How to Prepare Your Music for Mastering
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How to Prepare Your Music for Mastering
When it comes to releasing your music, mastering is the final step that takes your track from good to radio-ready. But before you send your song to a mastering engineer, it’s crucial that your mix is properly prepared. Delivering a clean, well-balanced mix will ensure the mastering process brings out the best in your music, instead of trying to fix preventable mistakes.
In this guide, a professional mixing & mastering engineer will tell you exactly what to do before sending your mix in for mastering.
Why Preparing Your Mix Matters
Mastering is not mixing. A mastering engineer’s job is to enhance and finalize your track, not to correct major mixing problems. You can see it as a feeling that’s given to your music. The job of a mastering engineer is to give the right feeling to your music and polish the final sound. If your mix is muddy, clipping, or unbalanced, mastering can only do so much. A clean, well-prepared mix allows your mastering engineer to:
- Achieve loudness and clarity without distortion
- Preserve dynamic range for streaming platforms and radio
- Make sure your track translates well across all playback systems
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Highlight the unique character of your music
Step 1: No clipping and export at 32-Bit Float
One of the most common mistakes artists make is sending mixes that are too loud or clipping. For mastering, you should always leave headroom. It doesn’t need to be -6db of headroom, as long as the loudest peak in your track isn’t going above 0db, the mastering engineer can just turn down the track to have enough headroom to work with.
Even better, export at 32-bit float. If the mix is clipping, the information of the peaks still stay untouched. Meaning the mastering engineer can turn it down and ‘safe’ the clipped peaks.
Important: We’re talking about TP (True Peak) level. So make sure you’re reading the right
Step 2: Remove Mastering Plug-ins
It might be tempting to slap a limiter, compressor, or EQ on your master channel to make it “louder.” But for mastering, this only makes the job harder.
❌ No limiters
❌ No brickwall compression
❌ No stereo enhancers or “final touches”
👉 Leave the final loudness, EQ balance, and stereo width to the mastering stage.
Step 3: Check Your Mix Balance
Before exporting, make sure your mix is balanced:
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Low end: Tight and controlled, not overpowering.
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Vocals: Clear, upfront, and not buried or too sharp.
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High frequencies: Bright but not harsh.
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Stereo image: Wide but still focused in the center.
Listen to your mix on multiple systems, use MetricAB plugin to compare your frequency spectrum, correlation and stereo image to other mastered tracks. Most mastering engineers are happy to check your mix before mastering and will give you any feedback to change in the mix if needed. So don’t be afraid to talk to your mastering engineer about this!
Step 4: Export in the Right Format
When delivering your mix for mastering, always use high-quality audio files.
✅ WAV format (never MP3)
✅ 32-bit Float (or 24-bit if 32-bit is not possible)
✅ Same sample rate as your recording session (44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 96 kHz, etc.)
Consistency matters: don’t upsample or downsample before sending.
Step 5: Label Your Files Clearly
It sounds obvious, but messy file names can cause confusion. Name your files like this:
ArtistName_SongTitle_Mix_v1.wav
If you’re sending multiple versions (instrumental, acapella, radio edit), make sure they’re all clearly labeled.
Step 6: Provide Reference Tracks (Optional but Powerful)
If you have a vision for how you want your track to sound, send your mastering engineer a reference track (or a few). This could be a commercial release you admire or one of your own songs. It helps the engineer understand your artistic intent. And like we said in the beginning, mastering is about giving a ‘feeling’ to the track and bringing it alive. The better you can describe the feeling you’ve in mind, the better the results will be.
Step 7: Double-Check Before Sending
Before you hit “send”:
- Listen to the exported file from start to finish
- Make sure there are no pops, clicks, or dropouts
- Check that the bounce starts and ends cleanly
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Make sure everything is on time after bouncing the stems
Final Thoughts
Mastering is the last step before your music reaches the world. By preparing your mix properly, you set yourself (and your mastering engineer) up for success.
At Lunar Studio, we specialize in professional analog mastering that brings warmth, depth, and clarity to your tracks. Whether you’re a rising independent artist or an established name, we ensure your music sounds the best it possibly can — everywhere it’s played.
Ready to hear the difference or want us to listen to your music and give feedback? Feel free to reach out or book your master right away at Lunar Studio!