In this series we will explore the art of mastering and the learning I am doing along the way.

Learning how to master (1)

It was the year 2009 when one morning I woke up with a strange taste in my mouth. I run towards the mirror and there, in fear, I noticed that half of my face was blocked. Lately, this was diagnosed as Bell's Palsy. It was a very difficult time for me, I was in the middle of my second work and I had to stop everything. I was not able to move half of my face and I had to learn how to speak again. I was not able to close my eye and I had to use a patch to sleep. I was not able to eat properly and I had to use a straw to drink. Smiling was out of the question... It was at that time that I learned that facial muscles work in contraposition to each other. So if I laughed, my lips would be pulled from the right side of my face up to when, almost, my smile was in the back of my head. I visited a doctor and asked how to become 'normal' again, and, to my surprise, the doctor told me that I had to imagine doing the things I could no longer do. At first, I thought this was a joke... How could imagining something make any difference in my body? But I was desperate and I had to try.

 

Now, I am pretty sure that each of us has read at least one article that states that we use only 10% of our brain or so. But still, the consideration of my doctor shocked me. As a good Gen-Xer, I started to search for information on the internet and I found out that what the doctor had told me was real.

 

So I started to imagine myself smiling, eating, drinking, speaking, and so on. After a few months, I was back to normal. Not to 100% of my capabilities, my left eye still looks squeezed, especially if I have not slept properly. I was lucky, I know, but I learned a very important lesson: **imagination is a powerful tool**. Day after day, my imagination made nerves grow back, millimeter after millimeter, and I slowly regained control of my face and my expressions.

 

This was a long introduction, I know, but I wanted to share with you this story because I think that imagination is a powerful tool that we can use to learn new things. One of the most important processes of audio mastering is to be able to listen to the music and dissect portions of the sound to understand what is happening. This is not easy, especially if you are not used to it. But let me assure you, it is possible to learn how to do it, and with the right training, it is possible to get very good at it.

 

Let me give you an example. When we meet other people in a noisy bar, we are able to understand what they are saying. We are able to do this because we have learned how to filter out the noise and focus on the voice of the person we are talking to. We have learned how to do this because we have been doing it for a long time and because we have trained our brains to do it. We have become so good at doing this that we have dedicated a Wikipedia page to this concept: [Cocktail party effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocktail_party_effect). Click the link if you want to read more about it.

 

And I think behind this concept, lies the art that every mastering engineer has mastered (forgive my word game) in many years while performing their work. So... we can learn that too, right? The next time you listen to your favorite track, try to dissect the sound and focus on the different elements that compose it. Try to focus on the bass, on the kick, on the snare, on the vocals, on the guitars, on the synths, on the effects, on the reverb, on the delay, on the compression, on the EQ, on the stereo image, on the panning, on the loudness, on the dynamics, on the transients, on the harmonics, on the distortion on the saturation and on the stereo width. I know that's a lot of work, but it doesn't mean that you have to do it all at once. You can start by focusing on one element at a time.

 

Then, try to focus on different frequency ranges, particularly the low, the low mids, the mids, the high mids, the highs, and the very highs. Try to focus on the different elements of the stereo image, particularly the center, the sides, the left, and the right. The more you do it, the more you can appreciate the work of the mastering engineer and the love that they have put into decorating a beautiful track into something that is easy to listen and that gives joy to the listener. At one point, you will probably be developing a system, for which you'd prefer to concentrate on the bass first and continue upwards (probably the most common order) or any other order that you prefer. If we concentrate enough, we will discover that our brain is capable of doing amazing things. And what is more amazing than understanding the music we are listening to? Understand the characteristics of the sound that makes us pump adrenaline or feel melancholy or sad. It's a long way to go, but I can assure the journey is worth it.

 

In this series of articles, I will share with you my journey in learning how to master. I will share with you the resources I am using, the techniques I am learning, and the results I am getting. I will also share with you the mistakes I am making and the things I am learning from them. I hope you will find this series interesting and useful.

A list of randomly picked mastering tips from the internet

A list of randomly picked mastering tips from the internet.

Mastering tips


A long list of randomly picked mastering tips from the internet.

- De-essing and boosting high end at the same time
  [The Future of Mastering Audio | Interview with Reuben Cohen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=934&v=PQuT2jiDJck&feature=youtu.be)

- Never EQ the exact area you want to EQ
  [The Future of Mastering Audio | Interview with Reuben Cohen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=995&v=PQuT2jiDJck&feature=youtu.be)


Audio terms glossary

## The real catch

In the world of Audio, there are many terms that are used to describe different things. This is a list of terms that I have found useful to know and understand. I will be updating this list as I learn more about the field.

 

### Soft clip

Soft clipping is a type of distortion effect that occurs when a signal level exceeds the maximum level allowed by a device. Unlike hard clipping, soft clipping gently rounds off the peaks of the signal, rather than the tops being cut off abruptly. This results in a more natural sounding distortion.

A list of videos about mastering and mastering professionals we love

A list of videos about mastering and mastering professionals we love and respect.

Mastering videos


A list of videos about mastering and mastering professionals we love and respect.

- [Mastering - ROBERT BABICZ](https://youtu.be/V3TMwhbsFtM)


All you want to know about balanced cables and you never asked.

Balanced cables what?

### The real catch

Simply speaking, a balanced cable helps to reduce noise from your audio interface to your speaker (or any other audio connection between two audio terminals).

Additionally, considering that the signal is duplicated while traveling, a balanced cable can serve a better distance between two audio-connected terminals.

#### So how does it work?

A balanced audio cable will carry two different signals. One with the original phase and one with the phase rotated of 180 degrees (producing a mirrored copy of the signal). At the end of the cable, one of the two signals will have its phase reversed again and be mixed with the original signal.

<GraphVisualizer
 phase={0}
 caption="The first instance of the signal with the original phase"
/>

<GraphVisualizer
 phase={100}
 caption="The second instance of the signal with the rotated phase"
/>

Any noise introduced during the transmission, by reversing the phase of the signal, will be theoretically eliminated. Let's see how this works with some examples:

#### First we will play a simple sine oscillator with the original phase:

<D3Oscilloscope
 type="sine"
 phase="0"
 note="C4"
 length="1n"
 ctatext="Play the first copy of the signal."
 id="oscilloscope-1"
/>

#### And now let's play a copy of the sound with the reversed-phase (the oscillator phase is rotated of 180 degrees):

<D3Oscilloscope
 type="sine"
 phase="180"
 note="C4"
 length="1n"
 ctatext="Play the signal with a 180° rotated phase."
 id="oscilloscope-2"
/>

They sound similar, right? The traveling signal is the same!
Now let's try to mix the two sound sources and have some fun. The slider at the bottom of the oscilloscope will allow us to change the phase of the mirrored signal. The starting phase of the second traveling signal is 0°, try to play the signal with a phase rotation of 180°.

<Mixed180PhaseRotated ctatext="Play / Stop" />

What happens when the mirrored signal is rotated at 180°? Did the volume go down to zero? The signals are still traveling in the same direction, but, as the phase of the mirrored signal is reversed, the output is equal to zero, the signal is effectively muted. How does this help with noise?

Let's imagine that while the signal is traveling, some noise is introduced in the path. The noise would have the same phase in the main signal and the mirrored one. At the end of the travel, the mirrored signal would be rotated again to the original phase together with the introduced noise which then would be reversed in phase. The resulting signal would have eliminated the noise as its phase would be reversed. Makes sense?

<Note>
 A balanced cable generically transfers a mono signal, although balanced stereo
 cables can be purchased too.
</Note>
 
 

#### Q&A Time

<dl>
 <dt>What's the difference between a balanced cable and a balanced stereo cable?</dt>
 <dd>In theory, as the phase reversion happens in the supplier of the signal and the receiver, a stereo cable could work as a balanced cable, however, in practice,
 that's not the case.

The difference between a stereo cable and a balanced cable is that the stereo cable is composed of two sheaths, each one with a shield so that the single stereo channel can travel with some interference protection. A balanced cable is composed of a single sheath, 2 conductor cables, and a shield.
In a balanced cable, the wires are twisted together so to improve the CMMR (Common
Mode Rejection Ratio) of the wires that transport the signal.

 </dd>
 <dt>Does the inversion of phase happen in the cable itself?</dt>
 <dd>
 No, the inversion of phase happens in the supplier and receiver of the signal. Thus, the cable is not responsible for the inversion of the phase. The supplier of the signal and
 the receiver will have to take care of switching the phase of the signal to 180
 degrees.
 </dd>
</dl>

---

 

### References:

- [Thread on Quora](https://www.quora.com/Is-a-balanced-cable-the-same-as-a-stereo-cable?top_ans=228527090)

A list of audio resources for your experiment or leisure.

Audio resources

This is just a long list of resources and references about audio materials.

 

### Sounds

- [Xeno Canto](https://www.xeno-canto.org/) - A database of birds sounds
- [Academo](https://academo.org/demos/) - Beautiful learning resource with visual
 demos
- [FreeSound](https://freesound.org/) - A resource that cannot be missed for
 audio explorations

### Web Audio API

- [10 libraries for web audio](https://areknawo.com/10-libraries-for-web-audio-stuff/) - A list of libraries for web audio

First post ever for the MiniMastering blog

The very very first-first post ever for the MiniMastering blog.

First-first post

## The real catch

To be honest, I don't know what I am doing! I have been an audio engineer enthusiast and I have always been interested in the field of music production and more specifically in the art of mastering audio content. I decided to create this blog to share my experiences as I learn and to share my thoughts about the field.

 

This blog is going to be a mix of articles about audio mastering, web development (explaining how Minimastering is running) and, a little bit of business management as I attempt to make my hobby somehow profitable.

 

I am a strong believer that sharing is the best way to learn and to improve and also the best way to give back to the community and the world. This is my humble way of doing it. I hope it can be of some use to you!

 

#### ミニマスタリング (aka Minimasutaringu - aka MiniMastering)

When I started to learn a little bit of Japanese, it was amazing for me to discover that the Japanese language does not have words that end in consonants. While I keep collecting Japanese-made synthesizers, I also discover the love that Japanese engineers have put into their sound machines and consequently, into the world. Every little detail is a wonder to my eyes, ears, and heart.

 

I am not necessarily obsessed with Japan and Japanese culture (although I have profound respect for every culture in the world) but I do share the love for details, especially for audio material and the quest to achieve perfection through relentless iteration.

 

The adventure documented in this blog is going to be a journey into the pursuit of that love while trying to keep humble during the process of discovery.

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→ Learning how to master (1)

→ Mastering tips

→ Audio terms glossary

→ Mastering videos

→ Balanced cables what?

→ Audio resources

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