Mastering is the final creative step in the audio production process, it is the bridge between mixing and distribution and the final chance for an engineer to enhance sound or repair problems. A key part of this process is making sure that a record sounds finished and that it is playable on a wide variety of systems. [1]
One of the newest trends within mastering is using assistive technology and processing to achieve that may not have been attainable on traditional pieces of equipment. I personally don’t enjoy using any kind of AI within my mastering process due to the fact that for me, mastering is always about enhancing the quality before delivering the product to your audience – as far as I am aware, AI can not yet listen to music and therefore we shouldn’t try and eliminate the humanity within our own music.
Sound Theory recently released a new intelligent EQ that has a very limited set of parameters for the engineer to manipulate the audio. It is one of the only ‘intelligent’ plugins I find myself using due to the fact that it has a very subtle impact and only really impacts technical problems within a mix, instead of carving out a more creative sound in my music.
To conclude, I personally think that AI based plugins do have a place within the music industry due to the combination of all engineers’ desires to be more efficient and concise within their work and the constant advancements in quality within AI technology. Despite this, I don’t believe they will ever completely take over the mixing industry – especially because of the more creative, artistic side of mixing/mastering. An engineers main job is to assist an artist’s vision and deliver the audio in a form they are happy with, as both an artist and engineer I don’t believe many artists will instantly jump onto the bandwagon of inhuman perfections for their music.
[1] Katz, R.A. (2015). Mastering audio : the art and the science. 3rd ed. Burlington, Ma: Focal Press, Taylor & Francis Group.
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