Post Production mixing to mastering question!

[pM of impk21.co]

Our situation.. We got two different producers, one who produces on PC, the other a sampler(myself). The PC beats volume far exceeds the beats mixed and created on the sampler. We could and have a couple of times, broke the sampler beats down track by track so they would match the volume (loudness) of the PC beats, but when my beats are mixed on PC, they just dont sound the same, that, and I dont have as much creative control on the break downs and variations in the beat! I know professional mastering can fix inconsistancies in volume from track to track. So if we finished a product, some tracks will be louder in volume, but over all mastering would even it out, right? We record all the vocals at the same place, but with the PC beats usually compression is applied to the vocals to help them match the volume of the PC beats, and when we mix to my beats, the vocals need little or no compression to set in! My deal is, should I worry about this? Mastering can help, but it wont do much as far as individual tracks within a song, right? Or should I try to push to match a volume of the PC beats to get a more consistant sound, or even consider mixing the beats on PC, hope this makes some since, any adivce would be appreicated, thanx, PM

[masteringhouse]

I don't feel that the problem really has anything to do with producing on a PC or not, it just the type(s) of processing and gain structure you're using to record the tracks.

Using a judicious amount of compression/limiting on the individual tracks will help bring the overall level up. Mastering is usually done to the 2 track stereo mixes (but can be done with submixes). So it's best to get any processing that needs to be done to the individual tracks nailed before the mastering stage.

[pM of impk21.co]

Cool, but I am limited with effects and compressors on my sampler. Meaning I have two effects engines and one comprossor per beat, and then an over all compressor, (which I never use), and an over all eq for the whole machine, meaning I dont have an option to use individual compressors settings/eqs/effects for each of the individual 16 tracks at once within the beat. My guy gets more of the upper hand by using his pc cause he can use serveral different effects/compressors on each individual track per song, but I am limited with that. My let down simply is, if I need to compress 5 different tracks within a beat with completely different setting for each track, I cannot do that cuz I only have 3 compressors/effects engines to use per beat. But, if my completely mixed songs are not as loud as his, Mastering will not fix this? or will it be possible just harder to achieve? Or do I really need to look at breaking each beat down track by track to mix on pc? I've used over all compression on my beats, but the still lack in volume compared to my guys beats, seriously, his beats sound almost just as loud as a commercially mastered product. My thought was if I mix within my means, the over all loudness would be Mastered to meet the volume of my guys completed songs! Hope that makes since, thanx for ur reply either way.

Thanx, PM

[masteringhouse]

Originally Posted by pM of impk21.co

Cool, but I am limited with effects and compressors on my sampler. Meaning I have two effects engines and one comprossor per beat, and then an over all compressor, (which I never use), and an over all eq for the whole machine, meaning I dont have an option to use individual compressors settings/eqs/effects for each of the individual 16 tracks at once within the beat. My guy gets more of the upper hand by using his pc cause he can use serveral different effects/compressors on each individual track per song, but I am limited with that. My let down simply is, if I need to compress 5 different tracks within a beat with completely different setting for each track, I cannot do that cuz I only have 3 compressors/effects engines to use per beat. But, if my completely mixed songs are not as loud as his, Mastering will not fix this? or will it be possible just harder to achieve? Or do I really need to look at breaking each beat down track by track to mix on pc? I've used over all compression on my beats, but the still lack in volume compared to my guys beats, seriously, his beats sound almost just as loud as a commercially mastered product. My thought was if I mix within my means, the over all loudness would be Mastered to meet the volume of my guys completed songs! Hope that makes since, thanx for ur reply either way.

Thanx, PM

Sounds like you're comparing his ability to both mix and master to just being able to master with limited mixing capabilities. To answer the question as best I can, mastering can help to bring up the overall level of any tracks that have enough headroom left in them to do it. But the results will not be as good as if you have more options at the mixing stage. It's very difficult to give you a complete answer without hearing the other results with what you are currently getting on your end.

Best,

[pM of impk21.co]

I see, thats cool, I currently dont have any fully mixed songs of both productions, but we are currently in the works of course, maybe at the time, once we get a track or two of each, I could post a sample of each and then you could give a more detailed opinion! Yeah, I see what ur sayin, kinda hard to critique w/o the material to hear exactly of what Im takling about! Thanx for ur time, let me know if you would be interested............................PM