basic mastering help please

[Greg_L]

hello everyone. newb here and i need some basic help. i did a search, couldnt find exactly what im looking for.

ive been playing with this thing (tascam us-122/cubase le) since i got it for christmas, and im needing to up my game. ive got the basics of recording and mixing down, and i need help with the mastering process. basically, i cant figure out how to get everything to a master track so i can go through the mastering process. when i save my work after the mixdown, it all sounds good, but its just not loud or powerful enough.the instruments dont individually 'pop out' like they would with commercial music. basically my stuff on CD isnt as loud or as 'polished' sounding as it is with regular music. am i expecting too much? how do i get everything to one master track so i can EQ the whole thing as one piece? is that what i even need to do?

heres some samples i posted in the MP3 forum:
http://www.filelodge.com/files/room1...chotherapy.mp3
http://www.filelodge.com/files/room1...hammerhead.mp3

any help is greatly appreciated.

[Greg_L]

someone please answer this.

[seismetr0n]

generally with mastering you compress it and tweak the e.q. -- for some projects i do it in my wave editor (wavelab), but for most stuff i 'master' in cubase itself... technically anything you put on ythe main efx send would be mastering - IMO

i usually use a decent compressor (usu. PSP vintage warmer).. and sometimes a 10 band e.q. ...

i put ' around mastering because i am no mastering engineer.. i just pump the volume and tweak as you were suggesting you needed..

gl

[NYMorningstar]

To master it you want to export a mixdown file that you have mixed to about -6dbfs keeping it in 24bit at your sample rate. Then start a new project and import your stereo mixdown. Use eq, expansion and compression where needed and then dither it down to 44/16 basically.

This is kind of a little knowledge is dangerous area. There is a tendency for people to think that louder is better and that isn't necessarily so. It's also not a procedure to fix the mix either.

Do yourself a favor and get Modern Recording Techniques by David Miles Huber and Bob Katz's Mastering Audio book.

[Greg_L]

thank you for the replies. i'll definitely check those books out.

im not necessarily looking for 'louder' in the literal sense. well, i am a little, but im mainly looking for more seperation between the different instruments and to have each one seem prominent without overpowering anything else. that will make it seem 'louder' and cleaner even though it may technically only be marginally louder. thats how i interpret it anyway. i do a lot of cover songs for my own enjoyment, and i play them as true to the original as i can. my version never comes out as crisp, clean, or loud as what im imitating - even though musically its played perfectly.

am i expecting too much?

[warrengtype]

Hey Greg, check out this guide to mastering.

http://www.izotope.com/products/audi...eringGuide.PDF

It's made by Izotope for users of their program Ozone, which is a nifty tool for mastering... but it has a lot of useful information about the process in general. It's intended to help people whether they have the software or not.

[pikingrin]

Originally Posted by Greg_L

im not necessarily looking for 'louder' in the literal sense. well, i am a little, but im mainly looking for more seperation between the different instruments and to have each one seem prominent without overpowering anything else. that will make it seem 'louder' and cleaner even though it may technically only be marginally louder. thats how i interpret it anyway. am i expecting too much?

You're not expecting too much, just going about it the wrong way IMO. First off, to achieve seperation between the instruments, you need to think about the range of frequencies that each respective insturment should cover, and possibly use eq to bring them out more during the mixing stage. For example, to seperate the guitar and bass a little more, you could use eq to cut out some of the lower frequencies occupied by the bass and cut out some of the higher frequencies of the bass to bring the guitar out more.

Hope that gives you a little bit of an idea, but if not there is quite a few examples of this (and lot's more) in a book by Jeff Strong, Home Recording for Musicians for Dummies... This book has a lot of good advice, and a lot of good information packed in the pages. It's an easy read, and a handy little tool to keep around just in case.

[Greg_L]

hmmm, interesting. looks like im going book shopping.

if any of you guys could give a listen to the songs i posted up top and give me some critique id greatly appreciate it.

[hueseph]

"Basic Mastering" that's an oxymoron. Mastering engineers have generally spent 20+years doing sound before they even endeavor to do mastering. It really is a specialized field which should be left to experienced MEs.

As it has already been pointed out, you should try to perfect your sound in the mix but first off with your recording. To paraphrase a quote from Jimi Page "You shouldn't have to use eq at all. Your sound should be perfected through the 'science' of mic placement." . Wise words from a master studio musician and engineer.

[Greg_L]

Originally Posted by hueseph

"Basic Mastering" that's an oxymoron. Mastering engineers have generally spent 20+years doing sound before they even endeavor to do mastering. It really is a specialized field which should be left to experienced MEs.

As it has already been pointed out, you should try to perfect your sound in the mix but first off with your recording. To paraphrase a quote from Jimi Page "You shouldn't have to use eq at all. Your sound should be perfected through the 'science' of mic placement." . Wise words from a master studio musician and engineer.

thanks for the response. thank you to everyone thats responded so far.

i dont mic my guitars at all. should i? i plug into my tascam box directly from my guitar processor. is that a bad thing?

[hueseph]

It's not a bad thing but consider these plugins:G-amp lite, G-amp phat, Tubebaby, AO cap, crunchdude, Voxengo Boogex. All of these are free amp/cab emulator downloads in vst format. Just install or extract them into your vst folder. Don't think that because they're free they suck. They're not bad at all. Listen to this: http://hue.dmusic.com/music/stream/h...e28/stream.m3u
It's far from amazing but not bad for a free plugin. I used tubebaby for that one.

[Greg_L]

Originally Posted by hueseph

It's not a bad thing but consider these plugins:G-amp lite, G-amp phat, Tubebaby, AO cap, crunchdude, Voxengo Boogex. All of these are free amp/cab emulator downloads in vst format. Just install or extract them into your vst folder. Don't think that because they're free they suck. They're not bad at all. Listen to this: http://hue.dmusic.com/music/stream/h...e28/stream.m3u
It's far from amazing but not bad for a free plugin. I used tubebaby for that one.

that is pretty nice, but im not sure id need something like that. my processor has about 200 presets in it already, and theyre all 'tweakable', so i can get pretty much any tone i want. besides, the type of music i do is pretty much straight rock or classic punk. i like my tones, im just looking to have it sound more 'professional'. i guess i just need to keep reading, practicing, and playing with my EQ's and mixing process.

[hueseph]

Other things to consider. Panning and levels. The more you play with EQ, the more likely you are to mess up your tone. EQ is a tool. What do you use tools for? Right! To fix things. As they say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Sometimes messing with levels will do more for your mix than any eq possibly could. Sometimes you need to bring something back in the mix in order for you to hear it "better".(really to hear it in context with the other instruments.) Sometimes by drawing you guitar track back, you draw more attention to it. Try mixing everything dry. Only use effects for just that. If you want something to sound distant: reverb. Spacey: delay. More vocal sounding: chorus. It's not the tools but how you use them. Again, not a great example but check out this uh..tune(?):

http://hue.dmusic.com/music/stream/h...b4e/stream.m3u

I recorded it using two ten watt practice amps. No granted, it sounds like I used practice amps but not bad considering I think.

[hueseph]

Actually now that I've listened to that again it sounds like crap....LOL! Ha! Take that as a lesson how NOT to mix a tune.

[Greg_L]

haha. i thought it sounded pretty cool. cool bass line and a raunchy guitar tone. i liked it. it reminded me of something theyd play during a 70's cop show car chase scene.

[NYMorningstar]

You might want to try micing your guitar. I prefer that over processed guitar sound.

[seismetr0n]

if you are trying to seperate your instruments.. step 1 - listen to hueseph = good mic placement... step 2 = e.q. your instruments in your mix so as they each have their 'own' section(s) of the frequency band ...

just my opinion... im also one of those guys that has the little dangerous bit of knowlegde..
gl

[Greg_L]

i see. so by giving each instrument their own frequency band, do you guys mean to let the bass run in the low-end and let the guitars occupy the middle and high end? wont that make the guitars sound 'buzzy'? i guess im not understanding this whole frequency thing.

[Garik]

I would recomend to go back and record the instruments again,the mastering will help the existing tracks,but it will be a bandaid .

pay attention to the way each track sounds before you record it,instead of just hurrying up to record everything and then trying to fix it.

I like hammerhead

[Greg_L]

thanks.

[DAS19]

I didnt read the other posts but I would suggest getting the CLASSIC VST effects and use their master limiter, eq, and compressor on the mixdown and it will drasticly higher the volume and make it sound better depending on how you eq and compress.

[Greg_L]

okay, just playing around i messed with some compression and all it did was make everything quieter? what the hell is going on here?

[noisewreck]

Yup, that's the way compressors work They make whatever is above threshold quieter. Then you use makeup gain to raise the level of everything, the end result being the quiet parts get louder.

[Greg_L]

Originally Posted by noisewreck

Yup, that's the way compressors work They make whatever is above threshold quieter. Then you use makeup gain to raise the level of everything, the end result being the quiet parts get louder.

hmm, i see. back to the ol drawing board.

[hueseph]

Just to clarify: compression causes a gain reduction beyond a set threshold. The amount of gain reduction is usually denoted by a ratio like 4:1 or 2:1. By reducing the gain beyond that threshold, it allows you to raise the overall level of the track or mix. Be carefull though. Too much compression or improper setting can cause "breathing". You may not notice it right away but at some point you will hear the gain reduction kick in and then release. In extreme cases it will sound like the track is breathing. Inhale/ exhale. At any rate it sounds bad and you should use compression sparingly to prevent this.