Audio Mastering 201

Learning Advisor: Ian Shepherd

Ian is a professional Mastering Engineer, based at leading independent facility SRT (Sound Recording Technology), just outside Cambridge in the UK. He also works as a recording engineer and
producer, and is an expert Blu Ray and DVD author. He specialises in surround-sound mixing and mastering.

Over the last fifteen years he has worked on literally thousands of

Course Description

Why mastering? Song mixes often don't match one another throughout an album, or have the desired "power" and "size" due to confusion about goals and intention of the song, recordings or album. Taking a track and making it sound like a commercial recording takes a keen understanding of sound, song, commercial expectations, and the entire technical mastering process.

Understanding the fundamentals of mastering can help fix problems, match songs to create an album, and give your mixes the power and clarity all engineers seek. This course takes you through the basic concepts in order to develop and move on to explore more sophisticated mastering techniques.

The Audio Mastering course is aimed at musicians, sound engineers, and audio aficionados who desire to improve the overall sound of their recordings. A previous knowledge of mastering techniques and theory is not required, however, basic knowledge of audio and sound fundamentals is highly recommended in order to successfully apply and practice the techniques covered in this course.

Course Prerequisites

Familiarity with DAW systems (Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, etc); basic knowledge of audio processing like EQ, Dynamics, Effects, etc.

Course Aims

• The course will provide you with a broad overview on Mastering
• Room Acoustics & Monitoring
• Metering
• Dynamic Range
• EQ
• Working with references
• You will work with examples from different styles
• You will become familiar with Digital Mastering's most used tools

Course Topics

• Mastering (What is it?)
• EQ
• Dynamic Maximizers
• Stereo Enhancing
• Imagers Exciters
• M/S Processing
• Metering
• Typical Chain Processing
• Mastering Plugins Commonly Used
• Room Acoustics & Monitoring
• Loudness Wars
• PQ Coding / ISRC

Course Outcomes

• On successful completion of the course you will be able to deal with digital Mastering tools.
• You will be able to process mixes to make them sound comparable to similar products in their listening environment.
• The course will also help you understand the parameters on any plugin used in digital mastering and feel confident using them.
• The course will help you to develop a criteria for discerning when to use the tools and how to use them.

Required Resources

• Hardware: Computer+soundcard+monitoring
• Software: any audio editor+CD Burner software

Are you ready to enroll?