What's the next step?

[J Wah]

Ok, so I've tracked a couple songs. Now what? Do you mix to two tracks and do all the mastering in n-tracks or use something else?

I'm using Goldwave as a wav editor. What software are you using and what does it do? I've read post saying" yeah I got that good sound by running it through izotope a few times". What does that mean?

Some plugins say they are mastering plug ins. What does that mean? Do you use these? Are there any that are free or really cheap I could use to get in idea of what they do and what I want?

Tracking is a blast. Hopefully the last step will be just as fun.
Thanks alot.

[J Wah]

Slack...?...Gidge...?...Rusty...?...Shack...?...

What, did everyone switch to Cool Edit Pro over the weekend?

[Sangram]

Last week a lot of people were going off n-track...

I guess you could put everything into two tracks in n-tracks, and then master the project, and if you have Izotope you could master it in Izotope, but I prefer to mix it down and then use a .wav editor to master the stereo project.

Izotope is a 'mastering' plugin, similar to waves, and t-Racks is a mastering software. I've started playing with t-Racks but not using it at the moment...

[Slackmaster2K]

I try to leave a few db of room in my mixes for mastering.

I mix down to a single stereo file, and then I use Wavelab to master (not exactly cheap I know). Basically all I do is simple editing and maybe a bit of limiting. I have gotten to the point in my mixes however that I don't feel the need to compress or limit very much at all.

I've found that more damage than good can be done at the "mastering" stage for people at our "level"...it's best to try to get what you want out of your mix, and just master for a bit of touchup.

Slackmaster 2000