Producing an album goes through 3 major processes. Recording, Mixing and Mastering. The primary focus of the recording process is to capture the artist performance the best way possible. Mixing combines all the individual elements of the song such as multiple instruments and vocals and digital and combine them into two channels (left and right) or 6 channels if mixing for a 5.1 surround format. The mastering process deals with these final mixed channels (two when dealing with stereo). The process refers to this audio mix and preparing it for distribution. There are several considerations in this process: unifying the sound of a record, maintaining consistency across an album, and preparing for distribution. By making changes to each song to correct mix balance issues and enhance particular sonic characteristics, taking a good mix and putting the final touches on it. This can involve adjusting levels and general “sweetening” of the mix. Think of it as the difference between a good-sounding mix and a professional-sounding, finished master.
This process can involve adding broad equalization, applying compression, limiting, etc. This is often actually referred to as “premastering” in the world of LP and CD replication, but let’s refer to it as mastering for simplicity.
