What's a basic mastering chain?
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AI starter answer — please verify with real-world experience. Awaiting trusted contributor review.
A basic mastering chain is designed to polish a balanced mix, enhance its tonal characteristics, and bring it up to commercial loudness standards without introducing distortion.
- 1.Apply a surgical EQ to roll off sub-frequencies below 30Hz and remove any harsh or muddy frequencies using narrow cuts.
- 2.Use a bus compressor with a slow attack and low ratio (1.5:1 or 2:1) to 'glue' the mix together, aiming for no more than 1–2dB of gain reduction.
- 3.Enhance the tonal balance with a broad 'musical' EQ or a multiband compressor to control dynamics in specific frequency ranges like the low-end or high-mids.
- 4.Place a True Peak Limiter at the end of the chain to increase the overall volume to commercial standards while preventing digital clipping.
- ×Avoid over-compressing, which can destroy the transients and life of your song.
- ×Do not treat mastering as a fix for a bad mix; go back to the multitracks if there are major balance issues.
- ×Watch out for 'loudness war' fatigue—louder isn't always better if it results in a flat, lifeless sound.
Always keep your final Limiter at a ceiling of -0.3 dB or -1.0 dB to prevent 'inter-sample peaks' that cause distortion when your file is converted to MP3 or streaming formats.
Based on AI training data — may not reflect current information.
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