MASTERING ENGINEERS ADVICE — EQ

So when I first started mastering, I didn't have any plugins whatsoever. There were no computers to master with; I would just use tape. So I'd have an EQ, and I would have some numbers on it, cues and gains and stuff. What I would do is I'd have to change them and listen to what they did. The thing that's been quite strange for me is now that I've got plugins, I use them in a similar way, where I'll do stuff, and I'll listen to it. The curves that I'm using when I go into the presets and...

The secret to mastering is that you shouldn't be doing anything. So, you've finished your track; you mixed it, and it sounds great. You've exported it as a stereo wave file. Now you go into your mastering session, turn it up with a limiter and then don't do anything. That's mastering. That's how I earn a living, listening to something. I just collect cash and do nothing. You shouldn't do anything, either. If you're adding or taking away things, you've got to make sure that you're doing it for the right reasons. The secret is you don't want to do...

    The first thing with a snare is that it's very much the transient that's hitting in: you want it to be really fast and sharp. You can lose that quite a lot in mastering. It's important to be between what you're doing so that you don't lose what the mix engineer or producer has done with their snare.     It's key to get that snare heavy in the lower part so that it gets that hard whack with some EQ. Make sure the compression isn't too tight. If you're using something like a mastering and SSL compressor, it'll sound...