Mastering Explained - How To Master A Song

What is mastering in music? How do you master a song? This video will explain what mastering is and how it's used in music. We will look at the difference between mixing and mastering, and how the mastering chain is built up when mastering music.
In this video, we will show a mastering chain inside FL Studio, but the same mastering techniques can be used for any DAW. I will show you some quick examples of how to master a song using EQ, compression, saturation, stereo widening, and so on.
Mastering is the final step for any music producer. When a track is mixed down properly, it should be 99% finished. Mastering is the very last step of the process. Mastering will ensure that the song is brought up to commercial levels and that any problem frequencies and such are fixed. Mastering can fix certain problems in a mix, but it's not intended as a tool to fix a broken mix. That's not what mastering is about. Mastering is all about polishing the final mix. If your mix does not sound good before mastering, then mastering will not be able to save it. You should make sure that your mix is sounding as good as possible before mastering your song.
Note: This is a video about what mastering is, it's not intended as a dedicated mastering tutorial. The processing shown here is just some quick examples to show what will typically be used!
A dedicated mastering tutorial will come later.


00:00 introduction
00:17 The difference between mixing and mastering
00:43 What is mastering music?
02:42 How a mastering engineer works
03:32 can you master a song in a bedroom studio?
05:32 Typical mastering chain
05:37 How to master a song (EQ)
07:03 How to master a song (Compression)
07:43 How to master a song (Stereo width)
08:16 How to master a song (Saturation)
08:33 How to master a song (Limiting)
09:56 Mastering with Ozone and Online Mastering

The importance of MONO in your mix:    • The Importance of MONO in Your Mix (The Se...  
Compression Explained:    • Audio Compression Explained (In 3 Minutes!)  
How to prepare a track for mastering:    • How To Make a PREMASTER (The CORRECT Way!)  
How to EQ:    • How To Mix (part 3): How to EQ  

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FL Studio tutorials:    • How To Sync Samples To The Project Tempo I...  
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