New to the home recording stuff.

[Cargen]

Well I have a pretty gimp set up, It consist of a single pre-amp in which i put 1 input at a time to my PC. I am not sure what your are really have to have but thats how i get my audio into my computer. What i am having trouble with is Mastering... its more difficult that i previously though. I've been having a hard time giving it that Umph, that music has, with the beat of the bass line rattling the picture frames off your walls when you turn it loud. Is there any quick guide to mastering? or something that i can refer to so that i can get the correct sound, seeing as the future of our band depends on the effectiveness of this home studio.



PS. I have Sony Acid pro, is this a good program for this, or should i go buy another one.

 

[Dogbreath]

Hey dude...there's no quick guide to mastering. A lot of that pro sound comes from pro gear and pro rooms and a set of good ears.

Maybe take a step back and ponder how you're tracking first. What are your levels? If tracking too hot, you'll eat up a bunch of the room that the ME will need to do your tracks justice. Whether it's you or another mastering house. I tend to track a bit softer (24 bit) with peaks around -6 and RMS around -12 to -18. I try to get my levels basically where I want them at the very first input gain or trim pot I come to. Kind of like mixing as I'm tracking.

When I get to the mixing, I tend to hi pass a lot. This hi pass (lo cut) will help with the clarity of the mix. The clarity helps you get more oomph. Crunchy guitars get a cut somewhere around 100 to 150 hz maybe up to 250...lead vox maybe 80 to 100 hz...I'll cut some of the very bottom of the bass too with a skosh of mid boost. All this really depends on the individual instrument, mic, room, gear etc.

I know this is really general stuff but it adds up as you go track by track. I've found that tracking properly (not that you're not) is key to having a good vs great mix AND master.

Just my thoughts man...

 

[Cargen]

Hey dude...there's no quick guide to mastering. A lot of that pro sound comes from pro gear and pro rooms and a set of good ears.

Maybe take a step back and ponder how you're tracking first. What are your levels? If tracking too hot, you'll eat up a bunch of the room that the ME will need to do your tracks justice. Whether it's you or another mastering house. I tend to track a bit softer (24 bit) with peaks around -6 and RMS around -12 to -18. I try to get my levels basically where I want them at the very first input gain or trim pot I come to. Kind of like mixing as I'm tracking.

When I get to the mixing, I tend to hi pass a lot. This hi pass (lo cut) will help with the clarity of the mix. The clarity helps you get more oomph. Crunchy guitars get a cut somewhere around 100 to 150 hz maybe up to 250...lead vox maybe 80 to 100 hz...I'll cut some of the very bottom of the bass too with a skosh of mid boost. All this really depends on the individual instrument, mic, room, gear etc.

I know this is really general stuff but it adds up as you go track by track. I've found that tracking properly (not that you're not) is key to having a good vs great mix AND master.

Just my thoughts man...

I mis worded, i meant to say a brief outline of what you need to do with a audio track in order for it to sound good. This was very helpful, this makes a bit more sense now, but theres still a few things i am not clear on.

how do i compress or boost the hz?

how do i enrich a dull sound?

how do i put digital distortion onto a clean guitar, do i want to do that with the preamp or go ahead and use the programs distortion(if the programs distortion, i don't know how to make it sound anything like the preamp distortion)?

 

[Seafroggys]

how do i compress or boost the hz?

Put a compressor and/or EQ on the track.

how do i enrich a dull sound?

Rerecord with better tone, better mics, better room, better playing....

how do i put digital distortion onto a clean guitar

A good distortion pedal or good amp distortion. Or if you want, there's distortion plug-ins as well. I like TriDirt, its multi-band distortion, great on bass.