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Music mastering is an essential part of every hit record. Yet, few new (and even some “established”) musicians have a good understanding of what mastering is and why they need it.

This often leads to many selecting the wrong mastering studio… and making many unnecessary mistakes in the recording and music mixing phases (which affects the mastering later on).

This is why below are the 5 most frequently asked questions about music mastering:

What exactly is music mastering?

Mastering is the final phase before your CDs, Vinyls, DVDs or MP3 files are produced. It’s the last chance to get the sound right… and for errors to be fixed.

Mastering transforms your music from a “raw” sound into a professional, “radio-ready” sound. It gives your tracks punch, loudness, clarity, and completes your final vision.

Why is it so important and do I really need it?

All major labels have their artists’ records mastered before they’re released. But, often many independent artists/labels wonder if they should go-ahead and get it done.

The answer is a big YES! If you want to make the right impression, then at a minimum you need to get your demo professionally mastered.

Because just think about when your demo hits the A & R managers’ desk, what’s going to stand-out… the professionally mastered demos (yours) or the poor quality ones?  Read more...

Jazz is one of the most popular forms of music that has roots originating from blues music. If you want to learn to play jazz, then it’s a good idea to learn basic jazz chord progressions. There are many progressions used in jazz music. This article will share with you some of the most common jazz chord progressions.

ii-V-I

One of the most widely used jazz chord progressions is the ii-V-I progression. Most chords in jazz music are seventh chords, so each chord in this progression will be a seventh. In the key of C, the chords would be Dm7, G7, and Cmaj7. If you don’t know how to play seventh chords, you need to learn them as soon as possible. The notes of Dm7 are D, F, A and C. The notes of G7 are G, B, D, and F. The notes of Cmaj7 are C, E, G and B.

V-ii-I

Another one of the common jazz chord progressions is the V-ii-I. Once again the chords will be seventh chords, but this time they will be in the key of F. The chords played that make up this progression are Cmaj7, Gm7, and Fmaj7. As stated above, the notes of Cmaj7 are C, E, G and B. The notes of Gm7 are G, Bb, D, and F. Finally, the notes of Fmaj7 are F, A, C, and E.

I-vi-ii-V

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