What is mastering?

[Greeny]

Mastering adds serious polish to your final mix - if you use it right. Not all of the pre-set patches are particuarly usable though for rock / pop / ballads... some are quite tinny and harsh. After 300 or so songs on the BR, I stick with two patches for mastering: Mix Down and Premaster. The former is quite 'bright' and clear, so it just depends on the song as to which one I go for.

As Ferryman says, don't forget that you can change other elements such as EQ - both before and during mastering. I often fiddle with track volumes and rhythm volume during mastering.

Also, by using the master volume, you can opt for a nice smooth fade out if you prefer.

As with most things on the BR, experimentation and trial and error are the way forward with this, as so much depends on personal taste.

[cuthbert]

Also, by using the master volume, you can opt for a nice smooth fade out if you prefer.

Tim, I haven't actually tried that yet - is that a fade via the minus button such as what you would use when adjusting track levels, or can you fade with the input or volume pots on the side?

If the latter - that would be huge. I haven't had a lot of luck doing good fades with the minus button so far...

[Tangled Wires]

Cuthbert, the way i do it is is to press Edit whilst the song is on Mastering Mode. You then press  Input (TR1) which brings up the gain level and this can be  reduced in value (using the +/-) to produce a fade out and vice versa for a fade in.

If you want to fade in a song you would set your gain level to -24dB and once you press record to start mastering the song, this can then be gradually increased using the + button. A fade out will work in the same way, but you would start with yout required volume level at the start and then reduce this at the required rate at the end of the song.

The volume dials on the side will not work in this respect.

Hope this helps

[meatballfulton]

Mastering dates back to the days when music was recorded on open reel tape but then pressed into vinyl records, duped onto cassettes, etc. 

Each playback medium has it's own issues related to EQ, overall level and so forth.

When mastering vinyl too much low end can make the needle jump out of the groove, the less run time per side the louder it can be, even whether the song is near the beginning of the side or near the end requires adjustments to be made. Both tape and vinyl have dynamic range issues to deal with...roughly 40-50 db vs. the 100+ dB range of CDs.

In the CD era mastering has become more of a final "polish and sheen" effort.