Mastering Questions That Still Confuse Me

[SMOR3S]

So I understand that, you need to leave about -3db to -6db of headroom, on the track, so your audio engineer, can have adequate headroom, when applying mastering to the track, but does this mean, as a whole, I need to mix down my track, so the master bus doesn't peak above -6db, or can I just lower the master bus to -6.5db.. I heard if I just lower the master bus, it will mess with the natural compression...

What all should I leave on my tracks, when I export them as stems... Should I leave reverb, side chain, and exciters?, cause that's all mix down, aye?, but should I leave EQ effects on the tracks, or take them off..

Thanks...

[wub]

If your mixdown is hot then you don't necessarily need a 'Mastering' job.

[NinjaEdit]

Check the MONEYSHOT thread.

Leave your master fader at 0, so that you knw if anything clips going into the master channel.

It depends why you're sending stems.

[alpz]

The idea is to mix each individual channel to sound exactly how you want it to sound on the final mix. You want to avoid having to EQ anything on the master. Adjust the volume levels as early on the effects chain as you can, and use the channel faders for tweaks when finalizing the mixing process (that's how I do it anyways, this way your channels don't clip between effects stages and your sound is as clean as it can be). With all of your channels playing, you'd want the master channel to be peaking between -6 and -3 db. I'm not positive what goes on when lowering the master fader, but lowering the master could lower the volume but not the noise floor thus compressing your track (again, just speculating on that one, but I try to never touch the master fader anyways, because it's easy enough to leave it alone).

If you want to export to stems, leave everything on and just export the individual channels as if each one were it's own finished track. Then it's just a slight assembly required when constructing the final mix.

If any of this information is incomplete or wrong please do let me know - this is just stuff I've picked up from reading through threads here and there and might not be ENTIRELY accurate.

[SMOR3S]

The idea is to mix each individual channel to sound exactly how you want it to sound on the final mix. You want to avoid having to EQ anything on the master. Adjust the volume levels as early on the effects chain as you can, and use the channel faders for tweaks when finalizing the mixing process (that's how I do it anyways, this way your channels don't clip between effects stages and your sound is as clean as it can be). With all of your channels playing, you'd want the master channel to be peaking between -6 and -3 db. I'm not positive what goes on when lowering the master fader, but lowering the master could lower the volume but not the noise floor thus compressing your track (again, just speculating on that one, but I try to never touch the master fader anyways, because it's easy enough to leave it alone).

If you want to export to stems, leave everything on and just export the individual channels as if each one were it's own finished track. Then it's just a slight assembly required when constructing the final mix.

If any of this information is incomplete or wrong please do let me know - this is just stuff I've picked up from reading through threads here and there and might not be ENTIRELY accurate.

Should I EQ the track a bit, before I ship the stems off to my audio engineer?

[Electric_Head]

You should only have to EQ the individual channels.
Your master channel should not have EQ because you take care of it early.

[SMOR3S]

You should only have to EQ the individual channels.
Your master channel should not have EQ because you take care of it early.

Loud Bell said this on their Facebook:

If you are confident with your mixing skill then just choose stereo mastering. Otherwise, i recommend

you to choose stem mastering. Search on google for more info on stem.



Typical stems might be [ Drums, Bass, Sub bass, Lead synth 1, Lead synth 2, Effects sweeps ]

For example, if you have [Bass1, Bass2, Bass3, Bass4] => group them together and name it [Bass Group]



Exporting guide for the stem mastering please watch :

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... ature=plcp

I am wanting someone else to EQ my tracks, cause I'm not the best when it comes to EQing levels...

[Electric_Head]

aaah, but surely you are doing some form of eqing at track level?
Chances are the track will sound quite a bit different once it is eqed correctly.

[SMOR3S]

aaah, but surely you are doing some form of eqing at track level?
Chances are the track will sound quite a bit different once it is eqed correctly.

And there is my problem.. I don't know how to properly EQ.. I just EQ by ear... I don't use spectrum or any thing like Ozone.. I either use EQ Eight, or the EQ that came with my Scarlett 2i2, and mix the levels with my headphones..

[Electric_Head]

What's wrong with that?
EQ is just adjusting equalizer levels to make sounds fit.
Mastering a mixdown is a different story.
Even a spectrum analyzer isn't necessary.
Most people eq by ear.

[jeer]

EQ'ing without any kind of spectrum analyzer I'd say is good practice personally. EQing by ear is a lot more beneficiary than trying to do it visually!
Generally, don't reduce your master fader. The master bus sums all of the other faders, so you're essentially just squashing the mix which isn't a good thing!
Fix your mix either by bringing levels down, or if you're feeling particularly lazy just link all of your faders together (not sure how to do this in ableton) and bring it all down a touch, as linking will keep it all within the (logarithmic not linear) scale.

[NinjaEdit]

Maybe just do some research on EQ, especially corrective (narrow band) EQ. Ableton probably has a parametric EQ, but Cockos ReaEQ is free. Also use filters at mixdown.

[SMOR3S]

Maybe just do some research on EQ, especially corrective (narrow band) EQ. Ableton probably has a parametric EQ, but Cockos ReaEQ is free. Also use filters at mixdown.

I'll check into Cockos.. Any others free EQ VSTs, that you recommend, cause it seems Ozone is really good, but it costs money :3

[Electric_Head]

Ozone is a mastering suite not an EQ per se.
ReaEQ and ReaFIR are both excellent free options.

Kjaerhus Audio Classic Series is a great pack of free tools.

[baddaBOOM]

If your mixdown is hot then you don't necessarily need a 'Mastering' job.

LOL

[Brothulhu]

http://www.dnbscene.com/article/88-thin ... q-tutorial - read that, it really made EQing a lot clearer to me. And dude wtf is with your commas?

[NinjaEdit]

Another free EQ I like is SplineEQ. I also tend to use ReaXComp for mastering.

You can go to kvraudio and search their VST database.

[SMOR3S]

Another free EQ I like is SplineEQ. I also tend to use ReaXComp for mastering.

You can go to kvraudio and search their VST database.

Ya, KVR is a good website, I usually go there :3

[ehbes]

If your mixdown is hot then you don't necessarily need a 'Mastering' job.

LOL

What's so funny ? He's right

[SMOR3S]

Ozone is a mastering suite not an EQ per se.
ReaEQ and ReaFIR are both excellent free options.

Kjaerhus Audio Classic Series is a great pack of free tools.

Thanks... I understand what an EQ is, and how it works, but when it comes to EQing my tracks, idk what approach to take.. Like for example Sub Bass..

Lets say for example, I have 3 notes, on a midi track, with the scale of G2, A2, and B2, what Hz range should they fall under...