The #1 Little Known Factor That Could Affect Your Mastering EQ

Published: Fri, 11/13/15

I've been doing a little mastering lately and a thought occurred to me that you should know.

It's about the subtlety of mastering, and why it's actually not so subtle at all!

The 1 dB Boost and Cut

We stress the importance of doing subtle boosts and cuts during mastering but if you really think about it, there's nothing subtle about it.

Have you ever wondered why the 2 dB boost in the high end opens up the mix so much?

Or why the cut in 200 Hz on the master fader seems to clean things up?

It's only a couple dBs on one track!? Why should it do much?

Because it's not on one track.

It's on ALL of them.

A 2 dB boost on the master fader is like going through every single track in your session and adding a 2 dB boost.

No wonder the subtlety of the mastering engineer makes a difference.

So when you're mastering your next track think of the reason behind the subtlety.

It's because everything you're doing on the master fader, whether that's EQ'ing or compressing, is affecting every single track on your mix.

And when you combine them all into one, the smallest things make a big difference.

Learn to EQ and Compress Your Masters

Ian Shepherd of Production Advice is running a one-day sale today on both Home Mastering EQ, and Mastering With Multiband Compression.

He's also including his Essential Production Advice eBook for free to anyone that takes him up on his offer.

And you know what, to make it even better for you, if you grab his offer through my affiliate link right here, I'll send you my 30 minute Mix Compression Masterclass video where I talk about:

  • Compression settings for tight kick drums
  • How to use compression for backing vocals
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  • Different ratio settings for different desired results

For a great mastering job you'll still need a great mix, and making sure you're compressing correctly during the mixing phase will make you mastering so much easier.

Simply click here to grab Ian's offer and email me you receipt and I'll send you your free bonus.​