massive mastering please read

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elicantu

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hey
i've been reading alot of your post and threats becaseu i am trying to learn more about mastering..specially about how to get the loudest volume possible..i have read alot that the way to do this is to get the mix and run it through several compressors using the lightly and then use a brick wall limiter and jsut turn it up but i just want to know how you accomplish this..let me tell you that equipment wise it is not a problem becaeu i can get my hands on anything that i will need..i just want to konw personally from you what you do to the songs so they can sound like that

also i have already reaserched and seen about the loudness war and how people beleive that it affects the sound quality.
but with today's custumers wnating to get their records as loud as the other guy you got to know how to do these kind of things.
 
i just want to konw personally from you what you do to the songs so they can sound like that
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With all that's transpired today, I'm going to have to assume that either (A) you're Ed or (B) Ed put you up to this. My apologies if I'm mistaken.



Look - "Volume" is the absolute last thing on my mind when I'm working. Excessive volume is done almost always "under protest" and each and every single mix will dictate what it needs to achieve it. Some are fine with a straight boost. Some need compression. Some need limiting. Some need both. Some need two stages of compression and one of limiting. Some need gentle limiting, compression and AD ramming. Some need nothing more than light analog compression and (also analog) gain into the AD.

Few if any of them need experimentation as part of the process -

Getting "any tool you need" isn't going to help anything until you've worked with those tools and know what they do. If you want to experiment with multi-stage compression, then do it. Learn what it does to different mixes of different styles and different densities, different imaging, different dynamic range, different levels of quality & distortion -- EVERYTHING matters. There's no short answer to any of this.

One thing is for sure - No matter how experienced you are, no matter the caliber of gear you're using, the mix will be the final arbiter of how loud it wants to be before it complains about it. A monkey with a L-series limiter can make a mix loud. What it sounds like when it's "done" is up to the monkey.

You want a gear list? Digitally, the dynamics processing introduced in Samplitude Professional V10 are among the best and most transparent I've heard. Then the "Crane Chain" -- The HEDD, the Ibis EQ and the STC-8M compressor. All with ridiculous amounts of usable headroom and the STC-8M probably throws the cleanest gain I've heard. And the HEDD, eats it up with more style than any other AD I've used. Granted - It took several years of working with all of that to really be able to "listen through" it all... And that's just a general "go to" list. Some mixes will respond better with the SSL. Others with the Manley Variable Mu. The settings, as always, are dictated by what the individual mix is asking for.

And as always, the quality, accuracy and consistency of the monitoring chain and the room will always have the final word on every setting.
also i have already reaserched and seen about the loudness war and how people beleive that it affects the sound quality.
but with today's custumers wnating to get their records as loud as the other guy you got to know how to do these kind of things.
Click to expand...
Still assuming you're Ed, I don't even want to go there. But just in case you're not, keep in mind that the vast majority of mixes out there do not and will not have the potential to be as loud as a lot of the (some are absolutely horrific sounding) recordings 'on the shelf' at the store.

You don't "have to know how to do these kinds of things" -- You should concentrate on making great sounding mixes.

Again, if you're NOT Ed, my apologies for being a little "short" -- Between him and the "Mastering: The Lie" thread here today, I'm not exactly feeling very helpful.
 
haha yeah im not ed but i see why you would think i am..

thanks for the info. very helpful.
one more thing

when mastering a mix. is it alot better to have alot of headroom?
 
When doing *anything* it's better to have a lot of headroom, IMO. Once you use it up, it's gone for good. You can't "turn it down" and get it back - Just as if you throw a burnt steak on ice. It won't make it 'rare' again - It makes it a cold, wet, burnt steak. Properly calibrating the chain is a gigantic factor in having and keeping that headroom throughout the process.
 
OMG! I love that analogy! It's perfect to explain the concept to someone without using audio terms AND it's meat based! Mind if I steal it?:D
 
I'll vouch for OP: he's not Ed.

eli, something to think about: with whom are you competing? Other people on myspace? That could be true. Think about doing a slammin' mix just for myspace, but then put something more listenable on your CD.
 
thanks for that analogy.really good. i have had people try to explain that to me before but it never worked..but the steak was just....BAM!! and then all of a sudden i got it..
nice going
:-)
 
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