Mastering today is very different to a couple of decades ago.
I think people are sometimes confused by the fact that we’re called Mastering.com.
We don’t exist purely to train professional mastering engineers. In fact, the vast majority of our students are self-recording artists.
The way I see it, mastering is a gateway.
It’s the key that unlocks a holistic understanding of music production.
If you’re goal is to create music, and enjoy the creative process, then mastering can sometimes seem like the opposite of that…
It’s highly technical, arguably more science than art.
But that’s exactly why it can help you be more creative.
Because creativity requires flow.
And flow requires unconscious ability.
You wouldn’t expect a guitarist to perform the world’s most emotive and inspiring guitar solo, without having years of muscle memory and scales under their belt…
Yet the vast majority of artists and producers expect to open up their DAW and be creative without having an understanding of how audio actually works.
It’s like trying to write poetry in a language you don’t understand.
So, whether you’re here because you’re an artist who wants to learn how to make the sound in your head come out of the speakers…
Or you get just as much joy from geeking out on audio as you do from making music…
Know that you’re in the right place.
Tomorrow, I’m going to tell the story of how we stumbled upon this unique approach.
That’s right… it wasn’t intentional. Teaching mastering as a way to help people understand the rest of the production process isn’t something we thought up sitting in the basement.
But I’ll tell you the full story tomorrow.
Look out for that email,
Rob
P.S. In case you missed it, our flagship 6-week intensive, Mastering Intensive, starts next Tuesday, January 13th. That means you only have a few days left to enroll.
If one of your goals for 2026 is to improve the quality of your music, then learning mastering is going to give you a ton of clarity on the final result you’re actually working towards. We can teach you the fundamentals in just 6 weeks, giving you a huge head start on the year. Full details here.
