1 AUDIO MASTERING: AN INVESTIGATION AND ANALYSIS OF CONTEMPORARY TECHNIQUES BY KARL N. FLECK B.A. HOPE COLLEGE (2013) SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF MUSIC DEPARTMENT OF SOUND RECORDING TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL Signature of Author: Date: Signature of Thesis Supervisor: Name Typed: 2 Abstract Mastering is an aspect of music production that is encompassed by air of mystery. There is very little specific information written about mastering and it is oftentimes overlooked in common collegiate Audio Engineering curricula. The purpose of this study is to investigate audio mastering and examine its finer details. In this study a single song was recorded; mixed by four different mixing engineers; and finally collected, analyzed, and mastered. Furthermore, interviews were conducted with five prominent mastering engineers regarding the many specific facets of mastering. These interviews were then transcribed and analyzed for common trends and practices. The goal is to illuminate various techniques for mastering while utilizing these examples in the context of a case study. Throughout this study, several themes emerged including the need for accurate monitoring, specified equipment, experience, and a touch of luck. The information gathered in this study will benefit those interested in understanding mastering. This could range from students wishing to pursue a career in mastering, to artists looking to comprehend how the mastering process affects their work. 3 Acknowledgements I would like to offer my most sincere thanks and gratitude to Alan Williams and the rest of the members of Birdsong at Morning, Darleen Wilson and Greg Porter. Your cooperation, musical wisdom, and guidance has truly been treasured. I would also wish to thank my advisor Alex Case for his support, direction, and the 3:01 meetings that we have had to brainstorm every aspect of this project. To the crew at M-Works: Jonathan Wyner, Alex Psaroudakis, and Nick Dragoni: the time spent with you all has been one of my most valued educational experiences. Your open communication about mastering has profoundly shaped my thoughts and practices of this art form. It has been through my time with you that I have learned to be truthfully critical in all aspects of mastering. In a similar fashion, my deepest thanks goes out to the mastering engineers that participated in the interviews, Jay Frigoletto, Matt Azevedo, Adam Ayan, Paul Angelli, and Jonathan Wyner. Open and honest communication about mastering is difficult to come by and I genuinely appreciate every thought and concept that you all have discussed in our interviews. 4 This project would be nothing without the participation of my trusted mix engineers, Alan Williams, Nick Dragoni, Brandon Vaccaro, and Bradford Swanson. Thank you for the time, consideration, and creativity that you have invested in my project. Lastly, to my wife Hannah, thank you for your support, editing skills, and willingness to listen to all of this mastering ‘nonsense’ that I constantly talk about. 5 Table of Contents I. Introduction – Overall 9 I. A Guide to Common Practices in Mastering 11 • Politics and Communication 13 • The Mastering Process: Typical Signal Path 14 • Assessing the Mix 17 • The Expertise of a Mastering Engineer 20 • The Monitor Path: Flat and Pristine 20 • First Steps: Signal Routing 23 • Timbral Balance: Application of Equalization 25 • Analog Minimum Phase EQ vs. Digital Linear Phase 26 • Flavors of EQ in Mastering 27 • Optimizing Loudness with EQ 29 • Common EQ Units in Mastering 30 • Compression: The Gains of Gain Reduction 30 • Compression Settings and Options for Mastering 31 • Other Uses of Compression 34 • Limiting: The Final Creative Step 35 • Less is More and More is More 37 • The Final Step of the Mastering Process 38 • Final Thoughts 39 II. Literature Cited 42 II. Section 1: Interviews with Mastering Engineers 43 I. Introduction and II. Methodology 43 • Part 1. A Series of Questions 43 • Mastering Subjective Language 47 II. Results: Interviews with Mastering Engineers 49 • Jay Frigoletto 49 • Matt Azevedo 84 • Adam Ayan 104 • Paul Angelli 139 • Jonathan Wyner 159 III. Discussion: A Summary of the Responses 185 • Part 1. Specific Questions About Mastering 185 • Part 2. Mastering Subjective Language 190 6 IV. Conclusions 194 • Part 1. Specific Questions About Mastering 194 • Part 2. Mastering Subjective Language 198 V. Recommendations 201 VI. Literature Cited 202 III. Section 2: Production of “All the Sadness” 203 I. Introduction and II. Methodology 203 • The Recording Process 204 • The Mixing Stage 217 • Mix Engineer Instructions 218 • Receiving the Mixes 220 • Finding a Mastering Room 222 • A Note on DAW’s: Ozone 7 and Pyramix 7 226 • Preparing the Mixes 228 • The Mastering Session 228 III. Results 230 • First Impressions: 230 • Mix 1: Alan Williams 230 • Mix 2: Nick Dragoni 231 • Mix 3: Brandon Vaccaro 231 • Mix 4: Bradford Swanson 232 • Common Steps Taken 233 • The Mastering Process for Each Mix 236 • Master 1: Alan Williams 236 • Master 2: Nick Dragoni 239 • Master 3: Brandon Vaccaro 242 • Master 4: Bradford Swanson 245 • Master 5: The EP Match 247 • Sequencing in Pyramix 249 IV. Discussion 254 • The Mastering Process: Thoughts on a Tech. Issue 254 V. Conclusion 257 • General Trends and Conclusions 257 7 VI. Recommendations 259 VII. Literature Cited 261 IV. Conclusion – Overall 262 V. Appendix 265 VI. Biographical Sketch 266 8 List of Figures 1. Communication Routes p. 13 2. Fletcher-Munson Curves p. 19 3. Playback System Bell-Curve p. 21 4. Basic Hybrid Signal Path p. 23 5. Interviews Averaged Frequency Ranges p. 200 6. Session 1 Input List p. 206 7. Session 1 Floorplan and Mic Placement p. 207 8. Session 2 Input List p. 209 9. Session 2 Floorplan and Mic Placement p. 210 10. Session 3 Input List p. 212 11. Session 3 Floorplan and Mic Placement p. 213 12. Session 4 Input List p. 215 13. Session 4 Input List p. 216 14. M-Works Mastering Main Room (December 2015) p. 223 15. Room 114 Proposed Hybrid Signal Path p. 224 16. Final Signal Path p. 225 17. Ozone Level Matching Option p. 227 18. Final Signal Path (2) p. 229 19. Common Processing Chain p. 233 20. Alan Williams Limiter Settings p. 236 21. Alan Williams EQ Settings p. 238 22. Alan Williams Dynamics Settings p. 239 23. Nick Dragoni Stereo EQ Settings p. 240 24. Nick Dragoni M/S EQ Settings p. 240 25. Nick Dragoni Dynamics Settings p. 241 26. Nick Dragoni Imager Settings p. 242 27. Brandon Vaccaro EQ Settings p. 243 28. Brandon Vaccaro Dynamic EQ Settings p. 243 29. Brandon Vaccaro Dynamics Settings p. 244 30. Brandon Vaccaro Imager Settings p. 244 31. Bradford Swanson EQ Settings p. 246 32. Bradford Swanson Dynamics Settings p. 247 33. Pyramix Edit Window p. 251 34. Pyramix Fade Editor Window p. 252 35. Pyramix CD Image Generator p. 253 9 I. Introduction- Overall Mastering is the least understood step in the production of professional commercial audio. This final step in the professional recording process is highly specified, competitive, and thus notoriously secretive. In the current state of the music industry with increasing numbers of home studios, professional audio mastering has become a topic of significance. This is due to the fact of the increasing numbers of artists who want their productions to be mastered, but often cannot afford to send their project to high-end mastering studios. This creates a demand for low-cost mastering that has the potential to be detrimental to the quality of music production, leading to the employment of inexperienced and ill- equipped mastering engineers. In order to combat the general lack of comprehension of mastering, information on its finer processes and details must be shared; artists, audio professionals, and the general public must be informed in order to make the best decisions for musical production and the audio industry. Currently, there are several resources that contain information about audio mastering. There are some informal articles and videos that can be found online, such as those by Mike Collins and Johnathan Wyner, and there are a few textbooks published about mastering. Two of the most authoritative textbooks are Mastering Audio: the Art and the Science by Bob Katz (2007) and Audio Mastering: Essential Practices by Jonathan Wyner (2013). These books provide an introduction to mastering and are vital resources for learning about the 10 common elements of mastering including effects processing, file formats, and general mastering aesthetics. These two textbooks are tremendous resources for attaining an introduction to the concepts of the mastering process. Furthermore, Wyner’s book features two “case studies” where he walks the reader through the mastering of two sample recordings. This takes the concepts presented in the book and makes them practical, providing the reader with the implementation of specific examples of the mastering process. Even though Wyner includes these “case study” examples in his book, the details and processes of other techniques could be explained further. Because mastering is a diverse discipline and the process is specific to the genre of music, it is not enough to talk about mastering in general terms. Additionally, it is much more meaningful to discuss mastering when the concepts are put into context. Despite these great resources, there is still a lack of variety and depth of mastering literature and resources. This study further investigates the details of mastering, providing examples for a specific discussion about the mastering process. It provides information relevant to audio engineers, producers, and artists who might not fully understand all that mastering entails. This study is separated into two sections. The first is section is comprised of a series of interviews conducted with veteran mastering engineers. This section allows mastering engineers to talk about their craft, oftentimes citing specific examples relating to their past projects and experiences.