This Portland man’s skill is one reason why recorded music sounds so good (2025)

Mastering engineer Adam Ayan’s fingerprints are all over literally tens of thousands of albums, some of which you know and love.

Ayan is so good at the art of mastering, he’s won a Grammy and seven Latin Grammy Awards. Songs that he’s mastered have over 106 billion streams.

Ayan’s list of credits is staggering. It includes the mastering and or remastering of albums by Paul McCartney, Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, Madonna, Katy Perry, Journey, Queen, Pearl Jam and well, you get the idea.

Ayan also remastered the legacy edition of Sarah McLachlan’s 1993’s “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy,” one of my all-time favorite albums.

When I compared the original and then the Ayan-remastered version of the “Fumbling” track “Ice,” the remastered one was better, with a crispness and clarity to it. Even through lousy headphones, I could hear the difference.

I visited Ayan at his studio in downtown Portland to learn exactly what mastering is and why it matters so much.

“The way I define it is, it’s the last creative step in the process of making the record,” said Ayan.

The first step is the artist going into a recording studio and recording the tracks. Multiple tracks are then combined to create a stereo mix by a mixing engineer.

Once this is done, the album is sent to Ayan for mastering. “I work completely on my instincts,” he said.

Ayan wastes no time and typically can get an album done in one day.

“I start doing things immediately to start shaping the thing until I get to a point where it sounds as best as it can sound. And that of course is a creative and subjective decision unto itself,” said Ayan.

Ayan uses a highly trained ear (he’s a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell’s sound recording technology program), intuition and sophisticated equipment.

The first thing I saw when I walked through the door of Ayan Mastering was a wall of framed RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) certified Gold, Platinum, Multi Platinum and Diamond records that he’s mastered.

Then we entered what I like to call “the room where it happens,” with its high-tech equipment and futuristic sound-proofing.

Looking at all those knobs, buttons and dials was exhilarating. You don’t need to be a massive audiophile or have a scientific or electronically savvy mind to appreciate his work. You can just be a music nerd like me who gets excited when a song sounds spectacular, and it’s like the artist is in the room with you.

Ayan’s mastering is an essential part of this.

I sat there, in his chair no less, while he played a Father John Misty song that he’s mastered. Hearing it through an array of top-of-the-line speakers was a sonic experience for the ages.

Ayan started working at Bob Ludwig’s storied Gateway Mastering in 1998. Within three years, he had his own studio there.

When Ludwig retired in 2023, Ayan knew it was time to hang a shingle with his own name.

After some time in an interim space, Ayan found the right spot at 43 Casco St. in Portland. Ayan Mastering opened for business there in December last year.

Sometimes, like with Father John Misty, Ayan will work directly with the artist.

When he was 16, Ayan went to a Rush concert. This was in 1991 when the band was on its Roll the Bones tour. About a decade later, Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson came to Portland to consult on the mastering of the audio for the “Rush in Rio” concert film. “That was actually kind of a cool full circle moment,” said Ayan.

More recently, Ayan worked with singer Steve Perry on the mastering of some early Journey albums. The two often communicated via phone and FaceTime video calls.

“We were on the phone a lot because he has so much integrity, and he cares so much about that catalog,” said Ayan.

The next time you listen to a song or an album, keep in mind that there were many people involved in the making of it. From songwriters to studio musicians, engineers, producers, record labels and others, there’s a lot of credit due.

Mastering certainly deserves plenty. It’s a highly specialized craft that doesn’t get much of the limelight.