Learn how to master a song with ‘Are You Listening?’ Season 6

Audio mastering is an essential part of music production that involves taking the mix and putting the final touches on it, enhancing the overall sound, and getting the music ready for distribution.

While mastering a song might seem complicated, it’s easier and more intuitive than you think. Especially after watching the latest season of Are You Listening?, a free educational video series from our friends at iZotope that demystifies the process of mixing and mastering.

Headed by accomplished mastering engineer and Berklee professor Jonathan Wyner, Are You Listening? season 6 explores topics like critical mastering mistakes to avoid, how to develop your critical listening skills, and how to master a song from start to finish at home.

If you need a primer on mastering or if you have questions about concepts like loudness, gain staging, mastering for streaming services, and more, catch the first episode of season 6 below and explore some episodes from previous seasons.

Make sure to hit the subscribe button for the rest of the episodes!

Critical Mastering Mistakes to Avoid

If you’ve mastered a song before, you’ve probably made at least one of these mistakes. Season 6 of Are You Listening? kicks off with 10 of the most critical mastering mistakes to avoid.

Audio Mastering Basics

This is season one, episode one—where it all began, and where you should too if you’re just getting started with mastering (or wondering what exactly it is).

Mastering with Reference Tracks

Ever want your song to sound like a track in a similar genre that’s been professionally mastered? In this episode from the second season, learn how to master a song using reference tracks to check whether your track is closing in on the ideal dynamics and vibe you’re going for.

Mastering with Headphones

In the third season, learn how to how to navigate the challenges—and benefits—of mastering with headphones, including considerations in headphone outputs and impedance ratings when mastering, common fallacies with mastering in headphones, and more.

Mixing In Your Home Studio

Season 4 of Are You Listening? is all about audio mixing. Learn how your listening environment affects your perception and how to set up your home studio for an optimal mixing session.

Mix a Song from Start to Finish

Season 5 features Latin GRAMMY Award-winning mix engineer Enrique Gonzalez Müller and looks at the entire mixing process, from organizing your tracks to mixing each instrument for clarity and cohesiveness in your mix. It also features plugins from Native Instruments like DIRT.

We hope this free video series from our friends at iZotope helps you level up your mixing and mastering skills. You can watch all of the episodes on the Are You Listening? web page.