If you would have asked me 3 months ago, I would have said by all means have it done
by a pro. I ,like you ,through reading and
simple heresay from the recording community thought you had
to do it professionally specificly if you wanted it "Radio Ready"
First, there is simply no such thing as mastering to make it radio
ready...and this should not be considered part of the defintion
of mastering..this single element has caused more confusion
than anything else..more on this later
If your project meets the following criteria, you may want to
consider professional mastering..
1 Each song was produced/engineered in numerous locations
using different gear and different media ( Analog 2"Tape,Digital
ADAT,s Tascam etc)
2 You are gonna have it pressed on vinyl, cassette and CD.
3 You have a deadline to meet.
If you fit the above, you are probably signed with a record label
but I will assume this is not the case, otherwise they would be
making the decision for you
Here are the pros of doing it yourself.
If you did all the tracking and mixing and still have of this
material available, you have more power to make changes
if the need should arise. The Pro's are dealing with a 2 track recording. This is one of the reasons why they need the equipment they use like multiband cpmpressors,EQs..
where as you can pick the problem areas all the way back to
the tracking phase if need be. This means that you will gain more
advantages by planning ahead to anticipate what you are going
to do at the mixing and mastering stages.
You have all the time there is! And if you are working on a DAW
you can create as many snapshots as you need.
You can change the playlist anytime you want.
You have more access to mediums to monitor your masters on
EX: grandmas hi-fi system, the truck , the car, the walkman
etc, etc..
You can have as many ears as you need to help!
If you want to be sure its radio ready..take it to the local radio stations and have the midnight DJ play it for you .
The experience and satifisfaction gained from actually
doing it yourself!
O K, I assume that because you are considering doing it youself
that you probably have the tools to do it.
Here are a few suggestions that I am finding useful in
my own approach to mastering.
Remember the objective! And that is to take a collection of songs
and shape them into a cohesive unit that expresses what I want
to get across and how I want to get it across. This is the artistry
part of it, and prepare this work for duplication. This could be simple rearranging of the playlist, which is actually a way to give
the recording dynamics. You,d be surpised as to what this can do.
Consider this also, lets say that the focus of the project is you
and you are a guitar playing vocalist, make sure that there
is a definite consistency in your voice tone and or any other
element that you want to get across to kind of put your
signature on everything. Just something to think about.
Ask yourself while listening do you want the project to sound
as if it was recorded in one take? If you are the songwriter
then noone better than you can express what you are trying
to do than you..and you might not be clear on that until after
youve listen for awhile ..or you might have an unexpected
good thing happen..kinda by accident..which is o k too..
Some Recording Techniques to try:
Compress for loudness and clarity at the tracking phase.
(Dont knock this until you try it) Compress as much as you can
and let your ears dictate when you have gone to far. Dont be afraid to EQ either going to HD Remember..you have the
advantage of changing these things early in the project if
they are not working.
Dont do anything to the main buss during the mix down.
Save this as sort of a prelim for the mastering phase when
you began to listen to the collective whole. Its better to be
able to make changes in a track than resorting to multiband
compression or EQ or even broadband especially in the early
stages.
Take a good couple of weeks off from listening to any of the
project. (youd be surprised what you will hear with your own
fresh ears) Listen to the complete project first without making any
adjustments at all. If you have planned ahead there should
be a minimal need for EQ, compression but you will be limiting.
Write down what you might suspect each song needs in terms
of bringing it all together.
If you have to EQ ,do it in small increments and feather it rather
than one cut or boost at one frequency. Give it time to sink in!
Compression should be lite. If you have to resort to multiband
compresion..try some mid level and low llevel compression.
Ex: Threshold at -25db with ratios at 1:1.25 to 1:1.50 to 1
(mid-level)200 ms attack..200 ms release as starting points
I have found that I could actually add another 4 to 6db gain
just doing this..without affecting the sound!
Remember you are compressing for loudness which could
also mean clarity. So do it, until it doesnt sound right or not
appropiate for what youre doing.
Use music on commercial CD,s played on the same equipment you are mastering on to determine where
to target your average RMS levels which equates to loudness!
Now for the Radio..if youre rms averages are the same as the
commercial Cds..guess what? your radio ready..if youre not
as loud as you want this can be altered again at the last
stages with a simple click of a mouse
You may want to
consider having a "hot for radio master" but mass produce
the original.
Oh, to address your question about sending material off to be
mastered. I have done so and the experienced was enlightened.
Meaning i was dissppointed but at the same encouraged because
I now feel I can do it myself and will.
If you do ultimately decide to have it done professionally
go to the facility and be there during the process..
you dont know who or what youre getting by simply
blindly sending it off..plus it can be educational for your
own future needs..
Dont go to the these guys who only seem to master one kind
of music..that would be the equivalent of picking a preset in a
mastering processor.. and Im not knocking the mastering processor..they can absolutley do the job providing you know
how to use them and alot of the mastering houses have them!
..so if u send it to a mastering house and you see the all in one
box on the equipment list..dont let it surprise u
Also remember, the average listening music fan is very
forgiving if the songs are really good..so spend sometime
on the arrangements and keep them smart and simple..
Less instruments or elements are better..in others
words try not to show off too much
O K I rambled..but I hope this helps
Holla back if you need some clarification or got something
useful to add to this..Im working on my own 10 song
CD and I feel pretty good about how its going.
Good luck!