practice mixing and mastering

[willovercome]

two quick related questions...

1) i'm recording my own music, how good should the mix be before mastering? some of the instruments sound a little distant or muffled. so far they're good, but not really good.

2) how much should i expect to spend (per song) mastering. i don't even know if the mixes are good enough yet, so i don't want to spend too much on the mastering.

[o0Charlie0o]

The mix should sound how you want to hear it... The best you can do, then mastering will make it better.

[doulos]

mastering is an art form and a hard one at that harsh mastering can ruin mixes so save back ups.getcd that sound similar to what your wanting to sound like listen close and gradualy make your songs sound similar another thing to do is make sure the mix is well mxed if not remix it no mastering can help in relative volumes say in the bass and kick ranges etc keep the levels where you want them before hand mastering just brings out clarity to the mix and sweetens the overal sound here is one thing i did to "learn" mastering i ran a cd through the moniters with a bass bost up to get a feel for whats goin on then soloed the bands of a 6 band compressor listening to just the lows etc and then i tried to feel where that was in my head phones i burnt my mix and added the bass bost then brought my levels up till they were really close to what i wanted then i de selected the bass bost and relistened and tweaked from there brough the overall volume up as much as i could and then burned my now newly finnished master that is a raw start to learning to hear mastering but it works when you got a tight budget

[crosstudio]

playing guitar is an art form.
recording is an art form.
mixing is an art form.
mastering is an art form.

play your parts your best.
record them as best as you can.
mix them as best as you can.
master them as best as you can.

don't ever go to the next step in the process until you've got it as good as you can get it. don't get your mix mastered until it is the best mix you can do using the best tracks you could record.

[Blue Bear Sound]

Originally posted by willovercome
1) i'm recording my own music, how good should the mix be before mastering? some of the instruments sound a little distant or muffled. so far they're good, but not really good.

Every step in the process, from tracking to mastering, should be performed to the absolute best you (or a 3rd party) can do. Well-recorded tracks = solid mixes.... poor tracks = even poorer mixes = terrible master

So when your mixes leave your hands, you should have them done to the best of your ability.

Originally posted by willovercome
2) how much should i expect to spend (per song) mastering.

It varies -- the big boys will charge several thousand for major label releases. Some have more "budget" pricing. Many places are around 1K for a CD's worth of material. It really depends on the place.

[Blue Bear Sound]

Sorry CrossStudio -- I didn't see your post till after.......

As you can see, I second what you said!