Advanced Audio Engineering
Course 18: Mastering, File Conversion and Data Management: Song 2

Course 18 will be covering the more technical area of recording engineering, going over how to start your session for a mastering project to how to convert your files to proper data archiving. You will get a thorough overview of the mastering process with exercises to practice your techniques and cover the most commonly used file format options for delivering a mastered product. You’ll also learn the proper way to save, archive, and back up your work for all purposes.

Mastering engineers are all unique in how they apply their craft to a song. As an artist or producer, it is important that you get a clear idea of what type of mastering style works best for your music or the work of your artist. Doing so will give your songs the proper loudness, impact, and clarity that they need to sound professional. We recommend that you take some time to listen to mastered songs in many different styles and genres, taking note of who the mastering engineer was.

This will help you identify which tendencies you tend to gravitate towards and with what kind of sound quality you prefer. To make the process easier, try importing those songs into Pro Tools so you can use a spectrum analyzer plugin to compare the spectrum levels between your own mastering projects and the masters of other songs. Doing so will give you a better understanding of what kind of sounds work for you and the music.