The technique of mixing and processing group tracks earlier in the process helps minimise the work required at the mastering stage. It’s how we like to do things if working on self-created material. After that, the most important thing is to remember to turn off warping. It is possible to master your tracks in Live using nothing but the Utility device, as described in the following tutorial. The final mixdownĪs a technical process, mastering needn’t be difficult. Mastering is especially important if the product in question is an album, EP or any collection of songs that might have to be brought into line so that they flow smoothly and without any unpleasant surprises or changes along the way. Mastering gives you a clean slate and more or less removes the temptation to keep tinkering with the individual elements of the mix. Mastering should take place in a separate project from the clips, plug-ins and other material that comprise the song. Mastering comes after the mix is finished and exported as a stereo file, and provides a producer’s last chance to process and optimise the overall mix. Surely with everything set, that’s enough? Not quite.

You might wonder why there’s a separate stage after the mixing. Mixing is the process of finishing individual tracks and then adjusting equalisation, effects and levels to make the final product sound as good as possible. Having covered mixing songs in Ableton Live in last month’s tutorial, we’re now moving onto mastering.

Mastering tracks