mastering pointers?

R

RecordingJedi

New member
hey, i don't have enough money to pay for mastering. But there's a friend I know with sound forge, I think, pretty sure. Anyway, we make masters on his computer.

What I'd like is for some advice, or a walk-through on basic settings and technique on how to get something sounding reasonably pro. and if you need a sample case--

the last master my friends did, it was muddy as shit. well, not that bad... but not clear. they added compression, but really didn't take time in setting it...it did add a certain meatiness, but it was, like i said, too low end-heavy.

should I-

[a] just EQ it a bit [they didn't add any of this]to get some more clarity, or

play with the compression settings for a semi-long while?

since experience means supposedly so much in getting a quality master, I'd like to hear from some people who have this.

either please walk me through some steps, or just answer my questions.
 
yes you should EQ if it need it, and yes a bit of compression at around 2:1 with about 3 - 4 db gain reduction. The Ultra Maximiser by waves will give it a kick!! try it, its not really a compressor but it sure gives your track a louder sound. I've written pages on mixing etc in my new recording manual at http://www.lis.net.au/~johnsay/Acoustics
 
Yes. When mastering you just want to level your mix a bit. Anything more agressive and you'll start to hear the compressor pumping and breathing. Not very attractive on the entire mix.
 
you might wanna take a look at something like the Alesis 3630 to put your final through. For someone on a budget, it'll work fine for you mixes. but realise that you're not gonna get the same results as using pro mastering gear. hehe, can i plug my studio? if you want mastering, send your tracks here, i do em cheap for people on the net aswell, only net clients though, full price for anyone actually coming here:-)
bye!
-Rox.
 
john is right about the soft compression on the master.unless you have a fairchild 670 or a manley or a high end drawmer or something,the compressor will give itself away at radical settings.
i have been working on a hybrid approach that is starting to show promise.i m mixing from adat on a yamaha rm800 24x8(analog board)carefully setting the compression on individual tracks,through an aphex 108 easyrider compresor set soft and gentle into my pc.i first mix to a 32 bit file in cool edit pro,which has some real cool eq tools,as well as some other neat stuff.the 32 bit files are hard drive hogs,but they preserve a lot more detail while processing.the STEREO WIDTH ENHANCEMENT is a tool not to be overlooked.it can make the sound much more vivid if you did your panning right in the mix.when i am done with cool edit,i dither the file to 16 bit and take it to sound forge 4.0 for the final 2 processes.first,i use the paragraphic preset that filters out everything below 20 hz and watch it get louder right then.then i normalize to rms,not peak.this brings up the average level,which is where loudness lives.dont go hog wild,or you will trade away all the dynamic rane for raw loud mush.i rarely ever get loude than -12,and usually stay around -14 for the type of music i record.what i am describing is not"virtual masterfonics" but it might get you closer to what you are looking for.the key is to listen and experiment and monitor at modest levels.....i hope i have been able to help........les
 
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