DJ Techtools
The largest community for DJ and producer techniques, tutorials, and tips. Traktor secrets, controller reviews, a massive MIDI mapping library, and more.

All content copyright DJ Techtools except where otherwise noted.

Mixing + Mastering Dance Music: Interview With Luca Pretolesi

By Ean Golden on July 31, 2015

Last month Ean took a trip out to one of the more successful studios in the dance music world, Studio DMI, to get one of his recent tracks put into the hands of a master in the field, Luca Pretolesi. With experience mastering dance music tracks for artists like Skrillex, Tiësto, and Gareth Emery, his tips come from a strong background in success. Learn a few key principles of the trade in today’s awesome interview.

Editor’s note: Due to a wireless mic acting up during this interview, the audio gets a little bit scratchy at parts – we left those parts in because there’s valuable information! 🙂 

Mastering Dance Music Tips Review:

Some of the core principles that Luca shares in the video for review:

  • Raw material (for example audio that was recorded live) is often better for mixing because it allows for great dynamics
  • Mix in big chunks to shape a large “sonic picture”
  • Center your low end so it works well on club systems, standard systems, and even laptop speakers
  • Don’t over-compress the side stereo information
  • Use dynamic EQ to create movement in different parts of the track

Here are some of Ean’s thoughts on the session:

My biggest take away from this session was to allow other ears in on your creative process. While we could all learn, and use the techniques in this video – it would take years to really master them, and a LOT of money to duplicate the results. If you can afford it, I really think it pays to have a specialist involved in the final mixing or at least mastering side of your creativity.

Finally, check out this preview of the mastered song, with a full version coming later this year in a forthcoming album:

To hear more of Ean’s work, follow him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eangolden
Learn more about DMI on their official site: http://studiodmi.com

dance music masteringean goldenLuca Pretolesimasteringmixingstudio dmi
Comments (18)
Add Comment
  • Alfodj

    I remember Luca as Digital Boy, great italian dj of early ’90 … I still have some of his vinyl.

  • Fayek Helmi

    i’d like some clarification on this though perhaps i didn’t understand quite well… Ean says he recorded this track as a live performance, but when he gave it to the mastering professional it was stemmed…. was it recorded stemmed? and how? please im curious to know

    • Jose Hinojoza Jr.

      I’m pretty sure he recorded it live, but had everything separated into it’s own individual tracks as stems. It’s possible to do in ableton i believe?

  • calgarc

    such a great video :)… Mastering tracks is loads of fun.

  • Jonny Korchilava

    We need MORE videos about mastering! ) Ean, can you please upload original track before mastering and after mastering.

  • RolfSki

    That’s actually a decent track used as an example.

    • Kevin Schrader

      i thought it was gonna be all edm synthesizer madness but now i’m happy it wasn’t 😀

  • Mikhail Yartsev

    I think he might pass the ABX test for 320MP3 and FLAC)

  • Chris Wunder

    Awesome video, reminds me of how much there is to learn. A follow up with how to translate the techniques into ableton would be sweet.

  • Emiliano Galván

    Great video! I would like more videos like this for producers 🙂 Thanks!

  • Sevenkami

    Awesome video, even more awesome song (dripping arps). Can’t wait for its release. 🙂

    Thank you!