Mastering queries

[miss bass]

DO all of you compress and master your own music? If so what do you use , any techniques?? etc etc etc
I know ppl who dont even compress their own music and get others to help.

Is mastering just putting a compressor on the whole tune and adding some effects such as reverb?

I want to know (like many others) how the top dogs get amazing sound clarity and just generally good quality.

[RDR]

mastering relates to several processes.

1. Mastering a finished piece to bring out the shine or sparkle of a piece

2. Limiting a piece to ensure even volumes throughout an album

3. mastering a piece to be pressed on to vinyl to ensure that the needle doesnt skip and that it sounds the best it can possibly be.


Mastering does not necesarilly have anything to do with compression or reverb. Multiband compression is a popular way of creating sparkle and meat within i piece, but tends not to be overused and is a process that requires careful listening.

Why not have a look at the demos for izotope's ozone.

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/guides.html

This is a great place to start. Good luck

[miss bass]

wow Thanks.

So multi band compression is good to bring out your 'meat' basically ?
Put that on the overall mix?

Say youve done that and the mix/ peaks sounds good and everything is level etc is that then ready for pressing?

[Mattias Fridell (emb)]

Hey check out Marks "Bedtime" thread, i think he is giving advice there.

[Mattias Fridell (emb)]

wow Thanks.

So multi band compression is good to bring out your 'meat' basically ?
Put that on the overall mix?

Say youve done that and the mix/ peaks sounds good and everything is level etc is that then ready for pressing?

A good multiband compressor is the C4 or LimB from waves, they got me hooked for a long time now :lol:

[loopdon]

wow Thanks.

So multi band compression is good to bring out your 'meat' basically ?
Put that on the overall mix?

Say youve done that and the mix/ peaks sounds good and everything is level etc is that then ready for pressing?

you should also make sure yer bass region (say up to 300-400 Hz) is
mono.

Have a look at:

http://www.computermusic.co.uk/tutor...mastering1.asp

[miss bass]

thanks

[audioinjection]

marks thread was really informative

someone even made a pdf format of it!

[loopdon]

patrick dsp kindly put it up:


http://www.patrickdsp.com/studio/how-to-master.pdf

[loopdon]

"I want to know (like many others) how the top dogs get amazing sound clarity and just generally good quality."

is what you said, MISS BASS.

i'd advise you to try and get the best samples possible beforehand so you don't have to do so much polishing later on (good sample cds) and as said before try and make minimal or fairly minimal things work, try and create a loop you wouldn't mind to listen to on it's own for ever and ever.

i'd name umek as an example, his old stuff was pretty simple yet effective.... even if you don't like his stuff, have a look into his production.

compare your stuff to pro-stuff (not mp3s if poss.) and see what is going on in certain freqeuncy regions and compare it to yours.

.... and have a look at reverb techniques and plugins like waves maxxbass
and compresssssssion


...
sometimes i MISS BASS, too :dontevengothere:


...juz kidding

[miss bass]

lol i hate my ****ing 'name'

YEH MAXXBASS is ace!

The thing ive got is, ive only just had my monitors so my levels are still a bit crap as im not used to the sound of my speakers.

ALSO the when the bass comes in it overtakes the whole piece, everything around it seems to go down. Its not like overly loud and distorted so ... ??

[loopdon]

lol i hate my **** 'name'

YEH MAXXBASS is ace!

The thing ive got is, ive only just had my monitors so my levels are still a bit crap as im not used to the sound of my speakers.

ALSO the when the bass comes in it overtakes the whole piece, everything around it seems to go down. Its not like overly loud and distorted so ... ??

your speakers will need some time to be broken in

careful with maxxbass as well, it can easily be overdone, leaving you with to little real bass. cut the bass from evreything that doesn't need it (say pads, percs, hihats etc.),

you want mainly kick+bass to play in that region. again, as i said, compare your stuff to pro-stuff and see what makes them sound pro.

maybe try sidechaining your bassline to the kickdrum, so the bass is taken down when the kick is pounding.

limit your bass to the bass region, say, cut it below 70-100 Hz and above say 1 khz.

if that doesn't help try applying a wide bellshaped cut (@ say -6 db) @ 400 Hz. or @ 250/ 300 Hz. see what does it.

remember low and fat bass - shorter kick
mid bass - deeper and fat kick
don't make them fight for their space....

you might want to try this little plugin as well (cheating ;) ):

Elevayta Space Boy *Trial version*



What do you need to do when you have two audio sources, with similar spectral content, and you would like to mix them in a balanced way so that each of the individual parts can be heard?

Normally you may spend hours fiddling with the EQ of each source to find the dominant spectral components. Having done this you then need to tweak each EQ until a suitable balance is reached. All the time being sure that a constant volume is achieved.

Using the similar, innovative, communicating plug-in technology used in ‘Clone Boy’, ‘Space Boy’ makes it possible to perform this, normally complex, EQ process in a matter of minutes using just a few sliders.

‘Space Boy’, as the name suggests, provides the means to analyse, in real-time, the spectrum of one audio source and make a ‘space’ in the spectrum of another (target) audio source. Not only this, but the ever changing relationship between the different EQs of each source is automatically accommodated in real-time. This means that EQ adjustments are made only when needed. The target EQ (Rx) is constantly adjusted to accomodate the source EQ (Tx).

http://www.elevayta.com/

http://www.shareit.com/demoreg.html?...ylefrom=216442

hope some of that rubbish helps you ;)

[miss bass]

it does help, does smacking your head against a wall help to? :bash:

Il keep all this info in mind, infact im gona print it all out. Or you could come to my house and tell me there..... (im not joking either) hehe

Yes i think side chaining is what i need to do.
Also i should check AcidT's post as i dont know how to so that will help.

God production is ****ing hard, but enjoyable hehe

[loopdon]

"it does help, does smacking your head against a wall help to? "

ermm, what do you mean? do whatever you feel good with as long as it's not

[MARKEG]

making music is an artform, but it's about having the right tools for the job at EVERY stage of the process. recently i've been going back through ALL my samples/loops and re-eq'ing them based upon what my ears have learnt over the years. some of the samples i have from sample cd's are just, well, simply awfully eq'd. some of my old eq'ed samples of synths are dreadful.

as far as mastering goes, don't use ANYTHING other than WAVES for limiting/compressing and stick with familar name like tc and waves etc for eq.

stick frozen veg in a expensive chicken pizza and the whole thing is ruined. you MUST think like this at every part of the music making process.

mastering is the icing on the cake and believe me, it's this that makes the cake what it is.

;)

[miss bass]

Theres so much to think about.
I need to be making a riffs/ drum loops etc, and getting levels right before thinking about eq. but then i need to be using good samples..... wow

[Craig McW]

Just the advice I was after Mark. I'm in the market for a compression/EQ pack right now, and have been looking at T-Racks amongst others. Waves you reckon? I'll go it then.....

[RDR]

not in favour of t-racks. it isnt transparent enough and too fiddly for me. i like to be able to control EVERYTHING. it is good piece of software, but not keen...

:)

[loopdon]

Theres so much to think about.
I need to be making a riffs/ drum loops etc, and getting levels right before thinking about eq. but then i need to be using good samples..... wow

the point is, if you take good samples to start with and don't take too many samples you won't need much eq. ;)

[miss bass]

fo sho.

thanks for all the help and advice. Non stop learning to be had.

Oh and il be on here alot more either winging or asking questions so get used to it :)

Cheers!