BandLab Mastering: is it any good?
What BandLab Mastering does
You upload a finished song, pick one of a few preset styles, and BandLab returns a louder, brighter version. It costs nothing and takes seconds, which is why so many artists use it.
Where it falls short
- The same preset for every song. A soft R&B song and a loud drill song get treated the same way.
- Little control. You can't set a loudness target for Spotify, a club or YouTube.
- It can't fix the mix. If the vocal is buried or harsh before mastering, it's louder and still buried or harsh after.
What a master should do
A good master listens to the whole song and sets five things for it: loudness (around −14 LUFS for streaming, louder for rap and club), punch (how hard the drums hit), mud (cleaning the low-mids), presence and air (clarity at the top), and width. Then it limits the peaks so nothing clips on phones and in cars.
Mix first, then master
Most "my master sounds bad" problems are mix problems. Get the vocal sitting right on the beat first: see how to mix vocals on BandLab. Then master the full song.
KhiFlow Master listens to your whole song and sets the punch, clarity, width and loudness for it, and shows you exactly what it changed. You can try it in your browser on the Master tab, and it comes free with every KhiFlow plan.
Or let KhiFlow do it for your voice.
Presets are made for somebody else's voice and mic. KhiFlow listens to your vocal and your beat, then sets the EQ, compression, de-essing, delay and reverb for you. Upload your BandLab vocal and beat and hear it mixed in about a minute.
3 free mixes a day, no card. Works with BandLab, on a Mac, Windows or your phone. Keep the songs you love from $6 each.
Questions
Is BandLab Mastering free?
Yes. It's a free part of BandLab.
Is BandLab Mastering bad?
It's not bad for a quick demo, but it applies the same kind of preset to every song and can't fix a mix. For a release, master with something that listens to your song.
How loud should my master be?
Around −14 LUFS for streaming services. Rap and club songs are often mastered louder, around −9 to −8 LUFS, but louder isn't automatically better.