Mastering a Track

[Estondo]

anyone wanna tell me how to propperly master my track?

[hakka]

If you want it done properly, look into a mastering house

[angryrancor]

Bob Katz is generally accepted to be the definitive source on this issue. Get this:

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Audio-S ... b_title_bk

[paravrais]

If you just wanna play a track you made when you DJ then stick a limiter on the master and push it up to 0db. If you want to actually release the track then pay for professional mastering.

[therook]

iZotope Ozone 4. Its got everything you need to somewhat master a track.

http://www.izotope.com/

Or that dude Macc. He's pretty dope.

[decklyn]

Go to someone who knows what they are doing.

[bubblypatrick]

Mastering is generally referred to as the final stage of production where you check to make sure all the levels are equal, and that one track will flow to the next without big song gaps or volume changes. Are you sure you're not thinking of how to do a mixdown to make it sound bamf?

[lowpass]

Bob Katz is generally accepted to be the definitive source on this issue. Get this:

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Audio-S ... b_title_bk

I would second this book, not just from a mastering point of view but also for all things audio

[MikkiFunk]

Its quite a simple technique really, mastering.

1. Make sure you have a load of headroom on your master output. Then bounce from here as a wav.
2. Go onto 'Google' and look for some mastering engineers. Or find out who master's certain genre's/ who is really the go-to guy (or girl) in mastering dubstep. But generally better to find someone who does a wide range of stuff as they will have more experience >>> skill.
3. Pick someone and said this bounced master of your track to them.

Personally if you just want to play it, stick an adaptive limiter or standard limiter on the master and squash it a bit to 0dB. If you are actually going to release it and make it available to the public then do the done thing and get it mastered properly.

I hate it when people tell me they're 'just mastering a track'. Coz its that easy that every producer would be putting Bob Katz out of business. Lol.

[MikkiFunk]

Its quite a simple technique really, mastering.

1. Make sure you have a load of headroom on your master output. Then bounce from here as a wav.
2. Go onto 'Google' and look for some mastering engineers. Or find out who master's certain genre's/ who is really the go-to guy (or girl) in mastering dubstep. But generally better to find someone who does a wide range of stuff as they will have more experience >>> skill.
3. Pick someone and said this bounced master of your track to them.

Personally if you just want to play it, stick an adaptive limiter or standard limiter on the master and squash it a bit to 0dB. If you are actually going to release it and make it available to the public then do the done thing and get it mastered properly.

I hate it when people tell me they're 'just mastering a track'. Coz its that easy that every producer would be putting Bob Katz out of business. Lol.

[therook]

Its quite a simple technique really, mastering.

1. Make sure you have a load of headroom on your master output. Then bounce from here as a wav.
2. Go onto 'Google' and look for some mastering engineers. Or find out who master's certain genre's/ who is really the go-to guy (or girl) in mastering dubstep. But generally better to find someone who does a wide range of stuff as they will have more experience >>> skill.
3. Pick someone and said this bounced master of your track to them.

Personally if you just want to play it, stick an adaptive limiter or standard limiter on the master and squash it a bit to 0dB. If you are actually going to release it and make it available to the public then do the done thing and get it mastered properly.

I hate it when people tell me they're 'just mastering a track'. Coz its that easy that every producer would be putting Bob Katz out of business. Lol.

Word just stick an eq to roll off the lows(36hz) and ear-piercing highs, crank a limiter on it, make 300hz and below mono (If you wanna cut to vinyl), add a little bit of stereo width, some harmonic excitement, and Presto!

Just be sure to take that crap off when sending it to be mastered.

[paravrais]

Word just stick an eq to roll off the lows(36hz) and ear-piercing highs, crank a limiter on it, make 300hz and below mono (If you wanna cut to vinyl), add a little bit of stereo width, some harmonic excitement, and Presto!

Just be sure to take that crap off when sending it to be mastered.

I wouldn't roll off that high...quite a lot of systems can produce that frequency so your gonna be loosing rumble if your tune gets played on a really nice system. Which might not seem likely for any of us here at the moment but it's still a bad practice to get into.

[Cr0fty]

This is the thread to mend your woes

http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=74832

[macc]

Bob Katz is generally accepted to be the definitive source on this issue. Get this:

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Audio-S ... b_title_bk

I would second this book, not just from a mastering point of view but also for all things audio

It's a good book, but I wouldn't say he is generally accepted to be the definitive source on mastering... lots of people have their own ways/disagree with his approach, and a lot of people dislike the book for being too processing-centric. It's a much more musical game than people seem to draw from that book. He knows this, it just gets a bit carried away with the tech stuff and people seem to have latched on to that as being what mastering's all about.

Anyway, still a good read.

[Estondo]

thanks

[therook]

Word just stick an eq to roll off the lows(36hz) and ear-piercing highs, crank a limiter on it, make 300hz and below mono (If you wanna cut to vinyl), add a little bit of stereo width, some harmonic excitement, and Presto!

Just be sure to take that crap off when sending it to be mastered.

I wouldn't roll off that high...quite a lot of systems can produce that frequency so your gonna be loosing rumble if your tune gets played on a really nice system. Which might not seem likely for any of us here at the moment but it's still a bad practice to get into.

I guess you're right. Idk I've seen many folks say different things. Some say 20-25, others 30, others 36-40hz (them ol vinyl cutters)

Wouldn't less low end rumble = more headroom and space for your mix to breathe? Just a thought. As much as I like feeling that rumble in my crotch I also like to hear whats being played. Last venue I went to I couldn't hear anything but bass and some midrange cack.

[wub]

PM Macc

[paravrais]

Word just stick an eq to roll off the lows(36hz) and ear-piercing highs, crank a limiter on it, make 300hz and below mono (If you wanna cut to vinyl), add a little bit of stereo width, some harmonic excitement, and Presto!

Just be sure to take that crap off when sending it to be mastered.

I wouldn't roll off that high...quite a lot of systems can produce that frequency so your gonna be loosing rumble if your tune gets played on a really nice system. Which might not seem likely for any of us here at the moment but it's still a bad practice to get into.

I guess you're right. Idk I've seen many folks say different things. Some say 20-25, others 30, others 36-40hz (them ol vinyl cutters)

Wouldn't less low end rumble = more headroom and space for your mix to breathe? Just a thought. As much as I like feeling that rumble in my crotch I also like to hear whats being played. Last venue I went to I couldn't hear anything but bass and some midrange cack.

Well I usually make very subby music so for me I don't want to risk loosing any of that goodness. To each their own I guess.

[macc]

Last venue I went to I couldn't hear anything but bass and some midrange cack.

Welcome to dubstep in 2011.

[pete_bubonic]

Last venue I went to I couldn't hear anything but bass and some midrange cack.

Welcome to dubstep in 2011.

it hurts because it's true.

I quite liked the mastering audio book, I think it informed my mixdowns a lot better and helped me finally get my head around compression and it's suitable applications. But I wouldn't even try to master my own track (fresh ears, experience, advice and equipment), not sure what the big man above is charging, but if you just want a master to play a track out, a few places will do it for between 20-50 quid a track.