What is "mastering"

Master \Mas"ter\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mastered; p. pr. vb. n. Mastering.]

1. To become the master of; to subject to one's will, control, or authority; to conquer; to overpower; to subdue.

   Obstinacy and willful neglects must be mastered, even though it cost blows.
   --Locke.

2. To gain the command of, so as to understand or apply; to become an adept in; as, to master a science.

3. To own; to posses. [Obs.]

   The wealth That the world masters.
   --Shak.

n. Becoming professional in the use of something; having mastery of vb. (present participle of master English)

1. n. becoming proficient in the use of something; having mastery of; "his mastering the art of cooking took a long time"

2. the act of making a master recording from which copies can be made; "he received a bill for mastering the concert and making 100 copies"

Mastering may refer to

• Audio mastering, the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device, the master
• Bus mastering, a feature supported by many data bus architectures that enables a device connected to the bus to initiate transactions
• Stem mastering, contains the same process as ordinary mastering but the individual audio tracks are grouped together into a few separated stems like DRUMS, INSTRUMENTS, VOICES etc. This provides the maximum control over the whole mastering process and also brings the better results at the final mastering.