PDF Mastering in Music (Perspectives on Music Production) 30 December 2020

Mastering in Music is a cutting-edge edited collection that offers twenty perspectives on the contexts and process of mastering.

This book collects the perspectives of both academics and professionals to discuss recent developments in the field, such as mastering for VR and high resolution mastering, alongside crucial perspectives on fundamental skills, such as the business of mastering, equipment design and audio processing.

Including a range of detailed case studies and interviews, Mastering in Music offers a comprehensive overview of the foremost hot topics affecting the industry, making it key reading for students and professionals engaged in music production.

Preface

The UK chapter of the Audio Engineering Society’s Mastering Group held the organisation’s first mastering specific conference (AES:UKMC18) on the 22nd and 23rd of September, 2018, in central London (see Keluaran HK, Togel Hongkong, Pengeluaran HK, Data HK Hari Ini for related details). The steering committee for AES:UKMC18, comprised of editors John-Paul (JP) Braddock, Rob Toulson and Russ Hepworth-Sawyer, initially planned to publish these papers within a post-conference book. However, after realising the extent to which mastering has become a highly relevant (and sometimes controversial) topic amongst audio and music experts, the editorial team decided to move forward with an open “Call For Papers” to allow participation from those who were not able to attend AES:UKMC18. As a result, we moved this volume to the Perspectives on Music Production series, and included mastering engineer and academic Jay Hodgson and label executive and mastering scholar Matt Shelvock within the editorial committee. Readers should note that a next AES Mastering Conference is expected to take place — later than anticipated — in 2022, due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

As with other Perspectives On Music Production collected volumes, no narrative has been set in advance, and none of the authors have been commissioned for contributions. Instead, the call for contributions was open, the conference call broad, and, as a result, Mastering in Music captures a wide set of today’s most relevant discussions by researchers, practitioners, and thought-leaders in the realm of audio mastering.

In the name of exploring relevant controversies surrounding audio mastering, two chapters challenge and investigate some commonly held beliefs of audio mastering engineers. Starting with loudness, Jay Hodgson’s opinion piece, which postulates that the often-discussed modern loudness ‘constraints’ are nothing more than freelancer marketing and sales tactics, provides a fresh perspective from a commercial and creative viewpoint. Using a more empirical approach, Scott Harker investigates some of the rumoured playback differences which are said to exist between dominant platforms for music consumption. His chapter presents one of the first data-driven evaluations of this phenomenon available in print. Darcy Proper, the first female to win a Grammy for audio mastering, and Thor Legvold provide a deeply insightful piece on mastering in surround sound. Aside from some scant attention at conferences and online journals, this topic thus far has been scarcely discussed within peer-evaluated literature. The editors believe this chapter will serve as a new point of departure for studies in surround mastering.

In mastering, and other creative fields, artificial intelligence has become an area of emergent controversy. Andrew Whelan and Thomas Birtchnell cover the ramifications of this technological ‘sea-change’ as it were, as do JP Braddock and Russ Hepworth-Sawyer, to a lesser extent, via their recommendations for improving upon audio mastering formatting and delivery workflows. In a tangentially related chapter, Steve Collins, Adrian Renzo, Sarah Keith, and Alex Mesker discuss continuities in automated audio mastering and the disruptive powers which have shaken up the industry.

Exploring the hybrid technical and creative dimensions of audio mastering, Austin Moore elucidates the concept of ‘glue’ in audio mastering. Moore has already done so regarding the use of the 1176 limiter in mixing and music production, and his expansion of this discussion in relation to mastering is timely (Moore & Wakefield 2017). Neil O’Connor explores the aesthetics of the device-modelling and emulation paradigms within mastering plug-ins. Since the use of the DAW and plug-ins remain dominant in today’s production scene, this provides a highly relevant discussion for researchers and practitioners.

Mastering in Music also contains numerous chapters which investigate topics such as (i) connections between the creative act of mastering and personalised (or embodied) approaches to the art, (ii) the spaces and places in which mastering occurs, and (iii) how these elements ultimately impact genre and creativity. The ‘Creative Mastering Studio’ by Alex Hinksman explores environmental interactions in the studio and the interface between the engineer and the rooms they occupy. Regarding more personalised approaches to audio mastering, Stephen Bruel AESUK:MC2018 paper on remastering the Sunnyboys is replicated as a chapter here. A roundtable discussion considering the success of mid-career mastering engineers also provides a more embodied perspective on current approaches to the art of mastering. The perspectives of more established engineers are shared in the interview with Darcy Proper (AES:UKMC18), and the thought-provoking (and amusing) opinion piece provided by Crispin Herrod-Taylor, of Crookwood Designs on the topic of sound quality. The chapter by artist and researcher Stereo Mike (aka Mike Exarchos) discusses the concept of sound staging as it applies to sampling previously mastered records as well as the creation of new music, via a theoretical investigation of the paradigm of hip-hop production.

Carlo Nardi’s illumination on the shifting discourse of audio mastering sets the scene for the future. Nardi, as ever, explores the field and how the practice is dynamically shifting towards a new cultural narrative. His paper answers the questions: when does mastering start, how is it automated and what is the new economy around the field? Automation is discussed as well as concepts of new sound aesthetics in an interesting piece from Holger Lund with respects to vinyl.

Although little in this book deals with the topic of pedagogy, JP Braddock’s insights on the role of listening and ear training in audio mastering help to bolster this growing area of discussion. We predict that this type of audio education could become standardised music curriculum in the future.

The volume closes with a piece by JP Braddock and Russ Hepworth-Sawyer dreaming about a day when export format management is not such an arduous task – a day when it becomes impossible to miss one of the numerous different file types we have to export for the same master recording. We hope a positive use of artificial intelligence in audio mastering can one day be applied in this regard.

It is our hope that this book provides a discussion of what’s happening now and the conversations that emerged from the 2018 conference. Please look out for details of the next AES Mastering Group conference, hopefully in 2022.