Mastering on a budget

  • Thread starter Thread starter daveblue222
  • Start date Start date
From the end of the article:

"It is worth repeating that, with all the processing described above, the most natural results will be obtained by keeping things as subtle as possible. If you do find yourself having to do too much processing at the mastering stage, it probably means the original stereo mix needs revisiting. With all the processing elements in the mastering signal chain, plenty of use of the Bypass switch is called for so that you get a clear perspective on what you are adding. "

Implication is that the mix should be well executed before any mastering tools get near it. So yes, IMO, you will want to use appropriate track-level compression in the quest of a great mix.
 
I usually get the mix about 90% there before adding any limiters to the master buss. Make sure you have plenty of headroom on the master meters. If you start overdriving the buss inputs no amount of limiting on the master buss will help you. Once you have everything pretty close on the mix then add the effects on the master and fine tune things from there.
 
daveblue222 said:
what i was wondering though is should i still use compression etc on the individual tracks? or, just in the stereo out?
Click to expand...

Yes, you should...IF NEEDED. Mixing and mastering are 2 separate processes, and you shouldn't sacrifice something the mix needs just because you're going to master afterwards.

Personally, I try to get my mixes 100% "there" before mastering. Of course, it might not mean they're 100% there, but that's what I'm striving for. I don't even think about mastering until I'm happy with the pre-master.
 
just get all the faders up to just under red then slap it through an Ozone preset...sounds as pro as any studio....














:D
 
Cool site, this post include very nice information and i want to say that please post some new information and keep it up.i will come back here, regards
 
Tweaking a "bad" mix via mastering

RAMI said:
Yes, you should...IF NEEDED. Mixing and mastering are 2 separate processes, and you shouldn't sacrifice something the mix needs just because you're going to master afterwards.

Personally, I try to get my mixes 100% "there" before mastering. Of course, it might not mean they're 100% there, but that's what I'm striving for. I don't even think about mastering until I'm happy with the pre-master.
Click to expand...

This idea makes complete sense. No question about it.

However, what happens if a live-to-2-track recording of a jazz trio has one instrument (the bass in particular) a little too low? IOW, the mix was done at the time of the performance. Theoretically, is it somehow possible to bring the volume of the bass instrument up a little in the mix when mastering? I tried compressing the higher frequencies a bit with a Behringer Normalizer (2-band compressor), but it made little difference. The performance was good and worthy of the effort to improve the mix.

Many thanks.
Michael Yoder
http://www.myspace.com/michaelyoderbassist
 
It's pretty hard to bring up one instrument, especially from a live recording.

If the bass is perfectly up the middle, and not much else is, you can use a M/S encoder to isolate the middle channel and boost, compress, eq it. Then you decode the M/S signal back to stereo.

But if the bass is off center, or there's other stuff in the middle, like a kick drum, it gets a little tricker.


As to the original post, I like to mix through a parallel compressor, into a tape sat plug, then into a limiter. I have this set up from about the middle of my mix process.

I buss drums, guitars, bass, vocals, keys to their own busses, which are often compressed before going to the mix buss.

I very often use aggressive limiting on some individual tracks, like vocals, kick drum, bass guitar.

Then, after I have the mix the way I like it, I export that as a reference, at 16bit/44.1khz.

Next, I lower the output buss volume by about 6-12db or so, and take my limiter off the 2 buss. I may also take the other 2-buss stuff off, depending on how I feel about it. Then I export that as 24bit/44.1khz, to be sent to the mastering engineer. I always include my reference version, so they can hear if the 24bit version is a lot different from the lack of 2 buss stuff.

I haven't had a complaint from a mastering engineer using this technique, and the final results come back great.
 
[EDIT]Oops, the luggage man already beat me to the M/S tip. Never mind :P [/EDIT]

G.
 
this is very good info,
also you could try to push freq. around 200-300Hz, if you'd like to push just bass instrument only,
but it could be tricky, the method described below with M/S technique could do wonders sometimes,
sometimes it won't help
idea behind sending 2 different mixes, or extra reference mix is brilliant,
as mastering engineer have a reference (more or less) and he could use his tools to achieve better results

johnsuitcase said:
It's pretty hard to bring up one instrument, especially from a live recording.

If the bass is perfectly up the middle, and not much else is, you can use a M/S encoder to isolate the middle channel and boost, compress, eq it. Then you decode the M/S signal back to stereo.

But if the bass is off center, or there's other stuff in the middle, like a kick drum, it gets a little tricker.


As to the original post, I like to mix through a parallel compressor, into a tape sat plug, then into a limiter. I have this set up from about the middle of my mix process.

I buss drums, guitars, bass, vocals, keys to their own busses, which are often compressed before going to the mix buss.

I very often use aggressive limiting on some individual tracks, like vocals, kick drum, bass guitar.

Then, after I have the mix the way I like it, I export that as a reference, at 16bit/44.1khz.

Next, I lower the output buss volume by about 6-12db or so, and take my limiter off the 2 buss. I may also take the other 2-buss stuff off, depending on how I feel about it. Then I export that as 24bit/44.1khz, to be sent to the mastering engineer. I always include my reference version, so they can hear if the 24bit version is a lot different from the lack of 2 buss stuff.

I haven't had a complaint from a mastering engineer using this technique, and the final results come back great.
Click to expand...
 
You still want to have your compression and EQ etc on your separate tracks, so that when it comes to Mastering you are just simply touching up the sound ready for release.
If you find you are using EQ when Mastering your own Mixes then this is wrong IMO. Go back and sort out the EQ in the Mix for best results.
So if you are Mastering yourself all you really want to be doing is adding compression if you feel that will make the Mix better, and limiting to the desired volume.

G
 
GONZO-X said:
define "Budget"
Click to expand...

greg calbi charges 4k$ per album (indie artist), and this is as best as it could be, within this money bracket you can find enginer who suits your music better,
for example, for hip hop you will aim for brian gardener rather the greg calbi,
this is not budget, and this is top of the league
as a budget I think that something below 500$ per album is something you could consider as budget mastering,
you still have a serious pro mastering engineer with proper studio, skills&experience, and hundreds of albums mastered by them
there's many here and around great guys doing great masters for 500$
then 300-400$ bracket per album is the shelf for engineers with less fancy studio and maybe bit smaller clients lists,
still providing great masters,
below 300$ per album (sth like 20$ per track) is the lowest budget mastering,
guys who are not very long 'in the game' mastering mostly using digital plugs (hardware is very expensive)
but still you could find a skilled engineers there,
then anything below that....well it's just my opinion, but I think if someone offers to hire himself for 15$ per track then he either is very desperate or/and is just making first steps in business...
I am not slashing first steppers, as everyone, even bob katz has to start somewhere,
I am just worried about thousands of 'mastering studios' providing services via net, with dodgy photos of equipment/studio.
just google mastering studio - apart obvious pros, you will get literally hundreds of 'cheap chaps' offering their service with 'them waves plugzz':)
now, it's up to you who you going to hire to master your music,
it's a free world after all (or is it really ?....but it's a political matter, so I skip it)

peace
 
"also you could try to push freq. around 200-300Hz, if you'd like to push just bass instrument only,
but it could be tricky. . ."

This makes sense. I think for the purposes of my largely-analog project studio setup, a good 2-channel parametric e.q. might be a good investment (JDK R24, Kush Electra, or Tonelux Equalux).
 
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