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Record onto speakers onto phone, add some bass through Nokia music player EQ, jobs a good un, Im ready for the back of the bus.


er, I usually stick some waves L2 on it but really dont know what I am doing, only to be played at mates houses, if I were going to play the tunes out id take a bit more care / learn what im doing for sure.

edit, just before I stick on CD, no way would I mix with a compresser on the master

Record onto speakers onto phone, add some bass through Nokia music player EQ, jobs a good un, Im ready for the back of the bus.

hahaha yes!

I think EQ is the most useful tool in creating a good master, that and stereo imaging. Then just limit or compress. Multiband compression might make a bad mix sound better, but it will never sound as good as if the problem was sorted through EQ imo...





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samthedodgeman wrote:if I need a tune to be louder and to stand up against others in a set I will use a valve style master limiter. ''Classic Master Limiter'' is a good one and its free..doesnt effect the sound too much if you only have the output up a little but it gives that little extra volume.

Yeh man I used to like that on my pc but now I have a mac, I can't... Logics standard ain't too bad though!

Well for basic tryouts in a club or something then you guys between you have got it sussed Biggup!

For a release or if you're going for radio etc. then you gotta get it professionally mastered really.

It's not just the hard/software of course it's the room, monitors, a fresh set of experienced ears etc. Also a mastering specialist is set up for just that - mastering & mastering only! If you could do it professionally on a £400 set of monitors in a bedroom, then people like me wouldn't survive!!

EQ. Always Low Shelf @ 18kHz (48Db/Oct) & High Shelf @ 30Hz (24Db/Oct) Anything else done on the EQ will be subtractive to avoid distortion, and only dropped a max of 2Db.

Compressor. Attack 25ms, Release 35ms, Knee set to max. Ratio 2 : 5 : 1

Adaptive Limiter. No gain, output 0.0Db. (Volume adjustment done on each channel rather than master)


...I also use a directional mixer, in cases when the stereo signal is to wide causing mono channels to be slung all over the place.

Fuck, fuck, fuck... Got logic express, no multipressor?! Where can I get an AU compatible one?! HOOK ME UP!!!

spectrum analyzer
and a l2 for dj friendly louder mix
otherwise nothing
edit: lol forgot i already posted in here

Rendr wrote:Always

Doh!

i .rar it up and send it to Macc.

(i haven't forgotten about you Bob, i locked my paypal account & am in debt in the real world. will sort your roubles out asap)

Don't be worrying about that ye dibbler

Off on holiday for my 30th on Tuesday btw - be away for a week

I'll officially be old

Macc wrote:Don't be worrying about that ye dibbler

Off on holiday for my 30th on Tuesday btw - be away for a week

I'll officially be old

fuck im 4 years away from 30

Fuck you cockface

funny to see some people who put a limiter on the master but WONT put a compressor on the master. 1 thing a limiter is a compressor without ratio

Have you been reading the internets again?

the only thing i do is mix to about -2/-3 dB and slam in soundforge and use the wave hammer effect to compress a bit to boost volume. is my way in any way disruptive to my tune?

Well, my problem seems to be that when I finish the mix on my monitors it sounds spanking, add a little limit to raise the gain slightly... I then play back the tracks through my home system (of which sounds lovely with the more commercial dubstep) and my mixes sound a lot muddier :\ So I like to add a little multi band compressor just to chill of the lows and increase the mids, otherwise I wouldn't bother using it either...

Well, my problem seems to be that when I finish the mix on my monitors it sounds spanking, add a little limit to raise the gain slightly... I then play back the tracks through my home system (of which sounds lovely with the more commercial dubstep) and my mixes sound a lot muddier :\ So I like to add a little multi band compressor just to chill of the lows and increase the mids, otherwise I wouldn't bother using it either...

From a few posts ago - there should never be an 'always' when it comes to mastering! And yeah, i'm coming right up to that 30th shit! I've started to feel it already.... :0
Soz for ruff formatting peeps - my phone can't do cut and paste etc!

just a side note...

so you've finished a tune, the mixdown is done, theres no red and you are happy

but you want to play it in a club to test it, if you play the bounced mp3 straight from the software its going to sound weaker than the mastered tunes surrounding it

so, to give it that little extra boost - what are you doing to it?

compressor? limiter? how much?

all these techniques are good and well.

But it seems everyone has overlooked the hidden mistake in the initial thread post:
no matter how hard you try, and all the little tips and tricks you use (which are viable techniques, don't get me wrong here)-to polish your tune so it can stand up next to an "industry" track. As soon as you bounce to mp3, you lose most of your hard "mastering" work. The bit depth algorithm is introduced, and you start losing fidelity at alarming rates. Cds were made to hold ~700mb of info. When you listen to an industry cd, you are not listening to mp3s, all the songs are encoded redbook @ 44.1khz 16 bit standards (wav). so keep to that standard...

AND- some folks will argue that the margin of fidelity lost is barely noticeable (320kbps vs wav/aiff). a decent debate?-yes. but anyone who has heard a file-jockey(ableton, traktor, serato/torq- even on cd-r) play an mp3 in the middle of a bunch of flacs and wavs- knows the difference. listen to the reverb, phasing, and other dynamic processing go down the tubes.

of course, this is all stuff for another post (which prob. exists here), but i needed to exemplify the fact that you can't properly reference all your hard work after you bounce to mp3.

-dabu

Don't sweat turning 30, Macc...

It is only then, things start getting interesting. You're an old-schooler at heart anyway, why fight it? Put the older-school years behind your ears and you will be the true monolith you deserve to be (and in the best way!!!).

I am 32 - going on - 72.... being a classical music cat, I see the 30's as being the first years anything worth while starts happening at all.