Audio Mastering - Essential Practices | Professional Guide to Mastering Techniques for Producers and Engineers | Complete Book and Audio Examples for Mixing Workflow and Music Production Skills - Softcover

Wyner, Jonathan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0876390947 ISBN 13: 9780876390948

Publisher: Berklee Press, 2013

Synopsis

This guide is designed for aspiring producers, recording engineers, independent musicians, and home-studio creators who want to strengthen their mastering skills and achieve professional-quality sound. It supports learners at various levels who want to refine their workflow, understand the technical foundations of mastering, and improve the clarity, impact, and consistency of their recordings. Whether used for personal projects, studio development, or career advancement, it provides a clear path toward confident, skillful audio finishing.

Inside this book, readers will find practical explanations of mastering gear, room setup, signal flow, and essential processing techniques used to optimize volume, tone, and balance. The material covers detailed discussions on equalization, compression, limiting, level matching, and preparing tracks for final duplication and distribution. Two included case studies demonstrate real-world mastering decisions step by step, supported by audio examples on the companion recording. This hands-on structure helps readers understand not only what to adjust, but why each choice matters in shaping the final sound.

This resource helps strengthen technical judgment, improve critical listening, and develop methods that consistently elevate recorded music. It provides insights that apply to commercial studios and project setups alike, offering dependable guidance for improving individual tracks and entire albums. Producers and engineers will appreciate its practical approach to mastering challenges, while musicians gain the knowledge needed to polish their own work with professional results.

Trusted by creators at every level. This comprehensive guide equips music makers with the understanding and confidence needed to finalize mixes, improve audio quality, and prepare recordings for release, making it a valuable addition to any production library.

About this title

About the Author

JONATHAN WYNER is chief mastering engineer and president of M Works Mastering Studios, one of the world's most esteemed and versatile audio mastering studios. He has mastered more than five thousand projects since the mid 1980s, spanning every musical idiom (and some non-musical idioms as well!) and has become a sought after resource for mastering education. His credits include legends such as David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Nirvana, and Kiri Te Kanawa, as well as many talents within the independent artist community, in addition to labels and studios, such as Columbia Records, Sony, Warner Brothers, and DreamWorks Studios.

Review

As much as has been written about methods, myths, and methodologies in mastering recorded music, there's plenty of room for a thorough, up-to-date, and above all competent review of what excellent mastering is, and isn't. Jonathan Wyner has crafted a terrific new written work on the subject, and has gone further by illuminating the many various approaches and choices with step-by-step audio examples of how to apply art and technology thoughtfully, tastefully, and well. --George Massenburg, multiple Grammy® award-winning producer, engineer, and inventor. Professor of Sound Recording, Schulich School of Music, McGill University

A fantastic overview of the mysterious world of mastering! Audio Mastering does a great job of covering both the technical and creative aspects of our art. A must-read for all record production professionals - those aspiring to be mastering engineers and those who simply desire to be better informed on the mastering process. --Adam Ayan, multiple Grammy® and TEC award-winning mastering engineer (Carrie Underwood, Rush, Pearl Jam, Madonna, Foo Fighters, Rascal Flatts)

Audio Mastering is an informative and entertaining read, with practical advice and insights into the techniques and tools of the trade that nearly any engineer will find immediately useful. The 'case studies' provide a rare, intimate, real-world look at the process, as if you're a fly on the wall at one of New England's finest mastering houses. Whether you are new to mastering or an experienced professional, you will find this book to be fascinating and practical. --Tom Bates, multiple Grammy®-winning engineer and producer (Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Michel Legrand, the Metropolitan Opera, and Saturday Night Live)

Edition details

• Publisher: Berklee Press
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0876390947
• ISBN 13: 9780876390948
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 152