Question on Mastering Do's and Dont's

  • Thread starter Thread starter drpez
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drpez

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So here's my situation. I am going to be sending some material off to get mastered by a pretty reputable guy, but I don't want to limit what he's capable of doing by my own meticulous neurosis/idiocy. I was wondering if you guys had any advice on what I should or shouldn't do in the mixing stage to make it so that I can maximize his capabilities. (i.e. overall EQ, noise reduction, overall compression, etc.) Thanks in advance.
 
drpez said:
So here's my situation. I am going to be sending some material off to get mastered by a pretty reputable guy, but I don't want to limit what he's capable of doing by my own meticulous neurosis/idiocy. I was wondering if you guys had any advice on what I should or shouldn't do in the mixing stage to make it so that I can maximize his capabilities. (i.e. overall EQ, noise reduction, overall compression, etc.) Thanks in advance.
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Dont put anything on the master bus, no comp, no dither, nothing.
Also make sure youve left plenty of headroom.
IOW leave the mixes highest peak in the -3 to -5 region.
Make sure you render your files to match the session's setup.
Good luck.
 
xfinsterx said:
Dont put anything on the master bus, no comp, no dither, nothing.
Also make sure youve left plenty of headroom.
IOW leave the mixes highest peak in the -3 to -5 region.
Make sure you render your files to match the session's setup.
Good luck.
Click to expand...


Thanks for your help bro. Pardon my ignorance, but when you say to make sure to render my files to match the session's setup, are you referring to sample and bit rate. Thanks again.
 
drpez said:
Thanks for your help bro. Pardon my ignorance, but when you say to make sure to render my files to match the session's setup, are you referring to sample and bit rate. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

No sweat. Glad to help.
And yes thats what im refering to.
I.E.>If your session is 44.1 and 24 bit>>you render your file with the same stats.
IOW dont convert it to 16bit.
The M.E's got that covered.

Take care.

-Finster
 
xfinsterx said:
Dont put anything on the master bus, no comp, no dither, nothing.
Also make sure youve left plenty of headroom.
IOW leave the mixes highest peak in the -3 to -5 region.
Make sure you render your files to match the session's setup.
Good luck.
Click to expand...

The guy I've used for mastering likes the mix as hot as I can get it. But he masters in the analog realm...
 
I put out a booklet several years ago covering this very situation...

Now available as a PDF download... Go to the left side of my home page...
 
AGCurry said:
The guy I've used for mastering likes the mix as hot as I can get it. But he masters in the analog realm...
Click to expand...

yeah its hard not to make the digital assumption when there is a newbie question.
 
AGCurry said:
The guy I've used for mastering likes the mix as hot as I can get it. But he masters in the analog realm...
Click to expand...

Then it's even MORE important to keep a little headroom in there to avoid D-A reconstructive distortion.
 
Massive Master said:
I put out a booklet several years ago covering this very situation...

Now available as a PDF download... Go to the left side of my home page...
Click to expand...

Very helpful article John, thanks. Should I just apply aural exciters (I have the Platinum Waves L2 Ultramaximizer) on individual tracks and just make sure that my master bus is around -6 to -8db with no effects applied to it, or should I avoid those exciters completely? BTW, the mastering house has capabilities in both the analog and digital domains. I'm recording digitally however.
 
The L-Series are limiters... You want to avoid those like the plague on the buss... On individual tracks, you *could* use them, but I'd stay away unless you need them for a specific reason. Don't ever do anything to a mix for the sake of sheer volume - It's the best way to make sure that it'll never have the potential to be loud. I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH. Get your mix to sound really good. Don't worry about volume.

Certainly don't worry about being a little too quiet - If you're in 24-bit, you can PEAK at -47dBfs and still have higher resolution than a 16-bit CD.

I'd just watch the peak meters during playback and try to hit around -6 or -4 or so...
 
Massive Master said:
The L-Series are limiters... You want to avoid those like the plague on the buss... On individual tracks, you *could* use them, but I'd stay away unless you need them for a specific reason. Don't ever do anything to a mix for the sake of sheer volume - It's the best way to make sure that it'll never have the potential to be loud. I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH. Get your mix to sound really good. Don't worry about volume.

Certainly don't worry about being a little too quiet - If you're in 24-bit, you can PEAK at -47dBfs and still have higher resolution than a 16-bit CD.

I'd just watch the peak meters during playback and try to hit around -6 or -4 or so...
Click to expand...

Thanks John. I've actually been checking your background through your website and other sources (google, lol) and I'm interested in having you master my project. I was going to get this project mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound in New York but they seem to have difficulty using a telephone or any other medium of communication for that matter. Between that, the audio samples on your website, and your helpful posts here, I'd like to know how possible if we could do business.

Thanks.

Pete
 
I'll master your stuff for half of what he charges!

I have pc speakers, t-racks, and the ears of a five your old!

If you're really serious I Can go out and get tube gear.

HAhahahaha, it's late.....

I hope that was at least somewhat entertaining =D
For all of those kids out there reading this, tube gear is NOT the answer! It is almost as awful as protools, with NO EXCEPTIONS.
 
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