Mastering in Cubase

K

krooner

New member
Hi all,
Hope this Q isn't too newbish;
Having mixed-down several mono to stereo track, which now appears in the project, can anyone please tell me, or point me toward some article explaining the following.
To produce a mastered version, does the same export/audio mix-down process have to be repeated to permanently record the mastering prior to external file conversion.

Many thanks.
Kj
 
jimmys69 said:
Not sure I understand the question. Elaborate a bit?
Click to expand...

Thanks very much, jimmy
Having gone into the project file menu, I've exported and mixed down all 10 mono tracks into one stereo track[11].
Basically, once mastered, Does this track, like those from 1 to 10, also have to go through the same process of export and mix-down in order to somehow finalise the recording of the processes involved in the mastering?

{Or have I got my knickers in a twist?}

Cheers.
Kj
 
Im not sure what you mean.
Once the separate tracks are bounced down (exported) as a stereo .WAV file then that is your stereo track ready to be Mastered.
If you don't intend on sending the stereo Mix to a Mastering engineer then use a limiter to boost the volume to a level that it is not really quiet. Maybe around -15dB RMS
-10dB RMS is a good level to compete with commercial songs.

G
 
Hi ecktronic, thanks for replying,
I'm locked on to the thought that, because these plug-ins can be abled/disabled at the flick of a switch, that the instant the track is moved elsewhere, that version reverts back to its unmastered state.
Please tell me it's all in my mind. :confused:

Cheers.
Kj
 
krooner said:
I'm locked on to the thought that, because these plug-ins can be abled/disabled at the flick of a switch, that the instant the track is moved elsewhere, that version reverts back to its unmastered state.
Click to expand...

I have a feeling you don't know what Mastering is...

Mastering is the phase of music production where you assemble your songs into one album, make them sound cohesive, then get the album ready for mass production.

You might some better info in this thread...

https://homerecording.com/bbs/general-discussions/mastering/what-mastering-326857/

hth
 
He wants to know if he needs to once again bounce his mastered track down once he has finished toying with it, I think...to which the answer is yes, you do.
 
guitaristic said:
He wants to know if he needs to once again bounce his mastered track down once he has finished toying with it, I think...to which the answer is yes, you do.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input, guys,
Yes, guitaristic. Your right.
I'd really appreciate it if you could explain further?

Cheers,
Kj
 
krooner said:
Thanks for the input, guys,
Yes, guitaristic. Your right.
I'd really appreciate it if you could explain further?

Cheers,
Kj
Click to expand...

Ok! Well, when you bounce all your tracks down to one stereo track after you've mixed it, it's true that you have a final product you can show off and stuff, but in reality there's still a lot of work you can do. So then you import that bounced track back in and polish it up! I.e. some light eq'ing, maybe some compression, then balancing of the song volume (if you're doing an album), and anything else it needs.

After all the mastering is done, you still have to export that track (although it goes it one stereo track and comes out one stereo track) because of all the mastering changes you've made to it!

Make sense?
 
Thanks, guitaristic.Yes, that's what I'm thinking.
But when I think about it again, I'm not so sure.
I mean, why need the track be exported again if, in fact, those changes made in the mastering process are permanent? :confused:

Cheers.
Kj
 
krooner said:
Thanks, guitaristic.Yes, that's what I'm thinking.
But when I think about it again, I'm not so sure.
I mean, why need the track be exported again if, in fact, those changes made in the mastering process are permanent? :confused:

Cheers.
Kj
Click to expand...

Well how else are you going to get the mastered track outside your DAW to be played on Itunes or bounced to a disk for example? I think I too am confused on what your asking haha.
 
krooner said:
Thanks, guitaristic.Yes, that's what I'm thinking.
But when I think about it again, I'm not so sure.
I mean, why need the track be exported again if, in fact, those changes made in the mastering process are permanent? :confused:

Cheers.
Kj
Click to expand...

Well, although they are technically permanent once you save them, the newly-mastered song won't be in a listen-able state until it's exported.
 
I think the confusion here is that... File -> Save As and File -> Export Audio Mixdown are by no means the same thing. Sure, you can save the file as a .cpr (save as) but then you can ONLY listen to it in Cubase. On the other hand, if you Export Audio Mixdown, it will then become a file that you can listen to anywhere. Upload it to your ipod, burn it to a cd, or whatever..

Export your mix, then import it back into a new cubase project, master it, and then export AGAIN to have the mastered version as something you can play anywhere. (You might change it to an mp3 in some fashion too)
 
A 'save or 'save as after any change or adjustment is really just saving an up-dated instruction set for the app to play or render them.

(I like 'bounce the mixes to tracks in the app- asigned to a clean 'zeroed playback/export bus (path), then you have a running set of the raw mix tracks ('pre-mastered or 'finished depending..) saved with the proj.

What is it with this doubling of the last words in the line here?
 
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