Working Audio Tools: The reality of making it as a mastering engineer with Nicholas Di Lorenzo

July 8, 2023·1 hr 1 min·5 clips

A professional mastering engineer says gear is irrelevant compared to listening skills.

A long DistroKid read opens the episode. Paul Third then brings Working Audio Tools back under the Produce Like A Pro banner, with Nicholas in the chair for a hands-on talk about mastering. The limiter question arrives early. Nicholas pushes back on blaming the limiter by default, because loudness problems often come from production and mix choices made earlier. His answer is plain and useful. If microdynamics, tonal balance, and the overall movement of the mix are already unstable, a limiter will usually make those problems easier to hear. That is the main craft point. Mastering cannot rescue every broken balance, and Nicholas treats the process as something that works best when the material arrives with a believable foundation. Paul then follows the technical point into the people side of the job. He asks how a mastering engineer handles the awkward moment when a client sends a mix that may need to be remixed. The question is personal for him. Paul names his anxiety around tough client conversations and asks for ways to make them easier. Nicholas starts with the client's why. Before judging the mix, the engineer needs to understand why the client came in and what endpoint they want. That changes the conversation. The engineer is not only spotting flaws; they are weighing the project against the result the client hopes to reach. Sometimes that result is possible. Sometimes the client is already happy with a mix the engineer would not have chosen. That difference matters. The episode treats mastering as technical judgment plus social judgment, with the limiter, the mix, and the client relationship all connected. Near the end, Paul points listeners to Nicholas's website and YouTube channel, says Ed Thorn will return, and thanks Nicholas for sharing practical working knowledge.

As heard by us

A grounded mastering talk about limiters, flawed mixes, and the tact needed when a project is not quite ready.

Mastering is framed as a craft of judgment, not a last-minute loudness trick. Nicholas Di Lorenzo is blunt about the limiter problem: when a track falls apart under limiting, the issue may already be in the mix, from shaky dynamics to uneven tonal balance.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If limiter fights and client notes are your daily headaches, press play.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Produce Like A Pro