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James Ensley Peters
We're almost finished with this, and I'm very humbled to have been able to study all of this and make this step in my life for something I want to do for the rest of my life! I should also say, I'm thankful to have a wonderful mentor who has allowed me to "master" these concepts...I'm sorry.
In recent times, I have tried to explain what I'm doing to people around me in regards to what is audio engineering. A way that I explain is by elaborating on each step as an audio engineer does. I use the example of writing a paper for a school assignment to compare, as many of my family and friends either remember writting essays in high school or still write them today in university. I begin with the initial recording. It's like your rough draft, getting your ideas down in proper format. Mixing can be described as the editing phase of paper writing, going back and finding better phrasings and word choice, aiming for a very educated, yet audience geared work. Mastering is like the final draft, the version you're going to turn in for a grade. As the book definition of mastering explains, it's the process of preparing a mix for duplication in CD, iTunes, Soundcloud, ect. formats. It also includes details as final song order, conceptual developments (if applicable), and overall approval of the mix.
With that said, mastering can be very technical and hard to perfect. At the same time, it also is very subjerctive to the individual. I may want to allow for dynamic nuances in a mix to be featured, while a contemporary may not pay attention to those same nuances. It's similar to the taste in a guitars pickup configuration to how many toms a drummer would like on their kit. I persoanlly look at it similar to a band director at the local high school. Balance is key, melody and countermelody must be spotlighted, and the harmonization and accompanying chords must be very in-tuned. If there is a given or detail played or emphasised (such as dynamic contrasts mentioned before) I will respect those choices and highlight those nuances.
