Complete Audio Mastering: Practical Techniques

CHAPTER 11Visualizations/Metering

There is a story about Mitch Miller, a figure in American music, who once became frustrated with an engineer paying too much attention to the meters, so he placed tape over all the meters in the studio. As you do your mastering work, you must rely on your ears, not your eyes. For novices, this is a real challenge because it takes time to develop a sense for mastering. This leads many who are just starting out to try to find systematic, often visual ways of working. For instance, they might try a curve-matching equalizer or maybe some metering system that promises better results. There won’t be such a visual approach to mastering any sooner than there will be such an approach to other aspects of creating music, ...