Recall Notes
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This is a blog written by a mastering engineer about mastering, but it is not a “how to master” blog. There are other places on the internet for that.
Mastering music has been my full time occupation for over 20 years, and during that time I’ve noticed some of the same ideas and conversations coming up repeatedly. At some point I decided to keep an informal journal of some of these ruminations, sometimes to clarify my thinking about them, and sometimes just because they wouldn’t go away until written down!
Each entry is like a little note-to-self. Things to remember or build upon as the months and years have passed.
And though I didn’t originally intend to make any of these notes public, I decided to share them here because I personally really like reading what other professionals have to say about their craft. So if you’re a mastering engineer or mixer, please write and publish your version of this blog - I would read that!
- J. LaPointe (August 2025)
Future Value
2 years, 5 years, 10 years into the future what will the result of this work be?
Do the right things now so that the work has a chance to create value well into the future. Like a huge flywheel, it takes a lot to get it going. But once it starts spinning it carries tons of momentum, always dropping fresh opportunities on your lap.
Present your work to the world now as if it has already achieved that 10 year goal and your chances of actually being there in 10 years increase exponentially.
Accuracy is overrated
The words “accuracy” and its false corollary “flat response” get tossed around a lot when talking about the kind of speakers you might find in a mixing room.
But given that your speakers meet some reasonable technical criteria, what’s way more important is that recordings that you know to sound good in the real world sound very, very good to you on your speakers, in your room.
It doesn’t matter how “accurate” a speaker is, if you are not mixing things into your comfort zone, you are fighting a losing battle.
No amount of mental translation can compensate for speakers that don’t sound comfortable to you.
How to become a better mastering engineer in 30 minutes or less
One word. Move.
Nothing clears the ears and reboots the mind like a brisk walk or run. In fact, I would venture to say that a day in the mastering room is akin to an athletic event, and benefits from the same kind of preparation. Exercise, diet, and rest all play a role in achieving the state of relaxed focus needed to consistently do great work.
Push one button, hear better immediately
I have an ultrawide monitor mounted on the adjustable screen platform of my Northward Systems mastering console. It’s recessed enough to be an acoustic non-issue, and I like having it right in front of me when I want to tweak a plugin, or edit.
But this has made all the difference in the world - a simple utility that runs in the background, and allows me to assign a key command to instantly black out the monitor display.
It is incredible how different things sound when I am not staring at the screen. It’s like an instant improvement in my ability to focus on the work at hand.
I can safely say that I will never eq a mix while looking at a monitor ever again.
Built in Serendipity
Analog gear has a wide sweet spot, or perhaps better said, a wide margin for error. When you don’t know (lack of experience) or can’t hear (poor monitoring) what you’re doing, it’s possible that some analog gear will help get acceptable results because you stumble upon a setting that works. It’s a tool with built in serendipity.
But when the quality of your monitoring environment and listening skills reach a tipping point, you may find that well chosen digital gear gets to the intended result faster, because you can hear exactly what you’re doing, and the digital gear (Weiss in my case) gives exactly what is expected, with no surprises.
When you can clearly hear the tradeoffs of (even the best) conversion, and adding extra analog circuitry inline, the serendipity factor of analog loses its charm fast.
Starting fresh
Knowing what I know now, if starting from scratch today I’d consider the following:
An eq with 2 bell bands, both q of 0.5, 60hz and 10khz
A de-esser or hf limiter
Gain into a clipper
Dual mono limiter set to +1.3 gain, -0.3 ceiling
That’s it! With good monitoring and good listening that setup will take you far.
How do people talk about music?
“You have to hear this song, the bass is HUGE!”
“That song FEELS SO GOOD”
Or:
“That song translates so well.”
“I love how it sounds just like everything else.”
Are you working with people and processes that seek to make your music stand out, or fit in? Do they know where the edges are?
Lots
Lots of albums for lots of people for lots of years = LOTS of data.
I didn’t necessarily set out to be an archivist (despite the studio name, that’s another story), but I’m realizing that might actually be my most important role in all of this for the long term. Shepherding all this music through time and technological changes means it will still be there for the next listener.
This stuff matters! Perhaps now more than ever. Every little drop in the ocean of our (counter) culture influences ideas, change, and the collective consciousness for the better. Even one song changing one person’s outlook for a day (or life – it happens!) has ripple effects that make all the effort worthwhile, independent of any idea of commerce or streams or notion of success. Your music matters, perhaps much more than you think.
Stand Out or Get Out
100k new songs were released today. And yesterday. And tomorrow, and everyday after that.
We don’t need any more “radio ready” masters that “translate”.