Mix Bus 101: Why, When, and How to Group Tracks into a Bus
Are you looking for better sonic control and improved organization within your mixes, all while being more CPU friendly? You've come to the right...
Headroom: How to Set Your Levels in Mixing and Mastering
The concept of headroom is one of those foundational elements of any audio engineering discipline that gets glossed over all too often. If the term...
Multiband Compression Basics
There are no two ways about it: without some good guidance, multiband compression is tricky! As a young, intrepid engineer, I remember asking one of the...
How to Use Dynamic EQ in Mastering
If you’ve ever found yourself wondering, “Hold on, should I be using dynamic EQ or multiband compression here? And actually, when should I...
5 Tips for More Transparent Compression
It could easily be argued that no contemporary music production would be complete without a good dose of dynamic range compression. Certainly, there are...
Rulebreakers: How to Use Ozone Modules for Mixing and Production
Ozone is best known as a mastering plug-in, and for good reason, but there are plenty of ways you can put its powerful modules to use in the fields...
Musical Mastering: How Mastering Can Affect Genre and Feel, and Vice Versa
Mastering is often viewed as a precise science—a clinical last step in getting a song or album ready for release and distribution. This sentiment tends...
Master Faster: Tips Learned from 5 Years Using Ozone
Whether you’re using the standalone version, the plug-in mothership, or individual components, Ozone provides a vast array of processing...
Audio Mastering: When Is a Track Done?
It isn’t easy to know when to call a track done. Wherever you are in the creative process—arranging, producing, recording, or...
Optimal Mastering for SoundCloud (and Compressed Audio Formats)
While some streaming services like Amazon Music HD, Apple Music, and Tidal are now offering lossless audio, many others like Spotify and SoundCloud still...
5 Ear Training Exercises to Listen Like a Mastering Engineer
When you think of the most important tool in a mastering engineer’s arsenal, what comes to mind? An equalizer? A compressor? Top-notch conversion,...
What Is Crest Factor and Why Is It Important?
“Crest factor” may be one of those terms that you’ve heard thrown around by mastering engineers that has always left you scratching your head. What exactly...
