Sunday, November 28, 2010

CD Mastering Options For Beginners

By Eric James


You might think that the mixing of the separate audio tracks might be the last step in getting your product ready for CD replication but the recording as a whole needs to mastered well in order to produce the best quality sound. CD mastering is your last chance for creative input when you create a compact disc. When you finally have your master disc is when you will be able to print, replicate and then market it. Mastering a CD requires several steps. Your songs or audio tracks need to be in the correct order. Editing the songs is required as is setting the length of time between tracks. Any unlisted or secret songs on the CD are normally added at this point as well.

There are several different methods you can use to master a CD. It's not the cheapest option but many choose to use professional CD mastering engineers which is what many professional musicians decide to do.

The mastering engineers will often work in their own mastering facilities, which are very different from standard studios, in the fact that they have much less gear and are designed for the best possible playback of the mix as possible in order to fix anything that's wrong.

If you don't have the funds for this you could try mastering at home using your own computer and some mastering software. If you're an unsigned musician or are just starting out then this is probably your best option. Some skill and knowledge will be required as will quality software in order to get a professional sounding mix.

These days you can also go online to try online CD mastering services. This is a very convenient option which can easily be done from your home. To do this, you'll need a high speed Internet connection.

Free mastering is of course the cheapest way to go when you need to master a CD, Artists and musicians may choose to use free mastering programs with demos or other earlier recordings that artists will use to send to major record labels to generate some interest in their music.

The difference in quality between recordings usually comes down to the mastering. Every song that you hear played on the radio is thoroughly mastered in order to sound better.

Without proper training and experience a professional CD mastering engineer is probably the best way to go for your project.




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