mastering for a newbie?

  • Thread starter Thread starter skiz
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skiz

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ok so im really new into homerecording and its taken me a long time and a lot of trial and error and retracking and grinding my teeth and im finally kinda happy with the first song ive recorded.

its mixed and everything and now ive got to master it

i take it into wavelab and all of a sudden i realise... i have no idea what im doing!

i know a nice eq of the overall track will make it sound loads better and i know to use a limiter (just a lil not too much) to get the volume up. but other than that im pretty clueless.

even when EQing im not really sure what freq's to cut and boost and stuff.

can anyone offer a little advice? whats your method of mastering and how does it work for you?

the song i recorded is heavy rock bordering on metalcore.

id really appreciate any help! thanks:)
 
You do what each mix tells you to do. I wish there was a simpler explanation...
 
yeah i understand each different mix is going to require different techniques for mastering, but i dont know any really!

what would you do in different situations? and generally in whole mix EQing what would you generally do to improve the quality of the sound? cut the mids? between 500 and 700?

i understand that if its dull you can brighten it up or if its weak you can add lows etc or cut lows if need be and what not

also does one generally add reverb to the whole track?

sorry im pretty clueless!
 
I go back to my previous statement. I do what the mix(es) tell(s) me to do. If a mix is hot over the 5-700Hz range, then there you go. I'd say that few are...

The conundrum is mastering your own mixes... You've already done what the mixes were telling you to do (hopefully). Now you're asking them to tell you more. If there's something to fix, I'd go back to the mix and fix it.
 
If you're just doing this for experience and not to actually release anything, then just slap a limiter on, taking your own advice of not overdoing anything. You shouldn't need to EQ it if the mix sounds good. If you do plan on releasing it, then I'd highly suggest sending it out to a mastering house. It's quite an art form to get right and it takes a special kind of hear to hear the subtle changes.

But you should get some terminology correct. Mastering does not necessarily mean any processing. The mastering stage is the process of taking the final fix and creating a "master" disk (record, cassette, etc.) to be sent out for replication. The processing is usually dependent on the media. For example, vinyl records can't handle a ton of bass or else the cutting needle cuts across grooves ruining the record, so the mastering engineer will EQ the final track so that it will sound its best on vinyl. On CD, the recent (past 10 years or so) trend is to compress it so that it compares volume wise to other major releases, using the myth "louder is better". Mastering is also arranging the tracks on the release so they flow well, including the little gap between tracks, fade outs, etc. There are other things mastering engineers take into account during the process, but the point is that it is more than just EQ and compression.
 
I'm with you, Skiz. If I was recording anything besides and acoustic guitar and my voice my recordings would sound like turd.
 
Good points there also - And true, the whole "volume war" crap come into play there. Heck, a lot of people think that the "core" of the mastering phase is "getting it really loud" (which is really little more than an afterthought). A lot of people forget that "mastering" at its core, is the creation of the production "master" (even though, I've always thought the word "mastering" was a little odd unless it was followed by another verb - Like "mastering Spanish" or something).

Okay, it's early... :o
 
oh cool ironflippy, never thought of some of those things like how the songs should flow on the cd

yeah im just doing this for myself to gain experience and mayb put it on myspace if it sounds any decent!

im just tryin to make it sound as best and have the highest quality as possible with the mix ive done with the equipment and room ive used.

always thought that mixing was putting the final touches on the overall track to make it sound especially good!
 
Massive Master said:
A lot of people forget that "mastering" at its core, is the creation of the production "master" (even though, I've always thought the word "mastering" was a little odd unless it was followed by another verb - Like "mastering Spanish" or something).

Okay, it's early... :o
Click to expand...

...............





=D
 
and generally in whole mix EQing what would you generally do to improve the quality of the sound?
Click to expand...

get it right before you EQ the entire thing

even then, try boosting and cutting from all over the frequency range, and note the differences that different EQ adjustments make...sometimes it's good to come up with 2-3 different versions, save them, then come back and listen a day or 2 later.
 
skiz said:
yeah im just doing this for myself to gain experience and mayb put it on myspace if it sounds any decent!
Click to expand...

If this is what you are doing it for then you don't have much to lose. Experiment and have fun with it. To get started open up your eq, compressor, and limiter plugs and check out some of the presets(I know, preset is a dirty word). You may have some presets called mastering setup or something similar. Start there and tweak, listen to what it sounds like with eq only or eq and compression play with the setting a bit and listen to how it sounds each time with different combos of effects/settings. It's hard to know what the mix is asking for if you don't know what language it is speaking. Play have fun and experiment get extreme with the settings so the effects are more pronounced so you can really hear what each effect setting does to the mix.




Disclaimer: At no time did I suggest to just uses presets, I just said they are a good place to start. Please don't flame me.;)
 
Robert D said:
Newbie Mastering.....kind of an oxymoron, isn't it? :D
Click to expand...

I didn't want to say it, thanks for saving me. I don't master yet because I don't feel I have mixing down yet, and I don't just mean 1 or 2 good results, I mean knowing that I could mix anything I record to an acceptable level.
 
What you need to do ...

is run your mix through a hard limiter, and pull the threshold down until all you see on the meter is a continuously solid, vertical block.

Afterwards, you need to double-check your .wav file in an editor ... and make sure that it, too, looks like one solid, continuous block, with a flat top.

You know the flat-top crewcut hair styles of the 1950's? That's what the top of your waves should look like. Like the top portion of a rectangle, with perfect right angles on either side.

Mmmmmmmm.

http://www.pathguy.com/flattop.htm
 
i'd go/ send it to a 'real' mastering guy/gal and see what he/she does to it. you'll not get the same results at home...but you may at least find a place to start.

Mike
 
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