than I do about audio mastering.

So, I send him another preview with the bass up and brightness cut, a nice warm hip hop song.  Also, I noted this is wrong for hip hop.  He tells me its great, that's exactly what he's looking for!  I proceed to master all 20 songs this way (which I told you not to do in the previous paragraph).  Ha!

Update - The guy got all 20 warm analog hip hop masters, but I didn't hear from him for about two months.  Then I get an email requesting a refund of his 50% deposit, because him and his producer don't like the warm analog hip hop songs.  Really?  I'm so surprised they didn't like songs that have the OPPOSITE sonic qualities for their genre!  Shocking!!  Since the client went past the 30 day money back guarantee, his 50% was kept as a non-refundable labor fee.

Just another example of why you don't go against the standard sonic qualities of a genre.

The general public is used to, and expects, the sonic qualities of today's music.  This is why your goal is to try and replicate it.  If you don't, the general public will know it.  PERIOD!

song master book article

In music mixing, you're "mixing together" multiple audio tracks to make a single audio file song. Different tracks like the lead vocal, bass line, guitars, drums, etc. are being combined together.  Then proper effects (like EQ, reverb, delay) are added to each track, along with panning and volume adjustments.  In the final step, all tracks are exported simultaneously to create a song in the form of a single stereo interleaved .wav or .aiff file.

In audio mastering (as mentioned in the previous section) the entire song is affected by effects processes, not individual tracks.

At least once a week, someone uploads a song .wav file and says they want it mixed and mastered.  Well, you can't mix one file. The word "mixing" is a verb and you need at least two tracks (files) to be able to mix them together.  You need at least two of anything to be able to mix it together!

A music DJ is a good example.  If he had only one record, he wouldn't be doing any mixing.  He could throw some scratches in, but that's it.

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