11 Mastering Tips from Ian Vargo
A screenshot from Ian Vargo’s course: Mastering In the Box
Ian Vargo of the Pro Audio Files shared 11 things that he does on every master this week. Mastering is the process of formatting audio for distribution, and there’s a lot of work that goes into this seemingly simple process. Vargo includes a handful of suggestions in his article that will surely improve the quality of the masters you’re producing.
When working professionally, the needs and wants of your client are what is most important. Vargo states that “This is a service-based industry. While I am most likely hired based on my particular aesthetic, skill set and set of tools — my ultimate goal is to fulfill a clients’ artistic vision. I am clear about this from the onset. I always ask what specific file types need to be delivered — some clients plan to release their music via streaming only, others plan on having CDs manufactured and widely distributed. The deliverables change dependent on how the client plans to release their music.”
Another point Vargo makes is that it’s important to listen to the mix you’re sent as a music lover and not a technician. He says that “Very few listeners (if any) are going to listen to a song and ponder the particular sonic decisions I’ve made as a mastering engineer.” He follows this up by saying that “My first step when mastering is always to listen to the song as a music fan. I’ll listen to the lyrics, the rhythm and the less technical aspects of the song.” In doing this, he’s able to pinpoint what makes the song unique for an average listener and enhance the song accordingly.
Vargo also references on a variety of monitors, uses mid-side equalization, reference tracks, careful compression, and various forms of saturation and excitation. Closing out his list, Vargo emphasizes that he makes use of meters like iZotope’s Insight 2, a “sculpting” EQ, and a mastering limiter like FabFilter’s Pro-L 2. Read Vargo’s full article via the Pro Audio Files for an in-depth explanation of each of these steps.
Charles Hoffman is a Mixing and Mastering Engineer at Black Ghost Audio. After graduating from the University of Manitoba with an English degree, Charles completed his education at Icon Collective in Los Angeles, CA.
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