Share your PRESETS!

[eljay]

I was wondering if anyone out here has PRESETS for iSotope and other mastering software they may have.

I think it would be cool to share our presents and maybe even build on them. I am just getting into iSotope myself and wouldn't mind seeing what others have done with it.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Sharing presets is essentially useless... what works for one person on a particular track is virtually guaranteed to not work for any other tracks.....

Settings are always "...it depends on the track...!"

 

[littledog]

Sharing presets is essentially useless... what works for one person on a particular track is virtually guaranteed to not work for any other tracks.....

Settings are always "...it depends on the track...!"

C'mon Bear! I know for a fact you really like #6. And I'll admit I'm really partial to #1 and #7 myself!

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

I know Roger Nichols always uses #8 for most Steely Dan productions -- as a matter of fact, you could say #8 IS the Steely Dan sound.

And Al Schmitt couldn't have done justice to Diana Krall without #15 and #29.

But if you REALLY wanna rock - check out #54!!!!!!!! It's my own "secret sauce"!!!!!!!!

 

[Son of Mixerman]

I am ashamed of you two!(Bruce and Littledog)

Mark this day that you use Izotope "mastering" software and like presets! For shame!

No more Psudeomastering for the both of you!

I condemn thee to T-racksville!

Get going before I change my mind



SoMm

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Awwwww nuts......

 

[eljay]

Don't Reply

If you guys don't want to contribute then don't. But I don't think it's professional or adult to make fun of someone else's post.

I thought this board was different, I thought the owner wouldn't allow such rude behavior. I guess they let the big wigs get away with anything, such is life.

Just because you know more about mastering than the rest of us, doesn't give you a right to poke fun at those who don't.

You should instead give me advise on why presets are a bad idea. By teaching we learn.

I only wanted to get some ideas on learning the iZotope software and get some ideas on the use of certain control settings. But then I come back here to find a joke made of my post. If this is the way this board is handled, I think Iwill find another site to post at. Not that any of you care.

Sorry if this sounds rude in itself, but I am trying to get a solicited demo delivered. I am strapped for cash since I spent my last dime on production. I needed a place I could turn to for a few answers. Sorry I wasted your time here.

So with that all said I would like to point out that software alone is not going to do the professional job required for the best possible master. I know this. I just need the best possible master I can get with what I have. And presents come with software for a reason, that reason being a starting point.

Now you can all go back to poking fun at me again.
Enjoy.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Re: Don't Reply

You should instead give me advise on why presets are a bad idea. By teaching we learn.

I answered your question quite seriously as the first response.... what else is there to say?

You might be able to get away with using the same Plate Reverb preset on multiple tracks, but exactly how do you expect to share the same EQ, compression, limiting settings form one track to the next.... it's virtually IMPOSSIBLE that a setting used on one of your songs is going to work for another of your songs, let alone settings someone else used for something completely unrelated to your material......

It's kinda like asking someone how much treble/bass should be applied without letting them hear a clip --- the answer is "...it depends!"

Now lighten-the-fuck up - everyone here was joking around............!

 

[volltreffer]

High Eljay!

There's a lot of jokes going on and some of them are kinda rude... Nevertheless you can get a lot of info in here. I was kinda upset at the tone at first, but after a while you'll notice that it's just jokes at first. But some really nice flame wars have developed from things like that. They won't be good for nothing and anyone. So my tip: don't take it as personal assault, and you'll be ok. If not, it might not be too much fun for you...

The answer from BlueBear was absolutely right. Your question was a little like me asking you 'do you think the colour of my shirt suits me well?' How shall you answer that?

IMO, presets HAVE their values for learning (and maybe I can be of greater help there than Blue Bear as I'm still much more in the learning phase than just doing it ) Usually presets have names that describe kinda well what they're designed for. Analyse them to see what might be the steps to take. What I kinda often do is to play with presets simply as a starting point to tweak. But I would not recommend presets without having heard your sound. And even then - I'm simply not experience enough to hear something and say: oh, we need to push a little at 4k and take away some 543Hz... Simply play around a lot. Listen to your songs as often as you can, in different places, play them to friends and listen to their comments. Compare the sound with your fav cds... There's lots of tips in here... I'm sure you understand. I kinda understand too, that when beginning, you're in a desperate mood and kinda looking for the silver bullet that solves all your problems. And there IS one: OWN experience

A completely different thing is your OWN presets. These are REALLY valuable. As you usually have some directions in doing your mixes, there may be similarities in the mixes that give you the possibilities of using one of your presets to start with a very similar sound than the other songs on your CD...

Ciao

aXel

 

[Son of Mixerman]

Sorry to hikjack the thread with a little humor. This place nneds it sometimes.

The first thing about presets is that they are the results of another persons interpretation of the music. It can be a good thing but usually not. The second thing about presets is that they condition you to think like whoever developed the preset.

What you need to do is to listen to the music and then ask yourself whats missing. A preset may add something, or take away something automatically sending you off in the wrong direction. Does your mix lack something? Is there a dip at 400hz or does something seem edgy at 14k, the preset can't tell you that. Id start with listening to the mix on something other than what you actually mixed it on. Try listening in a pretty good sized living space and walk around, listen for bass build up and dropouts. Take notes of your analysis of the music. Then go back to mixing those areas and try again.
Its better to start off with nothing and make the necessary adjustment, small ones at best. Its better to help someone with an injury one bandage at a time rather than whipping out the body bag. Mastering is the last thing a preset should be used for.

Here is a place to read first: http://www.nthelp.com/mastering/faq.htm

SoMm

 

[Robert D]

If mastering was analogous to putting the frosting on the cake, then you could use presets the same as you could go down to the convienance store and buy a can of ready to spread frosting. But mastering is not the icing on the cake, as many liken it to. Amatures approach mastering with no clear intent, hoping that a finalizer, or a T-racks, or an Isotope is going to just frost their cake, but it doesn't matter what tools you have for the job until you know what needs to be done. This is the crux of mastering, and why a high end monitoring system in an acoustically optimized room is essential to the mastering process. Being able to hear and recognize what needs to be done is paramount, and nary a knob should be touched until that is clear. Trying to apply presets, or twisting knobs with no idea why is more likely to hurt than to help.
Regards, RD

 

[DigitMus]

Yeah, what they said... Presets aren't going to help. If you know any engineers with some mastering experience (and you like what they do) try to work out a trade-off with them. They may have a need for a studio musician/singer/jingle writer - something you do that has value to them. I also question why a demo even needs to be mastered. A demo, pretty much by definition, is NOT mastered. A demo exists to DEMOnstrate - either songwriting skill, or playing/singing chops, or a band's "chemistry, or all of the above. Mastering isn't going to enhance any of those - mastering originally was (and pretty much still is) the art & science of preparing a final mix for (commercial) reproduction. If it's not going to be released to the public at large, it doesn't need mastering.

Scott

 

[littledog]

Well, eljay, it sounds like you've gotten a lot of good advice here.

But just to clarify, it certainly wasn't my intent to demean, insult, or disrespect you, since i have no idea who you are and never noticed your name around here before. Having no knowledge about your existence whatsoever, please believe me when I say it would give me absolutely no personal pleasure whatsoever to make fun of you.

On the other hand, it gives me TREMENDOUS personal pleasure to make fun of Blue Bear, and I'm sure he feels the same towards me! THAT was my intent, so sorry if you feel you were caught in the crossfire!

I'm sorry to tell you that your quest to eradicate humorous interactions from this bulletin board is definitely quixotic. If you'll forgive my presumptuousness, you might want to practise your "lightening up" skills. In the overall scheme of things they'll be more important than any specific technical knowledge, and they'll be invaluable for lots of situations, including hanging out here.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Well said, LD....!


Now seriously... check out #54....

 

[SPINSTERWUN]

H*ll, just send eljay on over to my forum, if he thinks that he is getting unfair treatment in here.

 

[James Argo]

...Mastering your audio work ? or mastering your wife ?

 

[subtractor]

I thought this board was different, I thought the owner wouldn't allow such rude behavior. I guess they let the big wigs get away with anything, such is life.

That's a good one!
There's only a couple of active mods here and they're way out numbered...

I can't help but find it humorous that you think that's rude! This place is like the wild west. You ain't seen shit!

You can get good info here, and you may become addicted like some of us. But you better be able to take a joke.
And if someone pisses you off, flame em! Just don't ask stupid questions or open yourself up to be the butt of a joke...

 

[James Argo]

Without jokes, we are ALL newbies here...


Yes, ...including you Bruce...