longloststar Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 Been doing music (on a very low level) for about half a year now. Problem is that I know sickening little about mastering, just barely know what the word means (dont ask me though). Thusly, I plead kindly for some help, couple of links or so would be real nice. For example, what programs to use, how to do it etc. My "mastering" so far has consisted of dragging the "general purpose mastering 4" mixer preset into the mixer (in FL) [...], to give a general idea of my skill level in the subject concerning. Tried the sticky thread ones but the tutorials there seemed way too advanced for me. Peace out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reznik Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 maybe a good place to ask colin what he thinks about Har-Bal , is that any good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniël Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 some tips: link all sounds to a Db meter and try to get close to 0. 0db to -4db is good sound. 0db to -10db is acceptable. +0db is bad. mastering at -6db is perfect imo. you can use compressors and equalisers to adjust your sound. equalisers adjust the frequencies of the sound. this is the big puzzle, you sound needs a good audio temperature and fit together. In my experience it's best to listen and try different EQ's for good temperature while monitoring your DB meters. Compressors limit the dynamic range of your audio signal. This is important for the master level, if you have a multiband compressor on the master you can adjust loudness without creating overmodulation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supergroover Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 my advise: dont worry about mastering. that is best done by professionals. unless you have a very good idea what you are doing mastering yourself usually doesnt help. it would be better to put your attention on getting a good mix. Making sure all the levels of your instruments are right and that the instruments sound good together. if that is done to perfection you dont have to master lots more. About production (and thus your mix) you can read loads on the isratrance forum or get some tutorials online for example at sound on sound here or check this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Matta Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 Yeah, I kinda agree. Seems easy to wreck a track by trying to master it yourself without knowing enough about the process and not having the right tools. Either plan to dedicate yourself - get some books and study up, and get some decent equipment - or let the pros do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toza Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 You should also try Isotope Ozone 3 if you havn't tried it. But b4 that, as said in the previous posts, you should read some books and stuff... Peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike A Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 mixing = everything done before the final mixdown levels of channels, eqs of specific instruments, compression on groups, whatever etc etc. mastering = everything done on one single track of the master after mixdown in the meanwhile mastering should not bother you. get a good sounding mix which sounds like a pro track. mastering doesn't change the sound of a track. if it sounds like shit, it will still sound like shit. mastering is some final touches. my best advice to you - work on low volume, get a good mix and then put a maximizing limiter on the master to get it sounding loud, such as L2, BBE, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalki Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 n ofcourse, should have good monitors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybernetika Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 If you want to do a really quick mastering in Wavelab and with the Waves Plugin bundle.. Add "Waves C4", select preset "multi electro mastering". Adjust all "threshold" sliders for all 4 bands so that theyre as high as the yellow bar. Then bring up the level analyzer of wavelab. Add "Waves L2", set limit to -0.3. Now adjust the threshold of the L2 and watch the level analyzer. There you will see two pairs of numbers. One shows -0.3, the other one should show something like -8. I made a stupid picture for you http://www.abload.de/img/masteringjgb.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike A Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 i use 0.1 on my waves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin OOOD Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 If you want to do a really quick mastering in Wavelab and with the Waves Plugin bundle.. Add "Waves C4", select preset "multi electro mastering". Adjust all "threshold" sliders for all 4 bands so that theyre as high as the yellow bar. don't the yellow bars move depending on how loud the track is at any given moment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybernetika Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 That's right, but they move only slightly. I dont fully understand how it works. You have to watch the yellow bars, look where they got their peaks, and put the slider below that peak.. that's what I do, and it kinda works. This is not the miracolous mastering recipe, but should do the trick for a really quick mastering. I still leave "real" mastering up to the pros Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postunder Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 a note on waves l2- try putting it, and then just for testing put a crossover filter after it, and kill all sounds except the lows, and listen how the l2 introduces clicking to your lows... especially on a high setting like -8.... i stopped touching the l2, overated plug that doesn't sound that great imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malevol3nt Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 Hey longlostar check out the second video on this site http://w33ts-music-tutorial-videos.blogspot.com/ , it shows u some basic mastering and whats it all about. Skip to the end of the video thats when the mastering part starts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin OOOD Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 a note on waves l2- try putting it, and then just for testing put a crossover filter after it, and kill all sounds except the lows, and listen how the l2 introduces clicking to your lows... especially on a high setting like -8.... i stopped touching the l2, overated plug that doesn't sound that great imo. That's like saying "I've got a fantastic car but if you take out the brakes it doesn't drive so well". If you need to apply 8dB of gain reduction to your final limiter then either your mix sucks or the rest of your mastering chain isn't set up right. With any limiter it's almost never advised to limit a final mix with that much gain reduction, precisely because you'll introduce audible distortion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Getafix Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Colin is 5-6 db of reduction also overkill? Ideally how much reduction should you have to apply to be able to bring your mix to -10db? I'm just wondering because most of my mixdowns are between -18db to -16db (RMS). Also when you're mixing down what are you supposed to do with some peaks that go up almost to 0db? Are you supposed to normalise them? Also do you have any tips on how to have a relatively high RMS on your mixdowns and still leaving enough headroom? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reznik Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 yeah colin what about normalising? and harbal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin OOOD Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 1: Colin is 5-6 db of reduction also overkill? Ideally how much reduction should you have to apply to be able to bring your mix to -10db? I'm just wondering because most of my mixdowns are between -18db to -16db (RMS). 2: Also when you're mixing down what are you supposed to do with some peaks that go up almost to 0db? Are you supposed to normalise them? 3: Also do you have any tips on how to have a relatively high RMS on your mixdowns and still leaving enough headroom? Thanks! Ok... be aware that I'm just giving my POV here and 'proper' mastering engineers might disagree 1: I believe that a well-mastered track needs no more than 2-3dB GR on the limiter. The guy who mastered Free Range used L2 with the threshold set to -1dB. No, I didn't believe him either! 2: If your peaks are around 0dB, your track is already almost normalised! I'm not sure I understood what you meant though. 3: If individual sounds are appropriately compressed in the mix, and your EQ work is good, you will be able to get a higher RMS without clipping the master. "Appropriate compression" can sometimes mean "two compressors and a limiter" Reznik - never used HarBal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Getafix Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 I meant these peaks: Here's with statistics, does the mixdown look alright to you? I'm wondering how to get a higher RMS on my mixdowns though, since the examples Domestic showed on Isra had the same volume levels but the RMS levels were much higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin OOOD Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Nothing wrong with those kinds of peaks, mastering will take care of them. As I said before, high mix RMS values are obtained through effective and appropriate EQ and compression processing, ie. it's an experience thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w_lizzard Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 +1 to Colin OOOD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalki Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 ok, if u so confused with all this things just use Izotop Ozone, select the preset 'Mix master. u will be amazed. then do the adjust ments on the volume eq etc.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longloststar Posted March 11, 2007 Author Share Posted March 11, 2007 Thanks for all the tips, guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postunder Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 hey scube, those peaks are probably "fine" from a mastering point of view, but its just ot very neatly done... just go in your mix, find the sounds that make these peaks, and tweak them so they are more under control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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