So I was wondering, how important is mastering? I was never really good at it, so I just ignore it for the most part. My tracks sound clean enough due to they're simplicity, but I feel as though I'm behind because I don't work on mastering.
mastering is really importand. you can have a master piece of melo's, build ups etc but if you lack in mastering then the hole song can still sound crappy.
so i advice you to watch some totorials into audio mastering
At 8/24/12 01:12 PM, lnitroburstl wrote: So I was wondering, how important is mastering? I was never really good at it, so I just ignore it for the most part. My tracks sound clean enough due to they're simplicity, but I feel as though I'm behind because I don't work on mastering.
Mastering is what makes a recording come to life! Mastering isn't about making a track clean (though clean tracks are important) it's about making a song sound full and alive! MASTERING ES MUY IMPORTANTE!!!!!!!!
At 8/24/12 01:12 PM, lnitroburstl wrote: So I was wondering, how important is mastering? I was never really good at it, so I just ignore it for the most part. My tracks sound clean enough due to they're simplicity, but I feel as though I'm behind because I don't work on mastering.
Very important as it brings your levels in check.
Unfortunately, I still suck at it. Checking tutorials when I get time.
At 8/24/12 02:53 PM, zelazon wrote: I know some people go about getting it professionally done... but if you, anyone, do it yourself, then what ways do you master your own work?
I do all my own mastering. Largely use compression, EQ, multiband compression, limiters, gain staging if necessary, stereo widening, and some saturation. Each project is different so I may use one thing in a master and not in another.
If your mix isn't good then there is no point in mastering, it isn't going to fix anything just make it a tiny bit better.
Lets all NOT mix the two up
Mixing and Mastering are two totally different things, but are commonly mispoken
I can admit i was guilty.
At 8/24/12 03:47 PM, zelazon wrote:
If anyone want to correct me on anything, be my guest :)
+1
Does anyone have a link to good mastering and mixing tutorials?
I've seen dozens online and some of them are VERY AWFUL and skip over things that seem very important. It seems like such a mystery to every artist I've spokento. When asking if I can sit in on a mastering session, their responses are "well it depends, every song is different..." which of course doesnt really help to get a basic idea of the process.
Mastering is like the steroids for your track. Gotta make your music pumped and in good shape to get laid with the fans.
CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP
Music is my passion , not my business.
At 8/24/12 04:50 PM, AndretheXLR8R wrote: Does anyone have a link to good mastering and mixing tutorials?
It depends on the genre these days.
What are you looking for?
At 8/24/12 04:50 PM, AndretheXLR8R wrote: Does anyone have a link to good mastering and mixing tutorials?
I used this Link when I first started mastering. Now I kinda do my own thing but still use many of the tips found in this tut.
At 8/24/12 05:23 PM, Mrmilkcarton wrote:At 8/24/12 04:50 PM, AndretheXLR8R wrote: Does anyone have a link to good mastering and mixing tutorials?I used this Link when I first started mastering. Now I kinda do my own thing but still use many of the tips found in this tut.
Mastering a track in 15 minutes (audio tuts)
Wow! That is a really good tutorial man
Thanks for sharing because I was in need of mastering help for a while (:
At 8/24/12 05:31 PM, dj-Jo wrote:At 8/24/12 05:23 PM, Mrmilkcarton wrote:Wow! That is a really good tutorial manAt 8/24/12 04:50 PM, AndretheXLR8R wrote: Does anyone have a link to good mastering and mixing tutorials?I used this Link when I first started mastering. Now I kinda do my own thing but still use many of the tips found in this tut.
Mastering a track in 15 minutes (audio tuts)
Thanks for sharing because I was in need of mastering help for a while (:
Do keep in mind though, mastering really can't be taught. Though there's nothing wrong with a video giving you a jump start, of course.
At 8/24/12 05:36 PM, Trampzy wrote:At 8/24/12 05:31 PM, dj-Jo wrote:Do keep in mind though, mastering really can't be taught. Though there's nothing wrong with a video giving you a jump start, of course.At 8/24/12 05:23 PM, Mrmilkcarton wrote:Wow! That is a really good tutorial manAt 8/24/12 04:50 PM, AndretheXLR8R wrote: Does anyone have a link to good mastering and mixing tutorials?I used this Link when I first started mastering. Now I kinda do my own thing but still use many of the tips found in this tut.
Mastering a track in 15 minutes (audio tuts)
Thanks for sharing because I was in need of mastering help for a while (:
Yeah, I've been having trouble with the technique I've been using and I wanted to find another way of doing the whole mastering process. I think I'll try that new technique when I get home.
I paid for a couple of my projects to be professionally mastered (not on Newgrounds), so I could hear how the professionals do it. Though, to save time, I'm trying to learn how to do it myself. I can tell that the mixing, which I did, was not up to par. So no matter how good the mastering, the mix must be good too. Though, the more I improved at mixing, the louder and better the mastering engineer's could achieve my tracks.
I'm constantly trying out new things and improving, but I'll share what I have discovered gives the best results:
1. I use a compressor to glue it all together. The compressor I use is The Glue (THANK YOU TO THE GUY WHO POSTED THIS - THIS COMPRESSOR IS THE BOMB!)
2. I put FabFilter Pro-L (limiter) on. I put this on the last part of the effects chain, and I apply a likeable loudness BEFORE I do the next steps.
3. I put in iZotope Ozone 5 in the effects chain between the compressor and the limiter. I use mid/side EQ to clean up the low end a bit, and maybe cut a bit of brightness, but apart from that, I don't use the EQ much. I try to get my EQ right in the mixing process.
4. I use the multiband dynamics to give some extra punch to the low end. To do this, I extend the low end band to about 150-250 (whatever sounds good), I set the threshold to around -1.9. Add about 1.9 gain, put the ratio up to around 2:1. Change attack and release to whatever fits the track (usually both 150-250ms). The rest of the bands I leave alone.
5. I may use some stereo imaging - mainly to narrow the low end a bit.
6. I use the harmonic exciter, most usually tape (and with oversampling). Not too much though.
I tend to concentrate on getting the mix right when working on serious projects. A common mistake is to rely on the mastering to fix everything.
At 8/25/12 12:49 AM, Breed wrote: In before ozone presets
Lmao Ozone presets are shit...
At 8/25/12 01:13 AM, The-iMortal wrote:At 8/25/12 12:49 AM, Breed wrote: In before ozone presetsLmao Ozone presets are shit...
except that they arent
I'm going to sound like a stone-age throwback when I say this, but it works for me.
Once you've mixed downed youred tracked, should peak around 6-10dB. Export as wav file, reload into FL Studios (stop reading if you're not using FL lol), set up a brickwall limiter to tame those nasty transients, THEN chuck a MAXIMUS on after the brickwall limit (I know maximus can limit/compress, but i like to go double for overkill). Set maximus to "Clean Master", adjust your low/mid/high bands to taste. Turn the master tab "On" and turn up the gain and post. Do not clip.
That is what I do. It sounds stupid, but it works. Kind of...
lol fuk u
At 8/24/12 03:18 PM, zelazon wrote: Okay, better questions, how do you define mixing/mastering, and how do you approach both aspects?
In a perfect world you would have to do very little during the mastering stage, only things like very subtle compression, limiting it to commercial volume, dithering, redbook and rendering the final tracks to be sent off to the label for printing.
Unfortunately not everyone can make a perfectly balanced mix, especially not under the time constraints that a lot of mixing engineers have to work under.
That's where the mastering engineer comes in, his job is to give your final mix a second opinion. This usually leads to some slight EQ, compression and other good stuff to give the mix some final polish and of course to bring it up to commercial volume. It's so good to send your mix off to be mastered by somebody else just to get a second opinion. Also good mastering engineers have a well treated room with high end gear and great speakers so he might be able to pick up on things you can't.
Mastering your own mix (or having the mixing engineer master it if you hired one) should really only be a last resort due to budget. Of course if you're just making a small project for fun there's no need to hire a professional to master it unless you want to.
Mixing is basically just balancing the levels of every track, using various forms of processing (EQ, compression, reverb, delay, saturation, you name it) to make the instruments, vocals etc sound as good as possible with each other which should result in a balanced mix. That is, if you know what to listen for, but that's a skill you will develop over time.
As for how to master, if you don't know you're best off trying to do as little "mastering" as possible. One thing I always do first on the 2bus is remove unnecessary frequencies by high pass and low pass filtering at 30-40hz and 17-18khz (depending on the mix and music, sometimes you might want to high pass as low as 20hz if at all) respectively.
Try using a compressor on the 2bus (4:1 ratio, 30ms attack 300ms release and no more than 6dB gain reduction is a good starting point), this should help the mix gel better and make the instruments sound less separated if you are having issues with that. After that just throw on a limiter at the end, bring down the threshold and be done. When mastering your own track, anything you hear that needs to be fixed while you're mastering, you might as well go back and adjust it in the mix.
