You will notice immediately that the mastered piece sounds different.

It is loud, it is "full", "detail", "spatial" etc.

 

So what changes in the mastering process?

When mastering I edit the "sum", i.e. the mix which is reduced on

2 tracks now (= stereo, i.e. left & right). Hence, I work less about details

(such as individual instruments) but on the overall picture.

 

-  The overall volume is increased

-  The overall sound is once more - if necessary - refined (by EQ)

-  The panorama is possibly widened (this creates a bigger "space")

   or made narrower (what makes the music more "compact")

-  The dynamic range (in other words the difference between the

   quiet sounds and the loud sounds) is possibly somewhat reduced -

   the loudest signals become a little quieter and so I can increase

   the total volume (this is called "compressing") -

   the music seems to become more "compact".

   But sometimes (when the mix is too compressed and thus sounds boring)

   I do the opposite - I "decompress", i.e. I icrease the volume peaks again

   and that seems to make the quiet sounds quieter -

   so the "natural dynamic" of music is strengthened again.

 

What many musicians and especially producers wish from mastering -

described in a sentence is:

That the music becomes more cool, loud, resounding and appears at least

on a par with other comparable music - and this is measured primarily

on the volume level (this seems to be stupid since you have a volume knob

but psychacoustic  works exactly this way).

This raises the question:

 

What is mastering not able to achieve ?

 

-  Mastering does not make the music more dynamic than it was

   originally played, it can only try to support the dynamics

-  Mastering does not push the entire band equivalent "forward" -

   because this is simply impossible (as well as in reality, there are always

   parts / instruments in the music which appear "quieter" or "louder" -

   and that makes music so well

-  mastering does not make the sound of the instruments better

   than it actually was when recorded, it can only try to

   draw a pleasant, precise and contoured overall sound.

 

-  Mastering can not increase the volume unlimited without

   making the sound definitely worse - for this you can find enough

   examples in the music industry and in the

   sound of the radio stations.