The earlier in the recording flow-chart the changes are made, the better IMO. All the way back to retracking. But how often can (will) one do THAT?
Self mastering
- Thread starter osiris
- Start date
OK, I guess there's a little confusion as to my situation. Sorry about that. These guys need something to take on the road with them this month for promotional purposes. I plan on giving them both a mastered cd and an unmastered cd. I am definitely trying to persuade them to send it out to a proper studio when they get a chance.
Definitely some good advice here. Thanks everyone.
What I've ended up doing is simply applying some subtle limiting, some noise reduction, and a slight high end roll off on some of the tracks that seemed a little harsh.
I wish I had a few days to just give my ears a break, but I'm running up against a deadline here.
Definitely some good advice here. Thanks everyone.
What I've ended up doing is simply applying some subtle limiting, some noise reduction, and a slight high end roll off on some of the tracks that seemed a little harsh.
I wish I had a few days to just give my ears a break, but I'm running up against a deadline here.
cusebassman
Freakin' sweet
Understandable. As most said, mastering is really about getting a fresh perspective - and it is especially useful in home recording situations, as far as I'm concerned, because a mastering house has equipment that can actually reproduce sound accurately (well, they should, anyway). They will hear things that get lost in standing waves in a basement/bedroom, etc., and are trained to fix the sorts of mistakes we home recordists make.
That is, unless, you send your mix to Bob's Discount Bargain Mastering, where the setup is a set of 15 year old Altec computer speakers, and the guy is mastering your music in Sound Recorder. He also does cover art in MSPaint for an additional fee!
cello_pudding
Well-known member
yeah..if you have the songs tonally where you want them, i see no problem with just putting them all together and adjusting the volume of all the tracks so you don't have to touch your volume knob when the track changes. listen to how the songs transition and if there needs to be a little more time, then do that.
oh...and add a couple seconds to the first track because cd players cut that off for whatever reason.
i mean...if you don't have outboard compression/tape, and you think it sounds great, only minor adjustments can be done.
you can give the tracks a week and not listen to them, so you can come back with psuedo fresh ears..but that's as close as becoming a different person as you can get.
oh...and add a couple seconds to the first track because cd players cut that off for whatever reason.
i mean...if you don't have outboard compression/tape, and you think it sounds great, only minor adjustments can be done.
you can give the tracks a week and not listen to them, so you can come back with psuedo fresh ears..but that's as close as becoming a different person as you can get.
SouthSIDE Glen
independentrecording.net
Not to derail the catfight, but while this post is an excellent mastering overview, you make mention of a couple of tricks used to effectively master a flawed mix. Since in this case, the ME has access to the original tracks (obviously), he can go back and fix such problems properly, instead of patching them up in the mastering stage.
Not that I know anything, of course. I've gotten paid for one whole job so far.
masteringhouse
www.masteringhouse.com
Does that include use of the Transporter?
G.
Absolutely, but only local planets. My long distance charges are outrageous.
masteringhouse
www.masteringhouse.com
Sure, but at some point during the creation of the final CD you have to hear all of the mixes and make them work together as a whole. The procedure still applies there. Even if you have to do nothing to them other than fades and sequencing.