Mastering as a section of Music Production. Recording and producing music, including studio techniques and the treatment of recorded sound. Consumer playback devices remain in Gadgets.
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
What machine carves the spiral groove into a blank disc when mastering a vinyl record?
The lathe commonly uses a sapphire or ruby cutting stylus to carve sound vibrations into a lacquer-coated disc.
Compact disc audio uses which standard sample rate?
The 44.1-kilohertz rate captures frequencies up to about 20 kilohertz, covering the range of human hearing.
What does noise-shaped dithering do with added hiss in audio mastering?
Human ears notice midrange hiss most, so noise shaping pushes the dither noise toward higher, duller frequencies.
What finishing step sets song order and gaps on an album master?
Sequencing fixes fades and pauses so songs flow smoothly and discs or streams split at the right spots.
Why do radio stations run broadcasts through an audio limiter?
A steady signal keeps quiet speech audible and stops sudden loud parts from overloading the transmitter.
Why do vinyl mastering engineers usually place deep bass in the center of the mix?
Differences between the channels can make bass cause large vertical groove movements; centered bass reduces that motion and helps tracking.
What audible flaw does audio dithering help prevent in quiet passages?
Without dithering, soft reverb tails and fade-outs can break into a grainy buzz called quantization distortion.
Why do mastering engineers compare a master with reference tracks?
Reference tracks reveal when a master sounds dull or quiet next to finished releases.
What distortion does a limiter prevent in digital recordings?
Digital systems cannot exceed maximum level, so peaks that overshoot get chopped flat and sound harsh.
Compact disc masters include PQ codes mainly to record what?
PQ data includes track timings and recording identifiers; an ISRC identifies a recording across different releases and formats.