Online Mastering is an algorithm and automated mastering service available today offered by many different businesses. Online Mastering services tend to offer a lower cost and fast turnaround, but sometimes at the cost of poor quality albums, altered formats, or a lack of a unique approach to mixing a song. Mastering online through internet intermediates gives the music or audio publisher more freedom in setting quality parameters, as the process is done “on the fly” in real time from the comfort of the studio. However, this does not mean that the final master can be anything other than perfect – it’s all about the master. Mastering online through internet intermediates, however, also offers the music professional an unprecedented amount of flexibility in terms of album preparation.
Traditionally, the mastering procedure involved the music professional working with an analog mastering studio. Mastering an album using this technique was effective because it was easy to achieve a consistent loudness level, but because of its limitations it was also susceptible to “ofer-bashing.” “onentry-bashing,” for instance, occurs when a loud track is mixed with a quieter track in order to generate some additional energy within the audible spectrum. The end result is usually some sort of perceived compromise between the loudness of the main track and the quieter track, if not a complete loss of clarity in the mix. In other words, mastering with an analog mastering studio required the musician to compromise his or her original loudness while they also maintained some volume levels.
Online Mastering differs from this traditional concept in several ways. First, engineers who are using online mastering services have the luxury of selecting the exact grooves and volumes that will be used in their mixes. A similar situation could arise if an engineer were to work with traditional studio mastering equipment. If an engineer wished to boost the level of his or her track, for example, he or she would have to bring down the overall volume of the mix. This could be difficult if the mix had been recorded with large amounts of acoustic elements in the mix, such as drums and guitars. In this case, the engineer would need to compensate the loss of clarity by adding increased levels of sounding tracks.
As an audio engineer, one of the keys to making a high quality audio product is the ability to listen in different environments. Different venues can present varying obstacles to mastering. A concert hall or recording studio may present sounds that do not sound great to the engineer at home. While some artists have an advantage of being able to play in various venues, others must maintain consistent levels of quality throughout the process. Online mastering services eliminate this problem for artists because they typically have a team of experts on hand that can listen in any environment and reproduce any flaws or inconsistencies.
When an online mastering company is hired, the engineer has more time to focus on the creative aspect of their job. In addition to the quality of the sound, an online mastering service will often include elements such as background music that has been specifically mastered to help bring the overall sound quality up another notch. Sometimes, when artists are producing their own demos, they don’t have access to the same amount of money and equipment that an established record label might have. An online mastering service can provide them with the extra money and equipment they need to complete their demo.
Online mastering has proven to be a very effective way for artists to make their demos sound good. It has streamlined the process for producers and has made it easier for the average person to create professional-sounding tracks. When you consider how much money can be saved over the course of producing a record, online mastering services can be a very good investment. With so many great sounding tracks available today, artists no longer need to rely on the expensive fees that traditional record labels pay to get professionally mastered tracks. This cost savings leads to more money coming in for the artist, which leads to a better product created and a more satisfied customer.