The Mastering Show #103 – Technical versus Creative Mastering (Q&A)

About this episode

This episode explores the balance between technical and creative considerations in mastering music.

This started out as a Q&A episode, but one way or another there turned out to be a real theme to many of the questions, namely - how do you choose between technical and creative considerations, when mastering ? Questions like: When the client wants songs to sound different When to use mid-side processing (or not) Transient shaping - hardware or software ? How much distortion ? When is unbalanced EQ am artistic choice ? What to do when the "correct" thing to do goes against the emotion of the song Take a listen and find out how these questions all connect ! Full links on our website: www.themasteringshow.com/episode-103 Mentioned in this episode: Mastering Click HERE to work with Ian Leapwing Find out more about Leapwing's plugins Learn to master ! Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources

People in this episode

Hosts: The Mastering Show Podcast, Ian Leapwing

Topics covered

• technical mastering
• creative mastering
• mid-side processing
• transient shaping
• EQ choices
• emotional impact in mastering

Keywords

• mastering
• technical considerations
• creative considerations
• mid-side processing
• transient shaping
• distortion
• EQ choices

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Leapwing

Books & works: The Mastering Show

More episodes of The Mastering Show

• The Mastering Show #109 - Audio repair & fixing faults · May 29, 2026 · 46 min
• The Mastering Show #108 - Why I was wrong about Loudness Range · April 29, 2026 · 33 min
• The Mastering Show #107 - Mastering for 1-Off Vinyl (and short runs) · March 31, 2026 · 1h 9m
• The Mastering Show #106 - Are dynamics dead ?! · February 28, 2026 · 35 min
• The Mastering Show #105 - Loudness at the Grammys: is there REALLY a secret sauce ? · January 31, 2026 · 28 min
• The Mastering Show #104 - Mastering for Sync ? What, Why and How · December 23, 2025 · 48 min