Balancing Act Mastering engineer Jett Galindo on building an inclusive industry, and the art of a finely tuned mix.
By
Darry Madden
June 5, 2023
Jett Galindo
Roxette, the Bangles, Bananarama, Heart.
In the Philippines of her youth, Jett Galindo B.M. '12 was awash in the sounds of a vibrant pop cover-band culture, one that extended straight into her home.
My childhood was pop music, Galindo says. Her mother and father had a business training and managing these cover bands, and young Jett was tasked with keeping her parents up on the trends and new songs on MTV.
Her path to becoming a mastering engineer began here, but included a few more stops along the way, because inside this pop music kid was also a tinkerer, a techie, and a classical soprano.
When she was 19, Galindo's choral group toured the U.S., and it was on this tour that she met a Berklee alumnus who connected her with the college. At Berklee, where she majored in music production and engineering, a professor introduced her to the legendary engineer Doug Sax. He ran L.A.'s Mastering Lab, the first independent mastering studio (opened in 1967) and helped shape the sound of a tremendous amount of pop music in the '70s and '80s, including Pink Floyd, the Doors, and the Rolling Stones.
Mastering is essentially trying to make your music loud. That sounds simple enough, but it's very hard.
- Jett Galindo
Sax, whom Galindo cites as her mentor, died only two years after she arrived in Los Angeles to work with him. She stayed in L.A. and is now at the Bakery as one of its three mastering engineers.
Mastering, for those who don't know the finer points of this often misunderstood part of the musical puzzle, is the final step in audio post-production. Its goal is to balance the stereo mix and ensure that the track sounds its best across all media formats.
Mastering is essentially trying to make your music loud, says Galindo. That sounds simple enough, but it's very hard because you also don't want to make your music loud at the expense of its integrity. There is a tendency for people to just keep pushing the volume, but then you end up distorting it. Your music ends up brittle and saturated. It's really a fine balancing act.
As is so much in life, as Galindo can attest. In addition to her main job, she continues to perform in chorales, cuts vinyl at the Bakery, and is active in several nonprofits, including Women in Vinyl and SoundGirls, both of which represent women in audio. This representation is a cause that's close to her heart.
There's still work to be done in getting women into this field. There's really no reason for it to be that less than 5 percent of the engineers engineering the Billboard Hot 100 are women, she says, adding, Organizations like SoundGirls are very important-it's important that women feel that we should lift each other up.
For Galindo, this belief extends to all underrepresented voices in the arts.
I've been getting a lot of work from demographic groups that never had mastering services available to them before. The Philippines, I believe, still doesn't have an independent, standalone mastering facility. It was only recently that pop music in the Philippines became properly mastered on a standard basis.
When she was a kid, she says, the question in the Philippine music industry was: Why doesn't the music in our country sound like the Top 40s?
The answer, she says, comes down to how the music is engineered: A big part of that is making sure that your music sounds competitive when played against other music on a playlist, and making sure the frequency response of the music is within the same tonal balance curves as the Top 40s or a specific genre, she says. And a big part of that is mastering.
This article appeared in the spring/summer 2023 issue of Berklee Today.
Related Categories
Berklee Today
News
Most Popular
Image by Libby Danforth
Viral TikTok Song If I Were a Fish Is a Joyous Call for Acceptance Berklee alum Corrine Savage, who performs as corook, wrote the song with their partner as a way to cope with feeling unaccepted by society for being different.
Latest
Charlie Rosen 12 won his second Tony Award for Best Orchestrations, this one for Some Like It Hot.
Image by Nessie Nankivell
Three Alumni from Berklee College of Music and Boston Conservatory Win Tony Awards Conservatory alumni Ben Simpson and Mike Mosallam won for Best Revival of a Musical, while College alum Charlie Rosen '12 won his second Tony for Best Orchestrations.
Susan Rogers
Searching for a Song's Emotional Arc
Corinne Savage B.M. '17 performs as corook.
Image by Libby Danforth
After a TikTok Hit, corook Gets Serious (Sort Of) The humor and sincerity of if i were a fish struck a chord with alum Corinne Savages listeners. Their new EP proves it was anything but a one-off.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/03/2026
Home Post Production has further expanded its factual, unscripted, and entertainment capabilities with the acquisition of Picture Shop Bristol, a leading post h...
03/03/2026
Luxembourg, 2 March 2026 -- SES S.A. fully consolidates Intelsat from 17 July 2025 and announces financial results for the year ended 31 December 2025
FY25 Pe...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/03/2026
RT Media Sales has announced Spry Finance has renewed it's sponsorship of M...
02/03/2026
NBC Sports selected Imaginary Forces to create the main title sequence for the M...
02/03/2026
The NFL announces the launch of the NFL Draft Innovation Challenge, a new crowds...
02/03/2026
The World Teleport Association (WTA) has named Skyline Communications' DataMiner SatOps solution as a finalist for the 2026 Teleport Technology of the Year ...
02/03/2026
Ventum Tech announces a strategic partnership with Pixotope, a real-time graphic...
02/03/2026
Victory , a free, ad-supported sports streaming service, announces the launch of...
02/03/2026
Global powerhouse Delta Goodrem to represent Australia at this year's Eurovi...
02/03/2026
SBS brings together prominent voices to discuss rising social division and seek ...
02/03/2026
NITV Unveils Wednesday Night Sport Night
Media releases
A Midweek Hub for Blak Sport
Flagship NRL program Over The Black Dot moves to Wednesdays at 9:30pm
...
02/03/2026
Rohde & Schwarz demonstrates FR1-FR3 carrier aggregation, advancing 6G readiness Rohde & Schwarz and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. have reached another pivotal ...
02/03/2026
MELBOURNE, Fla., March 2, 2026 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) today announc...
02/03/2026
Harvey Norman tops New Zealand's biggest ad spenders as retail leads and telcos and beverages sure Auckland March 3, 2026 - Nielsen's New Zealand'...
02/03/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, and Arqit Quantum Inc. (Nasdaq: ARQQ, A...
02/03/2026
Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media creatives and content owners, has appointed Jody Boatwright as Chief Strategy Of...
02/03/2026
Lightware, an industry leader in signal management, is reinforcing its commitment to simplifying complex AV environments with the continued evolution of its TPN...
02/03/2026
ZEISS Cinema opens its doors to an exclusive screening, filmmakers Q&A and hands-on showcase of the new ZEISS Aatma lens family on Tuesday, March 10, 6:00-9:00 ...
02/03/2026
To expand the creative potential of the compact Astera QuikBeam, DoPchoice introduces the SNAPBAG Round. The new light-shaping accessory transforms the powerfu...
02/03/2026
Douglas Dubler
On a rooftop in New York City, veteran photographer Douglas Dubler watched the sun's angle shift across the urban landscape, his internal cl...
02/03/2026
ZEISS is expanding its Otus ML lens family with the introduction of the new ZEISS Otus ML 1.4/35. This manual-focus lens is designed for photographers who live ...
02/03/2026
Matthews Studio Equipment now offers the new Dinkum Systems White FlexiMount and Phone Mount Kit, a compact, highly adaptable setup for mobile content creation...
02/03/2026
Luxembourg, February 26, 2026 - SES and Africa Mobile Network (AMN) have expande...
02/03/2026
02 03 2026 - Media release Ausfilm and Screen Australia launch joint UK market initiative
Ausfilm and Screen Australia have announced Partner with Australia (...
02/03/2026
Monday 2 March 2026
Saturday Night Live UK announces writing team
L-R: Jonno Johnson; Charlie Skelton; Celya AB; Omar Badawy; Gr inne Maguire; Laura Claxton; ...
02/03/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the Trailer for 53 Sundays, the New Film by Cesc Gay
Entertainment
02 March 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Dis...
28/02/2026
With two features seen in Formula 1 coverage, the broadcaster aims to bring view...
28/02/2026
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth addresses a crowd of approximately 1,500 L3Harris employees in Camden, Arkansas, as part of his Arsenal of Freedom tour....
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
Balancing Act Mastering engineer Jett Galindo on building an inclusive industry, and the art of a finely tuned mix.
