Master your Masterpiece

Mastering is a delicate art. A great mastering job can make a lackluster mix boom to life, while a bad mastering job can demolish a great tune. I know this because a few of my songs in the past have definitely been ruined. This is why there are pro studios around the globe that do nothing but mastering. The facilities tend to be a bit more streamlined than your typical recording studio, and use only a few tools. Yet, the person sitting behind the console must possess knowledge of the high-level gear, along with set of golden ears that can hear every detail. Sounds pretty serious huh? Well, only to a point. Amazingly, the BR-1180CD and BR-1600CD are equipped with the tools it takes to get your music to sound polished, as if it were mastered at a pro studio.

Mastering, if you’re not familiar, is a process where you typically apply equalization, compression, and dynamic enhancements to the final mix of your song so the levels and frequencies are just right.

The mastering section in both the BR-1180CD and BR-1600CD is called the “Mastering Tool Kit.” The tools you have to work with in here can’t be found at your local hardware store. You’ll find a detailed multi-band EQ that can pinpoint almost any frequency audible to the human ear — or even unheard by some of us who have been crankin’ up the volume far too long. With this you can cut, boost, and adjust to your heart’s content.

Along with the EQ, you have access to a multi-band compressor, which automatically smoothes out some of the volume differences between the soft and loud parts of your song. Don’t let the words “multi-band” confuse you. The different “bands” of compression are refined frequency groups or “sections” for more flexibility and control. For example, you could apply more compression to the low frequencies versus having a lighter setting for the mid and high frequencies. This is a must have if you want your songs to have consistent and punchy levels that are like those you’d find on your favorite artist’s professionally mastered CD.

Another great thing about the Mastering Tool Kit is that it’s so easy to use. After bouncing my recorded tracks over to tracks 9/10, I simply press the Mastering Tool Kit button and then turn the value dial to choose one of the 20 preset patches that sounds best for my song. These patches have predetermined settings that can make the mix come alive with little or no tweaking at all. From there, I pop in a blank CD-R and burn away. It’s that easy.

So if you’re just laying down basic tracks for a demo, or recording a song that you feel is going to be the next big hit on the radio, you can be sure that the BOSS BR-Series recorders have what it takes to help get you there.