Audio Mastering: Separating the Science from Fiction

"Audio Mastering: Separating the Science from Fiction" is an ideal guide to tangible development as a mastering engineer. This book offers a comprehensive overview of mastering processes, teaching the reader to link critical listening skills with analysis to comprehend the processing required to improve the quality of their audio.

Whether involved in game audio, composing for film and television, producing rock or programming EDM, the aesthetics required to manipulate and assess audio for mastering are a highly valuable addition to any artist or engineer's skill set. Audio Mastering encourages readers to engage in personal analysis and, in doing so, contextualise their evaluations by linking to appropriate and available processing tools. Discussion of processing conventions and theory are included to help readers create an effective audio chain utilising the best properties from each process, as well as practical examples and additional online resources to support development of skilled processing control.

This is a thorough and practical textbook for audio engineers, artists, producers and students on music production, music technology and music performance courses, and for aspiring and developing mastering engineers.

CONTENIDO:

1. What is mastering... really?
2. Enabling analysis
3. The monitor path
4. Looking to the mix
5. Analysis: Constructive, comparative and corrective
6. Mastering tools
7. Equalisation and tonal balance
8. Dynamic processors and tonal balance
9. Contextual processing analysis
10. The transfer path
11. Practical approach to dynamic controls
12. Practical approach to dynamic processing
13. Practical approach to equalisation
14. Navigating loudness
15. Bring it all together: Engaging in mastering
16. Restrictions of delivery formats
17. What?s next?