New to recording

[annunaki]

Hey,

Here's a newb question for you. My band has purchased a bunch of recording equipment and have produced some clean tracks that sound good mixed down. The only problem is that when they are transfered to CD, they are very quiet and I have been normalizing them just to get 'em to CD volume. I've noticed that this can really affect the clarity of the tracks, they are starting to sound washed out and muddy.

We are using a AW4416 to mix and master, and then I've been normalizing the tracks on the computer. There are compressors, limiters, EQ's and such that are built into the AW that help a bit, but everything is still quiet. What is the best way to bring CD's up to volume without affecting their quality?

Any help or insight into the process would be appreciated.

Thanks

[TimOBrien]

Normalizing bad, mastering good.

Google "Mastering". There are many websites and books on this very vast subject.

Here's a starter for you:
http://www.pcmus.com/mastering.htm

[annunaki]

hey,

Thanks for the reply, I am going to try to do this myself. We have a pretty good fan base for our band, but probably looking like we are going to sell under 1000 cd's.

Any insight on the AW4416 that people have gained? This machine supposedly "masters" tracks but I am beginning to doubt it. Anyone else have experience with a board like this?

www.annunaki.net

[Spelling Bee]

A mastering engineer masters tracks, not any piece of equipment. Youre best bet would be to take what you've tracked and mixed to a mastering lab and have them take a look at what youve done and what you want to accomplish. Some may even give you some critique as to what needs to be fixed before they feel comfortable mastering it. Remember, their name is also attached to the final product so they want it to sound great as well, or should. If youre interested in "mastering" the album yourself head over to the mixing/mastering forum. Lots of great information there. Good Luck!
Spelling Bee

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by annunaki

This machine supposedly "masters" tracks but I am beginning to doubt it.

"Mastering" is a process, not a piece of gear. No piece of hardware or software "masters" any more than it "mixes". It's the engineer/operator of the gear that does the mixing, and it's also the human that does the mastering.

Your Yammy has everything you need to perform the "mastering" process, you just need to learn some technique.

Keep in mind that your resulting CD is probably not going to sound anything like the CDs you buy in the store, but good technique can at least get you close(er).

Try this basic process for starters:

- If your stereo mixdown needs heavy EQ or multi-band compression to fix problems in it's sound, then - if you can - go back and fix what you can in the individual tracks or subgroup stems, you'll get better results that way. if you can't go back to the mix tracks, then try what you can with those tools on the mixdown.

- once you have the mixdown as "correct" as you can EQ-wise, you can optionally try some moderate compression to tighten it up if it is a rock, hip hop or a pop mix. If it is folk, jazz or classical, you might want to go easy on the mixdown compression. Keep in mind that the heavier the compression you apply, the more it will affect the overal tonal balance of the mix.

- After compression, you can try a little finishing EQ to smooth any bumps in the sounds that the compression may have exposed.

- Then, when you have the EQ and compression set fairly nicely, use peak normalization to being the overall volume up to the peak level you desire.

The above is the poor man's EZ mastering, of course. A really fine mastering job is not so simple. But this sould get you started.

G.

[annunaki]

Thanks, guys,

What you've recommended is pretty much what I've been doing, mixing and EQ'ing the tracks on the Yamaha, which does an amazing job in terms of quality. I then just take the tracks to the computer and run them through a normalizer to about -12 db. I am also lucky to be bandmates with a fledging producer, the guy has been mixing and creating his own songs since he was 14, and seems to have an ear for it. So the mixes are pretty tight. We are still learning the equipment and all that takes time, but its coming pretty quick.

I'm going to get one of our mixes on our website before the weekend, so bookmark the site and check it out . . .

www.annunaki.net