AI Music Mastering Now Rivals Human Experts
AI-powered music mastering services like LANDR and Apple's Logic Pro Mastering Assistant can now match or exceed the quality of human mastering engineers, making high-quality mastering accessible and affordable.
Summary
- Music mastering tools like LANDR and Apple's Logic Pro Mastering Assistant use AI to master songs by applying EQ, compression, limiting, and other audio processing.
- The author's music teacher was impressed with how much LANDR's mastering quality has improved, saying it now sounds as good or better than professional human mastering.
- Apple released Mastering Assistant built into Logic Pro, bringing free AI mastering to many musicians.
- To test LANDR, Logic Pro Mastering Assistant, and other services, the author wrote and recorded a song in his inexpensive home studio with entry-level gear.
- AI services can master a track in minutes for a low cost, while human mastering engineers take days or weeks and charge higher rates.
- AI mastering allows hobbyists, amateurs, and independent musicians to achieve a polished, "like a record" sound without high-end studios or gear.
- The author was impressed with how the AI-mastered versions of his song sounded as good as professionally mastered tracks.
- AI mastering has improved enough to save musicians time and money while matching or exceeding human results. Democratization of quality could further spur home music production.