Mastering
DIY mastering basics: getting a release-ready master at home
March 30, 2026 · 7 min read
A good mastering engineer is worth every dollar. But if your budget is zero and the song is going out tomorrow, a careful self-master is far better than a loud one. Run a draft master past five peers on Songstring before you bounce final — fresh ears catch the things headphone-fatigue hides.
Reference, reference, reference
Pull two commercial tracks in the same genre and loudness target. A/B at matched volume. Without a reference you're just chasing meters.
The minimum-viable chain
Subtle broadband EQ → 1–2 dB of gentle bus compression at slow attack → limiter. Don't reach for multiband first; if you need it, the mix is probably the real issue.
Stop chasing -8 LUFS
Streaming services normalize. Past -10 LUFS integrated you're trading dynamics for nothing. A song with punch at -11 will out-feel a flat brick at -7 every time.
Master quiet, master in a treated room if you have one, and sleep on it. Tomorrow-you is a better mastering engineer than tonight-you.
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