Mastering help

[Pimpin817]

Can anyone tell me some pointers when trying to master your music?

[Kris Cain]

You mean mix, right? cuz no one here is even qualified to give advice on mastering, cuz no one here REALLY masters music. Mastering is done at a replication plant, and pre-mastering should be done by a professional at a mastering house.

You shouldn't be worried about mastering as much as you should be worried about obtaining a workable, balanced mix.

it's ok to add maybe a small EQ or a little bit of compression on the master channel... but that's not even considered pre-mastering.

a good tip to add overall shine to a mix is to first, find out were your lacking shine at.

- Reference your mix to a mix that is on a cd, that has the feel of your song.

- Dont overdo it in the high's... that's were alot of amateur mixers make a mistake... they think if they add alot of treble they are making it sound better. Your not. Your killing the ear drums of your listener with your faux-"clarity"... lol.

- Boost wide... cut narrow.

- If you MUST add compression, use it as a control method to tame peaks, just a little bit will go along way. If you can hear the compression you 've applied on your master fader... you've added too much.

- Increase your "perceived loudness" instead of your audible loudness. You can do this through EQing the low mids slightly as opposed to using heavy compression. You can do this with automation.

If you need any definitions of the words... use google.

[Paze]

You mean mix, right? cuz no one here is even qualified to give advice on mastering, cuz no one here REALLY masters music. Mastering is done at a replication plant, and pre-mastering should be done by a professional at a mastering house.

You shouldn't be worried about mastering as much as you should be worried about obtaining a workable, balanced mix.

it's ok to add maybe a small EQ or a little bit of compression on the master channel... but that's not even considered pre-mastering.

a good tip to add overall shine to a mix is to first, find out were your lacking shine at.

- Reference your mix to a mix that is on a cd, that has the feel of your song.

- Dont overdo it in the high's... that's were alot of amateur mixers make a mistake... they think if they add alot of treble they are making it sound better. Your not. Your killing the ear drums of your listener with your faux-"clarity"... lol.

- Boost wide... cut narrow.

- If you MUST add compression, use it as a control method to tame peaks, just a little bit will go along way. If you can hear the compression you 've applied on your master fader... you've added too much.

- Increase your "perceived loudness" instead of your audible loudness. You can do this through EQing the low mids slightly as opposed to using heavy compression. You can do this with automation.

If you need any definitions of the words... use google.

I agree with the addition of keep everything to the highest quality possible. 192, 24bit is the highest possible but most programs allow perhaps 92, 24 although 64.1, 16 is acceptable. These are .wav formats (Im assuming your using Windows).
When burning a CD use real-time speed which allows less audio errors to happen (that happen when you start burning at 2x+ speed)
Also use an audio interface like an Mbox that runs 64.1, 16bit to stop audio errors that are produced by shitty soundcards that come with 99% of PCs
Other than that Id just say take your time. Dont try and get something done within a few hours. Listen to the same thing the next day with "fresh ears" willing to spot any inaccurate levels

[Opie M.]

You mean mix, right? cuz no one here is even qualified to give advice on mastering, cuz no one here REALLY masters music. Mastering is done at a replication plant, and pre-mastering should be done by a professional at a mastering house.

You shouldn't be worried about mastering as much as you should be worried about obtaining a workable, balanced mix.

it's ok to add maybe a small EQ or a little bit of compression on the master channel... but that's not even considered pre-mastering.

a good tip to add overall shine to a mix is to first, find out were your lacking shine at.

- Reference your mix to a mix that is on a cd, that has the feel of your song.

- Dont overdo it in the high's... that's were alot of amateur mixers make a mistake... they think if they add alot of treble they are making it sound better. Your not. Your killing the ear drums of your listener with your faux-"clarity"... lol.

- Boost wide... cut narrow.

- If you MUST add compression, use it as a control method to tame peaks, just a little bit will go along way. If you can hear the compression you 've applied on your master fader... you've added too much.

- Increase your "perceived loudness" instead of your audible loudness. You can do this through EQing the low mids slightly as opposed to using heavy compression. You can do this with automation.

If you need any definitions of the words... use google.

the replication plant should only be pressing copies of the master cd. the master disc shouldve been made at the mastering house.

BTW... 2 cookies for anyone that knows the actual purpose of mastering.

[Zed Peace]

To get the loudness right.

*takes cookies*

[Kris Cain]

the replication plant should only be pressing copies of the master cd. the master disc shouldve been made at the mastering house.

BTW... 2 cookies for anyone that knows the actual purpose of mastering.

that method is actually called "pre-mastering"
the mastering of the physical cd takes place at the plant were they create the actual master disk

ask Bob Katz, it's one of the first things he explains in his book

[Kris Cain]

but i dont want to pick cherrys and argue over professional engineer terminology with mr full sail himself.

lol

for all intensive purposes, "mastering" is done at the mastering house.
but that's just a term that's used for "pre-mastering" over the years. It got shortened, and it sounds better

[Opie M.]

I would tend to trust Bob Katz for obvious reasons, but I've read several books including school text books which include sections on mastering. I actually own Mastering: The Art and Science by Bob Katz. Every piece of material I've read has described the processes in the same way. Also, the information I've been taught in school has followed suit with that material.

This is the process that I know:

Tracking: recording raw audio files to be mixed. Done by a recording engineer.

Mixing: editing raw audio files in a multitrack environment to create a balanced mix to be bounced down to 2 stereo tracks, 1 mono track, or several surround tracks. Done by a mixing engineer.

Premastering: editing a stereo, mono, or surround mix to prepare for either mastering or small scale distribution by adding compression, limiting, noise reduction, and EQ (basicly). This is done by the mixing engineer, usually in a smaller mastering suite.

Mastering: optimizing the mix for each type of media that it will be distributed in, ie. CD, cassette, DVD, radio, MP3 etc. This is done in a mastering house by a specially trained mastering engineer. The changes made in this process are very slight and almost unnoticable in most cases.

Mass Production: the master is copied in a certain format which it has been optimized for. This is done in a distribution warehouse.

[Kris Cain]

yea, it's a terminology issue.
because the first thing in bob's book that he does is explain that what we think of "mastering" actually isnt... technically.

it takes place when the image of the already "pre-mastered" audio is burned into the "glass master" cd. This process is done at the place where the material is replicated.

but we agree on this subject... it's just different words we're using.

[WillieWil]

I need to hit up the bookstore asap...

[Opie M.]

yea, it's a terminology issue.
because the first thing in bob's book that he does is explain that what we think of "mastering" actually isnt... technically.

it takes place when the image of the already "pre-mastered" audio is burned into the "glass master" cd. This process is done at the place where the material is replicated.

but we agree on this subject... it's just different words we're using.

yea, I figured it was a terminology issue. I just wated to break it down for the RB youth lol

BTW... I'm surprised how many things I learned on my own that are taught in the school. So far I've been on the right track with the conclusions I already made about different topics. It's funny how many people are completely clueless too. I feel ahead of the game a little.

[Possible]

Great advice gents. But there is always that self confidence and achievement feeling you get when you "discover" how things work and are efficiently able to apply those tactics where needed. You can never go wrong with insight. Another thing you can try to do is read, study, read, read, study some more, and read again. Learn everything you can and you will see how perfectly things go and fit together.

[Paze]

I would tend to trust Bob Katz for obvious reasons, but I've read several books including school text books which include sections on mastering. I actually own Mastering: The Art and Science by Bob Katz. Every piece of material I've read has described the processes in the same way. Also, the information I've been taught in school has followed suit with that material.

This is the process that I know:

Tracking: recording raw audio files to be mixed. Done by a recording engineer.

Mixing: editing raw audio files in a multitrack environment to create a balanced mix to be bounced down to 2 stereo tracks, 1 mono track, or several surround tracks. Done by a mixing engineer.

Premastering: editing a stereo, mono, or surround mix to prepare for either mastering or small scale distribution by adding compression, limiting, noise reduction, and EQ (basicly). This is done by the mixing engineer, usually in a smaller mastering suite.

Mastering: optimizing the mix for each type of media that it will be distributed in, ie. CD, cassette, DVD, radio, MP3 etc. This is done in a mastering house by a specially trained mastering engineer. The changes made in this process are very slight and almost unnoticable in most cases.

Mass Production: the master is copied in a certain format which it has been optimized for. This is done in a distribution warehouse.

Ok... we've now discovered that he cant master himself. Well- not to a decent standard unless hes had experience or education in which case he wouldnt be askin this question lol
Has he even checked back on this thread? lol...

[Opie M.]

even if he had the knowledge and ability to master, he still wouldn't be able to. Mastering houses are insanely complex. Mastering Houses like Gateway Mastering invest millions in the most seemingly pointless details of their building and setups. Bob Ludwig built Gateway completely off the groud so there would be no natural outside noise interference. He also had the place wired with DC power to ensure that no ambient noise from the AC electricity effects the mix. The place is basically run off of a giant battery.

This is why anyone even suggesting that they can master your tracks is absurd.

[Kris Cain]

the best one can do on his own is prepare his records to be mastered.
and they should take it to a pro to get that too if they're not really skilled at mixing.