mastering process

[ritaheed]

theres a world of misinformation out there and it seems you've already been fed some.

keeping things "half way" on the meter is pure BS. internal mixing engines work at 32 bit float (protools hd is 48bit) so the chances of ever digitally clipping is an impossibility EXCEPT on the master fader which does need to be below 0db.

where digital clipping might occur is within plugins. you need to be very careful on certain plugins. but on the other hand some analog emulation plugins are designed to be driven hard (uad PLUGINS BEING A CASE IN POINT).

theres also a lot more to a mixthan just eq and compression. you need to understand how the music flows and how each element works with the other.

for a quality mix you could be looking at 20 hours work.

personally i think 80% of released techno is mixed appallingly with absolutly no consideration given to the bigger picture. yes it is important to have that kick eq'd perfectly but that needs to be done in context with everything else.

theres a reason why working engineers spend a long long time learning before they even touch a mix, and thats why we charge what we do.

as far as plugins go i would highly recommend slate digital, softube, UAD, waves analog emulations and soundtoys.

you really do get what you pay for and i would advise anyone to save the extra few quid and go with quality software/hardware.

The thing is I wanna learn the stuff your talking about, I wanna know how to EQ but taking everything else into context and how the other elements work with each other.

I tend to EQ a sound so it fits nicely within the mix, what should I be looking to do then?

A was basically told to lower all levels and use your soundcard volume to hear more of the mix, he was talking within ableton though?? dunno if that makes a difference, so aslong as your not peaking at the master then you can drive the volumes up of the individual sounds?

And whats the situation on limiters? Read articles about how limiting is terrible, no dynamics within the tracks etc so I then dont use them and then my tracks are alot lower than other peoples tracks

[rhythmtech]

The thing is I wanna learn the stuff your talking about, I wanna know how to EQ but taking everything else into context and how the other elements work with each other.

I tend to EQ a sound so it fits nicely within the mix, what should I be looking to do then?

its kind of beyond the scope of what we can explain here. the best way is to buy a tutorial dvd on mixing, have a look for the tony shepard master class dvds. they're based on live music but learning to mix real guitars, bass, vocals and drums is the best way IMO. they're a lot busier in the mix and if you can mix them you'll pick up mixing samples and softsynths a lot quicker.

A was basically told to lower all levels and use your soundcard volume to hear more of the mix, he was talking within ableton though?? dunno if that makes a difference, so aslong as your not peaking at the master then you can drive the volumes up of the individual sounds?

again thats not true. as far as im aware, abletons engine is 32bit. either way, once you go to 24bit (which is what ALL DAWs are minimum) its only the master and plugins that you need to worry about clipping.

And whats the situation on limiters? Read articles about how limiting is terrible, no dynamics within the tracks etc so I then dont use them and then my tracks are alot lower than other peoples tracks

again you've been the victim of net information. limiters are an exceptionally powerful tools, i use them everyday... BUT like compressors, you need to understand how they work or you can balls everything up with them.

[ritaheed]

its kind of beyond the scope of what we can explain here. the best way is to buy a tutorial dvd on mixing, have a look for the tony shepard master class dvds. they're based on live music but learning to mix real guitars, bass, vocals and drums is the best way IMO. they're a lot busier in the mix and if you can mix them you'll pick up mixing samples and softsynths a lot quicker.

can you link us to the dvd mate

[The_Laughing_Man]

The thing is I wanna learn the stuff your talking about, I wanna know how to EQ but taking everything else into context and how the other elements work with each other.

I tend to EQ a sound so it fits nicely within the mix, what should I be looking to do then?

A was basically told to lower all levels and use your soundcard volume to hear more of the mix, he was talking within ableton though?? dunno if that makes a difference, so aslong as your not peaking at the master then you can drive the volumes up of the individual sounds?

And whats the situation on limiters? Read articles about how limiting is terrible, no dynamics within the tracks etc so I then dont use them and then my tracks are alot lower than other peoples tracks

Crikey, big old can of worms there.
Mixing is as much a philosophy as a technique, and opinions vary.

My personal philosophy is that the best kind of EQ at mixdown is no EQ.
All EQ is effectively "damaging" the sound in some way.
This follows the classical music method, where each instrument sits in it`s own place "in the mix".
Tubas and Trumbones play the lows, trumpets the mids, violins the highs, for example (vastly simplified).

How does this apply to techno?
Well it begins at composition.


As you are making your tune and adding elements, don`t add them willy-nilly, look at what you have in the mix already, and work out what space you have left in the mix.
If the bass is already covered by kick and bassline then look to add instruments (and melodic parts) that sit in the mid to upper areas.
Working like this means you have to apply less EQ to sounds, (or use it less harshly), so your mix ends up sounding more "natural".

Of course it is best to subtract with EQ rather than add, but you can also boost in some cases, just be careful and again, pay attention to the space left in the mix.

A lot of techno is overcrowded, too many ideas and sound in one mix.
Look at your sequencing, if you absolutely must have that final 5th percussion part at the end of the track, look at where it sits in the mix, and when it comes in maybe take out another instrument that sits in the same place.

Now another thing to look at is stereo field (and also mid/side placement, which is very interesting but a subject in itself). An orchestra is "mixed" by the type of instrument playing and also where they sit in respect to the conductor.

Use the stereo field to also create space in your mix, but don`t overdo your panning, techno is inevitably played on a mono soundsystem, or maybe stereo set up with little consideration for placement. So extreme stereo might well sound shite in the club.

Volume wise, on your channel faders it is generally good practice to keep your levels down, simply because add you add effects and more instruments you will naturally start to push levels up, so you want some "fader play" to allow easy mixing.
Be careful of the signal between plugins, as mentioned above, your DAW has massive headroom, but some plugins don`t, so be careful to check in and out levels of your plugins, and if you can`t adjust them, get a fader plugin between your vst`s. Sonalksis do a good free one.

No I wouldn`t say you use compression on every sound at all.
Use compression on things that you feel need it.
Compression changes the relationship and difference between the quiet and loud parts of whatever is run through it.
You can add or take away punch, increase loudness and control levels with it, but not all sounds need it.
If you don`t know what it does, don`t use it until you do as you can end up ruining a mix.

Limiting is basically extreme compression, so again, you really need to understand its application, and the reason why you are using it.
Its definitely potentially more damaging than standard compression so not for common use at all.

An average decent mixdown will sit at around -14 to -18 RMS before mastering so don`t worry if your mixes sound quiet, it`s to be expected.
If you need to bring them up just for personal use (ie no professional mastering)
Then a combination of a clean compressor and limiter shaving about 2-3db in gain reduction on each should give you a fairly decent final level without totally butchering the thing to ****.