Tips on mastering?

[stratkat]

I use FL studio and have maximus, doesn't anyone have any links to good articles or vids?
Any tips? (I take most advice here with just a grain of salt, but I still listen, and it's only most advice.)

Because if I can't get the hang of mastering, I'm going to eventually have to pay someone to do it, and I think it'd be better if I learned to do it myself. A very detailed vid, even though they're annoying and go over the basics and are for beginners, would be ideal, cuz I've never mastered, and know nothing about it.

Till this point all I've done is level adn tweak volumes till I felt all the sounds were in the mix well enough.

Sorry if this is an old topic, or belongs in a different thread.

[sorohanro]

My best advice on mastering:
- Start with a good mix !

[sorohanro]

A, here some links:
http://kimlajoie.wordpress.com/tag/maste ring/
http://www.prorec.com/index.php/articles /mastering/item/56-mastering-workshop.ht ml

[InvisibleObserver]

In supah brief:

-Make sure insturments with built in EQ/limiters/compressors like Z3ta aren't clipping
-Try to avoid mixer channels from clipping
-Above all else make sure your master out put is NOT clipping
-It is better to have your master mixer output (or your master volume) lowered to avoid these
-Make sure your effects chains are logical, IE compressors before reverbs so you don't blur the frequency ranges and have your instruments all mesh together into a mess

-If all the above is true and your song is well mixed, export as a .wav

-Dump the wav. into a new session, do not normalize
-Listen through your song watching a paremetric EQ, you can see what zones are of freq are heavy/empty, work with this however you will
-Adjust freqs with multiband compressors and EQs, other effects can be added in at this stage too
-Your goal is NOT to make things as loud as possible, but to emphasize things the way you want to (though this tends to make things louder anyways, so don't shy away from that)
-No clipping!
-Fiddle with it until it sounds good to you, it is a good idea to give your self time between mixing and mastering though so you can better hear what you are doing, self mastering has problems with your biases. Work with fresh ears

Ultimately if you have 0 clipping throughout, frequencies across the range are being used and you buff up the volume of such, you'll have a pretty decent sound above most amateurs.

[Krank]

find songs you would like to sound like, analyze them, and try to achieve that sound in your mix. then do it again. and again. for every song. I'm serious

[joshhunsaker]

At 9/14/10 12:50 PM, Bjra wrote: find songs you would like to sound like, analyze them, and try to achieve that sound in your mix. then do it again. and again. for every song. I'm serious

Bjra's right, you definitely need benchmarks to work against. This is a very good practice to simply become "familiar" with "that sound" you head from commerical albums where everything sits so neatly in the mix and instruments don't feel like they are fighting for attention.

I've found that it's best to be really subtle when using fx. Don't be afraid to use the wet/dry mix control on every fx to taper the amount of what you're doing and find a close compromise. Parallel compression is your friend. Carefully done short reverbs with a very low "wet" level will add space and realism to an instrument (also try very very subtle phasing to enrich the stereo field or applying different equalization to the M+S signals). The big key is familiarity though I would say. The better you know your tools (hardware, software), the quicker you can get from point a to point b in a song and free up creative time for your actual song-writing process.

[BrokenDeck]

At 9/14/10 08:43 AM, stratkat wrote:

Because if I can't get the hang of mastering, I'm going to eventually have to pay someone to do it, and I think it'd be better if I learned to do it myself. A very detailed vid, even though they're annoying and go over the basics and are for beginners, would be ideal, cuz I've never mastered, and know nothing about it.

First of all, are you thinking of MIXING? THat's tweaking a single track and making sure all your levles, filter, EQs effects etc. are correct and sound like what you want them to.

MASTERING is a different ball game altogether. Mastering is when you take several seperate tracks and arrange them into an album, adjusting the tonal qualities of each track so that they appear to sound similiar in that respect. Don't fret, the album concept is dead. Concentrate on MIXING for now, develop your own unique "sound".

There I saved you countless hours of confusion.

[Reaper93]

Mastering is just mixing but only for the total output of the track and you only get one "buss" to do it on. A lot harder to get any real intricate tweaking done, but great for adding a little bit of sparkle here, and a little bit of brickwalling there. It is very important to regard mastering as audio make-up. Too much makes your song sound like a slut, but a little bit, judiciously applied, makes it sound pretty sexy.

Just do what you do for mixing, only do it for the entire track on your master bus (or I guess after you render it, but the practical difference is very minute). Make sure it doesn't clip. Make sure it isn't overcompressed like crazy (these last two are easiest if the mixing stage goes well). Make sure it is a reasonable volume compared to other music. If shipping with other music, make sure it goes well with the other music. That's pretty much mastering in a nutshell. For mixes of Newgrounds quality, oftentimes you can get away with a few minor tweaks to the "clear mastering RMS" setting of maximus, even though there is a lot more work to be done if you want to do it (and should do it, if it's a commercial release...)

[sculpted-cold]

Make sure you have enough headroom to work with.

[KrisSumara]

Add 3 Soundgoodizers on each channel and then 7 on the master, for the last slot add a bass boost of +80db.

But for sho.

Speakers away from your face, analize each sound, EQ/Compress/etc. each channel with ALL sounds playing, often mistake is when newbies is they add effects and stuff to a channel without listening to the whole song. They would add a huge bass boost on the kick/bass, massive verb on the lead and do much compression on the percs. If you add the effects while listening to everything being played you can determine a good amount of a given effect.

[blackattackbitch]

At 9/14/10 03:36 PM, Reaper93 wrote: Too much makes your song sound like a slut, but a little bit, judiciously applied, makes it sound pretty sexy.

+3 internets to this man.

But back on topic, if you plan on using maximus, you'd better research what each parameter does, then observe its effects on the music itself. That's how I learned to use maximus. For example, the LMH mix. At full, it splits the signal according to frequency (which can also be adjusted) before sending it to the final compressor. At half levels, it only sends part of the signal to the other filters, giving you an uncompressed signal along with a compressed signal in the final compressor.

The compression envelope determines how volume will be affected at various db levels. For a simple example, an envelope with a perfectly diagonal line leading to a flat line at the 0db mark will cause the compressor to reduce all output above 0db back down to 0db.

Hitting the "peak" button causes Maximus to compress whenever the peak volume crosses the threshold for compression. Hitting the "rms" causes maximus to read overall volume input and compress according to average volume, which is smoother than regular peak-mode compression.

There's more in the manual with FL though, which is where I learned to use maximus. Like I said, just read the manual and test out the buttons as you read. You'll learn alot about many programs doing that.

[BrokenDeck]

At 9/14/10 03:36 PM, Reaper93 wrote: Mastering is just mixing but only for the total output of the track and you only get one "buss" to do it on.

No. Not at all. They are two different concepts. Mixing is focused on individual tracks. Although when you are mastering, you use many similiar functions such as equalizing etc., mastering focuses on the overall quality and content of the ALBUM.

[Mystery-Moon-Pie-Aud]

Just do the smiley face eq (bring down mid area and boost bass and highs), it makes everything sound better.

[Cross666]

Know where Sub, Low, Mid, & High fall on the frequency.

Have an understanding of where your instruments lay on the frequency.

EQ each instrument so you don't have (for example..) your bass acting like a bitch-tits and taking up unnecessary space in the mid ( they call it bass for a reason).

Keep your sounds together, yet separated. Keep your sub bass distinct from your bass.

Use your ears more than your eyes. Once you HEAR what you like, try and get the levels pinpointed.

Limiting or Compressing on master because your mix is breaking out of your speakers is no good. It's like watching a fat guy struggle to button pants that he knows are wayyyy to small for him, even though he finally manages to get it buttoned, he looks abso-stupid.

[acmeDyne]

This book is well written and very informative:
http://www.digido.com/mastering-audio-bo ok.html
It's 40 bucks, but totally worth the investment!

[joshhunsaker]

At 9/14/10 10:09 PM, acmeDyne wrote: This book is well written and very informative:
http://www.digido.com/mastering-audio-bo ok.html
It's 40 bucks, but totally worth the investment!

Simple answer is, yes. Get that book.

[sculpted-cold]

At 9/14/10 08:48 PM, Mystery-Moon-Pie-Aud wrote: Just do the smiley face eq (bring down mid area and boost bass and highs), it makes everything sound better.

Okay, Paul Waggoner. I really hope this kid doesn't try to scoop his mids.

[Reaper93]

At 9/14/10 08:31 PM, brokendeck wrote:

At 9/14/10 03:36 PM, Reaper93 wrote: Mastering is just mixing but only for the total output of the track and you only get one "buss" to do it on.

No. Not at all. They are two different concepts. Mixing is focused on individual tracks. Although when you are mastering, you use many similiar functions such as equalizing etc., mastering focuses on the overall quality and content of the ALBUM.

The history of the mastering engineer was originally the man who possessed the dark arts knowledge of how to cut a track to vinyl, that is, specifically how to record the song to a medium. As time went on, the mastering engineer took on more and more responsabilities in terms of perfecting the final sound of the track (for instance time-correcting tracks on vinyl nearer to the middle of the disk), and now it is common practice to leave the mastering engineer a few decibels to play around with for EQing, compressing, brickwall limiting, and other various things that mastering engineers are wont to do now that the medium doesn't require a lot of specific mastering expertise anymore.

That is to say, the mastering engineer's job has expanded over time. What if you want a single mastered? What other songs are there on a single to make sure your track goes with? How many other tracks are there on the album? None. So what is the mastering engineer's job? Is it still "hurrdurr mastering engineer focuses on the album hurrr!!!!!" ? No, his job is now polishing up the master copy, be it through using a few mixing techniques on the final render or simply pressing it to the disk as-is.

Your view is incredibly simplistic and doesn't begin to cover half of the mastering engineer's job, and also doesn't account that maybe I was referring to the part of the job the mastering engineer undertakes that could be done with maximus, the plugin that is, I dunno, being referenced by the OP and therefore on topic at all unlike your incoherent ramblings about album cohesion that frankly aren't terribly relevant.

[BrokenDeck]

At 9/15/10 04:53 AM, Reaper93 wrote:
That is to say, the mastering engineer's job has expanded over time. What if you want a single mastered? What other songs are there on a single to make sure your track goes with? How many other tracks are there on the album? None.

There are several tracks on a single. An official mix, a radio mix, sometimes an extended mix, and sometimes an instrumental mix. Singles haven't been really singles for a long time. When was the last time you picked up a "Single" CD? I used to work in a music store. I know how many tracks there are on a single. ;)

That sound pretty simplisitc to me.

It wasn't ever meant to be complicated. The theory of what mastering does is simple, it being a SEPERATE ASPECT aside from mixing. Was I not clear enough? Let's discuss my reasoning... There are people who specialize in one or the other, or both, but they understand at what level they are working on the tracks. What I'm saying is that somewhere in all that mesh, there is still a definitive line between mixing and mastering, even if mixers and mastering engineer's roles have intertwined.

END RANT

[BrokenDeck]

At 9/15/10 04:53 AM, Reaper93 wrote:

Your view is incredibly simplistic and doesn't begin to cover half of the mastering engineer's job, and also doesn't account that maybe I was referring to the part of the job the mastering engineer undertakes that could be done with maximus, the plugin that is, I dunno, being referenced by the OP and therefore on topic at all unlike your incoherent ramblings about album cohesion that frankly aren't terribly relevant.

Peace friend. You sound like something has ruffled your feathers. Did someone not get their coffee this morning?
No need to be insulting. Grow up now.

[JonnyDark]

Try to listen to the track through different types of output. I listen to mine through both my amp and speakers and my headphones.

Be subtle with the EQ, don't use it too much. If you're needing to adjust it too much, go back and fix your mix. Subtlety is the name of the game.

Get a spectral analyser, you can get quite a few for free as a VST plugin or something. This will be good to see if your frequencies are balanced.

Get yourself a multi-band compressor but at the same time, I'd also be easy on the compression, you want to preserve the dynamic range. The TT Dynamic Range Meter is a good tool for this. A dynamic range of about 10-14dB is good. Lower than 10 and it's going to get progressively worse in terms of clarity and depth.

Mastering is an inexact art and the only way to get any good at it is to practice. Starting with a good mix is pretty essential though.

[Reaper93]

At 9/15/10 08:40 PM, brokendeck wrote:

At 9/15/10 04:53 AM, Reaper93 wrote:
That is to say, the mastering engineer's job has expanded over time. What if you want a single mastered? What other songs are there on a single to make sure your track goes with? How many other tracks are there on the album? None.

There are several tracks on a single. An official mix, a radio mix, sometimes an extended mix, and sometimes an instrumental mix. Singles haven't been really singles for a long time. When was the last time you picked up a "Single" CD? I used to work in a music store. I know how many tracks there are on a single. ;)

Depends on what single. But you get my point, I hope, in that being hypercritical about comparing mastering to mixing is kneejerk when they do the same job at different stages in production.

That sound pretty simplisitc to me.

It wasn't ever meant to be complicated. The theory of what mastering does is simple, it being a SEPERATE ASPECT aside from mixing. Was I not clear enough? Let's discuss my reasoning... There are people who specialize in one or the other, or both, but they understand at what level they are working on the tracks. What I'm saying is that somewhere in all that mesh, there is still a definitive line between mixing and mastering, even if mixers and mastering engineer's roles have intertwined.

END RANT

Your ranting is a bit pointless. As I've demonstrated I already know exactly what mixing and mastering are and what part of the job they both operate on. To say the part of mastering that uses maximus is like mixing but for the post-rendered product on a single buss is not at all incorrect despite you jumping all over it and saying "THAT IS NOT CORRECT AT ALL".

[Reaper93]

At 9/15/10 08:44 PM, brokendeck wrote:

At 9/15/10 04:53 AM, Reaper93 wrote:

Your view is incredibly simplistic and doesn't begin to cover half of the mastering engineer's job, and also doesn't account that maybe I was referring to the part of the job the mastering engineer undertakes that could be done with maximus, the plugin that is, I dunno, being referenced by the OP and therefore on topic at all unlike your incoherent ramblings about album cohesion that frankly aren't terribly relevant.

Peace friend. You sound like something has ruffled your feathers. Did someone not get their coffee this morning?
No need to be insulting. Grow up now.

You just ended a post with /ENDRANT, I don't think you have much room for that kind of thing, especially after being incredibly condescending earlier with a double-stop disagreement prefacing your post followed by an attempt to outline exactly how completely wrong I was, which I was not in any way. It's a grievous insult to my intelligence and if you expect me to roll over and let you kick me then you're living in a fantasy.

It's pretty clear I know what I'm talking about, contrary to what you have posted, so I don't think there's any need for that, alright?

[Chronamut]

my tip for mastering - don't use maximus- really - compressors are alright - but you can have a good mix entirely by using eq alone - as long as you make it so that nothing peaks and nothing interferes - you're golden.

[BrokenDeck]

At 9/16/10 03:30 PM, Chronamut wrote: gibberish ;)

Good old Chrons! I was wondering when you'd post in this thread lol.

[Gloudas]

the only comment I have to make on this thread is one I've made on many, many threads: thank you for the links sorohanro. You're fucking awesome.

[S3C]

At 9/14/10 04:58 PM, djsumara wrote: Add 3 Soundgoodizers on each channel and then 7 on the master, for the last slot add a bass boost of +80db.

thanks for that, because it wasnt funny the first 3000 times it was said -_-