I sometimes see some people ask how they can master their tracks better, but is mastering even necessary?

I thought I'd give a rundown of when mastering is necessary and when it isn't.

Firstly, lets not get confused with mastering and processing your master bus. Putting a limiter and a few other plugins on your master channel is not mastering. Mastering is a whole process. First you bounce down your premaster (just a bounce of your track with at least -3b headroom) and then you edit and process the audio separately. You can also do stem mastering which is bouncing down the different parts, then editing and processing them in the same way.

So, do you need to always master? I personally believe it's not always necessary, especially in the world of electronic music. The purpose of mastering is usually to make things suitable for release on physical media, or radio. If your track is just going on soundcloud, then I don't think it's usually necessary.

The MOST important thing is getting your mixdown nice and balanced, if your mixdown is off then no amount of mastering will fix that.

Lets say you do have to get your track/s mastered, should you do it yourself? I got a lot of stick on twitter a while ago for saying you shouldn't master you own tracks, even if you can (probably cus of the way I said it). However, I stand by this opinion, because no matter how good you are at mastering, your judgement is biased when working with music you've spent a load of time on. A good master from a new set of ears can bring out things in the music you didn't even hear. If you master your own tracks you might miss something you didn't notice because you've gotten so used to it. Also, you tend to be a bit more precious with your own work. It's your baby, and no one wants to cut and slash at their own baby.

Remember though, this is just my opinion, so please discuss if you agree or disagree!

@Mat_Zo I think you make a very good point. Have you heard of this company before? Would they be a good place for me to go for mastering my tracks? http://mercurymastering.com/

Thank you!

People always lump mixing and mastering together when they talk about it (I do it too), and so I guess some newer producers get the idea "mixing and mastering" is one process. Do you think calling them "post production" might fix anything?

People always lump mixing and mastering together when they talk about it (I do it too), and so I guess some newer producers get the idea "mixing and mastering" is one process. Do you think calling them "post production" might fix anything?

Maybe, I guess post prod is just a term not used a lot in music, more in video. I'm sure people will understand what you're talking about if you say post prod, if they're not an idiot

yeah i do agree ! if the purpose of mastering is to make it acceptable for mass release, then maybe not. i think invader! said something about not doing any mastering, and just stick to really good mixing hehe. maybe not him idk

ive been using mark sherry alot. and usually i send a mastering "blueprint" (roughly mastered version by myself) to insure that what i get back wont be something out of the blue (bass vs drums relationship)
nothing more devastating then sending your demo to the mastering guys at the label you're releasing on and then you hear your track butchered on beatport

hah too true and so many trance labels are guilty of it. i've made the mistake of leaving it in the hands of labels before and i was never happy. in those cases when i can't afford to have an engineer handle it, i always prefer to self master rather than leave it in the hands of a label who doesn't care about what it sounds like in the end. 

working with mark was a great experience and he always nails the final product - although i will say he leaves them quite dynamic. wasn't a problem with me but the label wanted a louder product in the end i'd also like to plug Andy Tau, he's my go to guy and knows exactly how my tracks should sound in the end. like i said, really important to find who works for you!