Mastering, to master or not to master

[Bass Case]

Hey, This is my first thread.
My question is:
If you compress and normalise all of your events in a digital song with say real bass guitar and keys, the rest virtual. Can you get away without mastering it, if it's EQed correctly?
It's just I would not have a clue about mastering.

 

[danny.guitar]

To be honest, if you have access to the entire mix I don't see any real reason to have to "master" it at all, unless it's for reasons like being more comfortable working with a single stereo file, or using different software.

Point is, get it sounding as good as you can in the mix before thinking about mastering.

Usually, in most cases, the mastering stage (for home recorders) just consists of an overall EQ curve, some compression and maximizing volume.

There's other things though, of course but those are the 3 basic, and most common stages used in a lot of "home mastering". And it can all be done in the mix, but like I said, it's easier for some people to work with it as a stereo file or in a different/dedicated WAV editor like WaveLab.

 

[Bass Case]

Cheers,
So, I assume once all EQed to your liking you would still put it in, say Wave lab and normalise the who song once youv'e finished??
I only know how to make, not finish.

 

[guitarded2]

I usually play metal so my mastering proccess consists of some EQ'n and Limiting/Compressing to a point where my wave file is pretty square (not really) with very short spikes but of course without harsh distortion. Mastering to me has always been a way to sweetin the mix and pump up the volume. If you dont think you should master then maybe you shouldnt because you probably wont know what to do. If you are mastering just to master then no you shouldnt. I dont use 8 tracks on drums because i can i use it because i think it sounds better. I would honestly say though that if you dont think you need to master maybe you should probably check out what exactly mastering does and maybe check out some before and afters. Good luck.

 

[mrhotapples]

Mastering is finalization before it all gets put down to whatever medium it's going to, nothing more! It shouldn't specifically include anything.

My mastering process for tracks going onto MySpace is different than going onto Lightningmp3 for higher quality internet display and it goes way beyond exporting them at different bitrates. Same thing for internet vs. an actual CD.

I think if we'd stop thinking about mastering as making the track louder and more sparkly and thought of it was making sure that it's gonna work on it's intended medium and is a unique thing for each presentation, it'd be easier.

 

[guitarded2]

Mastering is finalization before it all gets put down to whatever medium it's going to, nothing more! It shouldn't specifically include anything.

My mastering process for tracks going onto MySpace is different than going onto Lightningmp3 for higher quality internet display and it goes way beyond exporting them at different bitrates. Same thing for internet vs. an actual CD.

I think if we'd stop thinking about mastering as making the track louder and more sparkly and thought of it was making sure that it's gonna work on it's intended medium and is a unique thing for each presentation, it'd be easier.

That would make since but I really do believe that a good recording will sound good on anything. If you are paying someone to master your tracks I don't really think you would want to pay them for ten different versions. (just about everyone has different speakers/headphones) From what he said samplers and synths with compression and EQ probably won't sound better in his ears with a big time spent on mastering. If he does not think he needs it he probably wont be changing the mix much. People do spend big bucks to get their stuff professionaly mastered but if youre going to do it yourself you might wanna think of the role it plays. I still feel that the bottom line is we are trying to make it sound good there is no use in messing with it if it does not need it. I might of made to big of an assumption here but yes i think mastering is good but it also depends who does it. If you know what it is you can then decide if its what you want or not.

"dont fix me im not broken"

Were all on the same page that mastering's role is not to make it always sound better but maybe to make it "work for you"

I did use bad words up there though. It is not about "sparkly and loud" all the time but I am generally happy with my mixes to a point where that is what I do I make sure my speakers are not being too biased and I make sure that the volumes arent dead.

 

[MessianicDreams]

Mastering is the processing of preparing the song for its destination medium (technically speaking). It seems you're a bit confused as to what mastering actually is, so I'd suggest you do a bit of research and get your head around what the process generally involves, and then come back for more precise questions.


Also, close & lock the duplicate thread you made so that the people only answer it 1 of them!

 

[Monkey Allen]

I wish it was just as easy as getting it sounding right in my headphones and that that full balanced sound transfered perfectly to my monitors and other cd players around the ridges.