Guest blink Posted July 31, 2002 Share Posted July 31, 2002 my fellow psychedelic freedom fighters, a question of epic proportions (at least for me) i've been making trance with my computer for a few years now, and although i have a midi keyboard, my track is made almost entirely with soft synths and sequencing progs (reason, cubase, etc) my question is in mastering tracks. i would love to be able to, but how would someone like myself, who does not have a traditional mixing board go about mixing down a track? what programs do you guys use? more specifically, i use reason (2.0) and save my tracks as raw wav files. i could also export each mixed down part as a wav, but what program out there could a person use to indiviually eq them and combine back together? ahh, i could go on and on with questions like these. please help if you have insight...... blink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lifeform Posted July 31, 2002 Share Posted July 31, 2002 Well let see blink... First a a few questions for you, cause some of the things dont make sense. "i could also export each mixed down part as a wav, but what program out there could a person use to indiviually eq them and combine back together?" Well, what are the EQ's in Cubase for? As well as the other hundred plugs avaible on the web. Always make a GOOD sounding mix to start with, almost perfect, and then do the finishing touch ups in the mastering session. There should be no reason to mixdown each track and EQ seperatly, cause you'll never get it right, ya need to hear them together, and how well they mix with the other counter parts. There are also tons of other progs and DX/VST plugs to tweak your final mix just right. Either free, or cheap (compared to the hardware equevilents (sp?) ) Things like the Waves Software Bundle, or Izotope Ozone (which i really like). T-Racks, etc... You can either use these in either VST, Standalone (T=Racks only) or get a Sound Editor like Steinberg Wavelab, or Sound Forge. If you've been mixing your tracks to start with, then it shouldn't be a problem with the final mastering of the track. To be honest, i only take about 30-45 minutes to tweak it just right. It's not really that hard. Only things you need are the ones i mentioned above (or hardware), a GOOD pair of monitoring speakers (i'm currently using Event PS-8's), and a good ear. Always compress, enhances slightly (!!!!), always use a parametic/paragraphic EQ (cut some freq around 400-500 to clear up the bassline if its sounding a bit muddy), Volume Maximize it, Stereo Expander (if it's sounding to mono) and let it breath mostly. Hope this helps, if you got any more questions, mail me personally, er just post here brotha. I love this kinda stuff, so i would not mind. : D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lifeform Posted July 31, 2002 Share Posted July 31, 2002 uhh also... Try to get your RMS Peak average around -5 thru -6. If you get to that point and it sounds "classic" you've done a good job. You can analyze your tracks in Wavelab to give you this reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest blink Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 lifeform, brohem, you have completely made my day. an excellent shedding of light, and a rather thorough and comprehensive explanation of some concepts that had been eluding me. if you don't mind, i will keep you in mind as my latest track progresses, and ask you a question from time to time. thanks brotha, blinkage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strumpling Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 Lifeform's awesome :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Slidingtrancer Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 Lifeform should get his own tv-show and bring his own bios. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bodhisattva Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 it feels good to be on o forum where it al goes as smood as here man.... Kick ass :-) My advice for mixing down a track.... Use logic i never ever ever used cubase in my life, but you ALL seem to like it , i should check it out perhaps! Cu all....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eOi Posted August 8, 2002 Share Posted August 8, 2002 I use Reason 2 -> 24bit .wav (one file w. all channels) -> T-Racks -> 16bit .wav -> Cool Edit 2K for some touching up + converting to mp3. Take heed not to overdo it with compression/eq boost in T-Racks though... Also, if u absolutely must, mp3's can take more boosting than the CD .wav without sounding off. Also, as Lifeform says, get the mixing done right in Reason from the start will save you time, and then just do some notchin' up in T-Racks instead of having to save the day with mastering. The wav exported from Reason sounds pretty tame, but with just some minor EQ/Comp/Limiter it will sweeten considerably! =P Just my 0.02$ C ya/GL! [eOi] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest blink Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 you guys rawk! (that's right. i spelled it r-a-w-k), mastering is no longer the foreign concept that i once thought it to be, played around with t-racks, and kept within the bounds of lifeform's suggestions, and viola! my track came alive. here, take a listen: latest track thanks again guys (even you strumpalump, as your quibs of wisdom are ever inspiring;). peace to you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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