how to add ISRCs?

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UkeyLove

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How do I add ISRC to masters?

I'm using mac I don't have a mastering program so an info or advice would be good.

Thanks
 
UkeyLove said:
How do I add ISRC to masters?

I'm using mac I don't have a mastering program so an info or advice would be good.

Thanks
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You need a program that can do it. Something along the lines of CD Architect or Wave Labs.
 
On the Mac, Audiofile's WaveEditor is probably your best (and *by far* your least expensive) bet.

Serious learning curve though -- If you're not familiar with the typical PQ editor, it's not going to be a simple process... As it's not the typical PQ editor...
 
Cool looks about $69 standard and a cheap mastering is about £45 so it might be worth it.


We are producing Demo quality stuff at the moment but that is no excuse not to ISRC encode it but at £45 and 4 day turn around a pop it doesn't make sence.

Where would you suggest I start getting upto speed with mastering and encoding as you say its a steep learning curve.

Thanks by the way for the response.
 
The software is a steep learning curve. The process itself is much steeper and not something that can be covered in a forum post... Encoding meta data and the mechanics involved are important, but it's really not quite scratching the surface.

That said - If you're looking to encode ISRC's, there you go. If you're looking for mastering, comparing the prices of the tools vs. the price of the process isn't logical. Anyone can buy a Benelli shotgun. Not everyone can work it like Tom Knapp...
 
Massive Master said:
The software is a steep learning curve. The process itself is much steeper and not something that can be covered in a forum post... Encoding meta data and the mechanics involved are important, but it's really not quite scratching the surface.

That said - If you're looking to encode ISRC's, there you go. If you're looking for mastering, comparing the prices of the tools vs. the price of the process isn't logical. Anyone can buy a Benelli shotgun. Not everyone can work it like Tom Knapp...
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I agree but that doesn't mean I can't start and try to learn till I reach my limit... at which point I'll hand over to a pro... the raw files will always be there...

So where do I get a good start point?

e.g. are any of these any good?

Recording Tips for Engineers: For cleaner, brighter tracks (Mastering Music) (Recording Tips for Engineers: For cleaner, brighter tracks Mastering Music: Amazon.co.uk: Tim Crich: Books)
or
MusicTech Focus Mastering Volume 2 (MusicTech Focus Mastering Volume 2: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics)

Or anything else where I can get something to follow step by step and start to learn.

Thanks
 
UkeyLove said:
Quick additional - How about this one... Seems like the book

Mastering Audio: The art and the science: Amazon.co.uk: Bob Katz: Books

Anyone ever read it?
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I understand that I'm quoted on page 207 (or something around there). It's a solid book - But it's not really "about mastering" (and I've not really seen a really good book that's actually "about mastering" before).

Mastering is 90% listening -- objectively -- and 10% about processing. Learning to listen and learning your tools is far more important than anything you're going to learn in a book. I'm not saying not to read up - Go nuts. Understanding and inspiration comes from many places. But half the books I've seen on "mastering" are more about "getting things loud" and really have little particularly useful information on the really important things like listening skills, the ultimate importance of the monitoring chain and proper acoustic treatment of the space.

One thing I can offer if nothing else -- I can all but guarantee that if you're trying to learn on your own material, you'll be chasing your tail more than not. There's a reason you don't see "Mixed *and* mastered by..." on too many recordings. Again - I'm not saying to curl up into a ball - I'm saying to get some other sources. Objectivity is far too important to the task and you're not going to have any with material you're intimately familiar with.
 
Massive Master said:
I understand that I'm quoted on page 207 (or something around there).
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Cool... was already impressed by the number of posts so this is just a bonus. ;)

Massive Master said:
Mastering is 90% listening -- objectively -- and 10% about processing. Learning to listen and learning your tools is far more important than anything you're going to learn in a book.
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Great advice..

And its a double bonus as I have set up a home label to go with it all so I have a few acts that want to get out there but what I am seeing by getting them in my new studio is that what I liked live isn't as good when you record it...

Its the detail that you get to hear.. the sloppy workmanship or changes.. or that a song is not listenable to more than 3-4 times... you just get board of it... The frantic pace of it... How other musicians can relate to it... and loads more... That you get away with once your live as its the whole atmosphere... etc..

So what I need to lean is how to spot a great song and a great musician the rest is learning material...

That was one of the reasons for the home studio as I was spending money and time on getting people mixed and mastered only to find they weren't going anywhere all the crazed fans at gigs weren't snapping up records..

So I though ok lets try and at least keep the costs down so we can sell it as a lower price while the fan base gets bigger.

But literally last night I discovered hang on may be we are too pumped up over this stuff and others are going its ok if you give it away but to pay for it...

Now I'm not one to give up and I think that overall we will all better musician by what your saying and by us learning the process.

Now I am prepared to take my time over my own music but for others who I have offered to help I am now seeing a little clarity.

How good is the song, how good is the musician, how much are they prepared to work etc...

Now some people might laugh and say what is this guy on.

I am passionate about music always have been but the deeper I get into it the more I see its actually about delivering the emotion flawlessly what ever that may be rock, ballad or folk its about feeling that your somewhere else... was it Steven Spielberg who said if he's seeing how the director put the film together its probably not that good if he's just watching a film and not thinking about how they did it then they have a good film on the go.

I guess its the same with music if I'm listening and thinking the band should be tighter or the song lack punch or tension or its just gets boring then... new song.


Massive Master said:
like listening skills, the ultimate importance of the monitoring chain and proper acoustic treatment of the space.
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Now this is something I can work with...

Listening skills.. Now to state the obvious what am I listening for..

Clarity and brightness, pace and tension how the song is put together...? Are there examples somewhere of before and after?

And also I guess to enhance the listening you use "the monitoring chain and proper acoustic treatment of the space."

Now I have seen stuff about monitors 3ft from the floor or was it wall and points of a triangle... loads of stuff about padding and foam and stuff

So with a normal home what can you really do to enhance the listening environment.

I was using one room for recording and another for post production

Partly because I and a few of us amateurs getting round felt one room had a warmer sound and being downstairs we could instruments into different room if necessary (lots more money on cables and right now I just want to focus on getting a good clean sound with them all there. It also helps us with getting the sound right at open mic nights as well... so bonus.

But I guess what I'm asking is given the limits of where I live what can I realistically do to enhance the sound so that I can hear what I'm looking for mistakes that bring down the performance.

Or have I got that all wrong?

Massive Master said:
I'm saying to get some other sources. Objectivity is far too important to the task and you're not going to have any with material you're intimately familiar with.
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So How about offering the studio to musicians who want to A) help us develop it B) record a demo type quality stuff.

Kind of pre-booked but essentially open recording sessions and use it to see the difference between music from the same set up

and also look about on the internet for what/ Mastered and unmastered stuff?


Anyway thanks for taking the time to help me with this.

I do want to get our good music out there and not a price that needs mortgages.

I do believe that truly good music travels faster and wider than what we think is good... LOL not matter how much passion and fun we think we have for it.

I hope that makes sense and I hope that you have a few more bits of advice or can set me straight on a few things that I might have got wrong here.
 
Listening skills.. Now to state the obvious what am I listening for..

Clarity and brightness, pace and tension how the song is put together...?
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I'm talking about the more clinical -- How is it going to translate to large systems vs. small systems -- What the hell is that noise, a microphonic preamp tube? -- What has to happen to make track 3 sound like it belongs on the same album as track 4 -- There's VDO whine coming in along with the vocalist - How to get that out without taking the life out of the cymbals (etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., yada, yada and so on an on and on).

AND the more holistic -- Clarity and brightness you can enhance, but you can't create it. You can certainly take it away (which has to happen on occasion).

You need to assess a hundred different things in the first several seconds of the first listen. You need to get it from the state it's in and turn it into "the mix that's in your head" before it actually gets in your head.

And also I guess to enhance the listening you use "the monitoring chain and proper acoustic treatment of the space."
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Not to enhance it - To make it reasonably accurate and consistent.

Two rules in audio -- 1) No matter how many years of intense listening study you have, no matter how good your natural hearing abilities are, no matter your skill set, you will only ever be able to hear as accurately and consistently as your monitoring chain will allow you to hear. Period.

2) No matter if you have the greatest monitoring chain in the world - The greatest loudspeakers with the best drivers and the most perfectly-voiced crossovers being driven by the greatest amplifier pushing a signal from the most wonderful converter ever built, that chain will only ever be as accurate and consistent as the room they're in allows them to be. Period.

It's normally the last thing people worry about when they start recording. Far and away, without exception, it should be the first.

[quote[Now I have seen stuff about monitors 3ft from the floor or was it wall and points of a triangle... loads of stuff about padding and foam and stuff

So with a normal home what can you really do to enhance the listening environment.[/QUOTE]
Ditch foam and padding... Broadband/low end trapping. Plenty of it. Always take care of the low end first. It's 90% of the problematic energy and it's the weak point in basically every room you'll ever be in (even the best rooms). Once the low end is under control, if you still need a sheet or two of foamy stuff to handle a rogue toppy comb filter somewhere, then go for it. But until the low end is under control, the room will not help you.

So How about offering the studio to musicians who want to A) help us develop it B) record a demo type quality stuff.

Kind of pre-booked but essentially open recording sessions and use it to see the difference between music from the same set up

and also look about on the internet for what/ Mastered and unmastered stuff?
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This part is going sideways... If you want to work on your tracking & mixing, you can have bands come in and what not. If you want to work on mastering (technically, I should probably call it "post-processing" as it's a better definition in this case), I'm suggesting to work on things you've never heard.
 
So a little understanding of problems on a mastering side is a good thing as you can avoid making when recording...

I guess what I need apart from understanding the music itself... is to see how to get a good clean recording

Also what is "VDO whine"?
 
Massive Master said:
Ditch foam and padding... Broadband/low end trapping. Plenty of it. Always take care of the low end first. It's 90% of the problematic energy and it's the weak point in basically every room you'll ever be in (even the best rooms). Once the low end is under control, if you still need a sheet or two of foamy stuff to handle a rogue toppy comb filter somewhere, then go for it. But until the low end is under control, the room will not help you.
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How do I find out how my rooms handles "low end" and then how do I do something about it?
 
I guess what I need apart from understanding the music itself... is to see how to get a good clean recording
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Good core sounds, good gear, plenty of headroom at every single possible stage in the game.
Also what is "VDO whine"?
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Video whine. Somewhere between 14-16kHz (depending on the refresh rate and resolution). Isn't an issue nearly as much these days with most using LCD panels, but it still comes up frequently.
How do I find out how my rooms handles "low end" and then how do I do something about it?
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You should be able to simply hear that a room has low end issues (but many don't know what they're listening for because every room has low end issues). You could buy the gear necessary and learn to shoot the room, you could hire an acoustician to shoot the room -- But it's basically senseless to even do any of that before a basic installation of broadband trapping.

I didn't bother shooting this room until I had 18 traps installed. It would've been a waste of time. "Hey look - Serious low end issues - Null points, peaks, collisions, etc." 18 traps smoothed things out enough to actually shoot & measure with some sort of goal (what problems are left after 18 traps and how to focus on those problems).

You could drive over to the local Home Depot and grab a dozen bags of R-30 insulation, stack them in the corners (floor-to-ceiling) and it's going to make a reasonably dramatic difference. It won't be pretty - But it'd be a cheap workaround.
 
Ok so I keep hearing "headroom" but what is it is that as high as you can go with your system before you get distortion?

And as for the room your saying that what ever the room its always got it so start by dealing with the obvious places e.g. corners and then see if you need to do more?

Apart from corners what else should I look for
 
UkeyLove said:
Ok so I keep hearing "headroom" but what is it is that as high as you can go with your system before you get distortion?
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It's the opposite, leaving enough unused space above the peaks of the audio to allow for the unexpected. Make it a habit to leave at least 12dB of headroom when tracking. Actually, shoot for -18dBFS peak so the natural inclination to turn up doesn't lead you too close to 0dBFS.
 
More importantly - Headroom is the space between "normal" and "failure" -- Basically every piece of audio gear is spec'd at line level (0dBVU, -10dBv, +4dBu, 1.23vRMS, however you want to put it). That same +4dBu circuit may not fail until +24dBu.

That's not to say it's going to actually sound "good" at +20dBu... Heck, it's about to fail.

A car engine might be spec'd at 2500 RPM. It'll explode at 9000 RPM. Would you expect it to happily run down the highway at 8500 RPM...? Probably not.
 
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