Should I be Mastering?

T

twsknight

New member
Ok, this isn't as stupid a question as it may seem.

I've been doing the whole home recording thing for years now, but with only recently getting a band sorted, and having that creative spark that means you're writing a new song every practice, I'm upping my game and busy recording demos etc.

Now I've always used Cubase. While I'm no expert on the program, I KNOW Cubase, and with the help of this forum most questions I have can be answered.

I always thought when I'd mix a song, got the best from my raw tracks I was done; and I guess I am. But after getting a reccomendation on Youtbe I saw a glimpse of Wavelab as a mastering tool. It seems like it would work really well; just give that little bit extra to the band's songs that help us avoid spending serious money on studios and "professionals"; plus I'm all about DIY.

I've searched through HR.com forums tosee what people are saying, and the usual responses leave me lost.

"X is rubbish, use Y"
"How does your mix sound, if it sounds right, then you don't need X or Y"
You need X and Y you fool, you can do 1, 2 and 3 with X then 4, 5 and 6 with Y. Your song will then sound super-pro-leet-awesome. Money, hookers and drugs will follow. You may burn out, you may fade away; but you're music will live forever; just because you used X and Y!"

Ok, so maybe that's a sllight exagerration, and this is turning into an essay. All I really want to hear is people's opinions on mastering software. Advice on what to look for; free options, cheap options, expensive options. Just anything you think is useful for a person who has only ever used Cubase and been content with that.

My sincerest thanks in advance for all the information I'm sure to receive on this topics.
 
TL/DR, sorry :D

If it's not a serious CD or whatever: Compress it, EQ it, Limit it, whatever, til you think it sounds the best it can.

If it's serious: Get a real ME to do it.
 
+1 to Philbagg...

Of course it depends upon the QUALITY of the hookers and drugs you're expecting...

Spend a bit more on "real" mastering via a professional and you may find yourself surround by the finest Columbian marching powder and primo Class-A fully functional hookers, master it yourself with X and/or Y and perhaps all you'll get is the butt-end of a joint that your syphilitic scab-ridden 45 year old corner girl with heroin teeth has been smoking..

But seriously, speak to a local mastering engineer and at least understand the cost / benefit equation...
 
While Wavelab is a fine and capable PQ editor, it has nothing to do with the sound.

I won't even get into the "Look at me second-guessing my own mixes" aspect of self-mastering (as it's usually pretty obvious). Wavelab isn't going to make you hear things differently. If you *know* what your mixes sound like and/or you *know* what they need or don't need, a different program isn't going to change anything.
 
yeah, all those mastering plug-ins are just collections of the same plug-ins you probably already have but they give you presets which are a quick and easy way to get an over-processed mix.
 
All I've ever used is Cubase too. My signal chain runs the stereo mix through a T. C. Electronics Finalizer, and I really like/rely on it. I was using an antiquated version of Cubse and now I have Cubase 4. It is possible I could do away with the Finalizer and do all the things I need to do (mainly multi-band compression) and that would work, although then I'd have to have Cubase running all the time... talked myself out of that didn't I?

I'm not of the common "take it to a pro" thinking.

People would probably tell me to take my car to a pro to get a new windshield or transmission put in, or call a pro to put a new roof on my house, and I do all those things myself.
 
I'm big into home recording too, and have used Cubase for a few projects, but lately I've started shelling out a bit for some semi-professional mastering (usually engineer friends of mine who will do it for a discount).

Sometimes it's important for the overall to get a fresh set of ears in there at the end to make sure it all goes well together.

All told though, it depends on how much you're willing to spend and how much the mixes "need" the extra touch, I guess.
 
I'm curious about this question as well -

I've read a lot of people talk about mastering in cubase - which really makes me wonder what the benefits of wave lab are.

In Cubase 5 there is a mastering Preset Project, which I can't for the life of me understand what it does -

Which leads me to wonder, what is the point of using the mastering preset? I was under the impression that one is able to import a final mixdown and do it from there.
 
Presets = Crap.

Mastering = the creation of a compliant production master from a collection of recordings.

Can't hardly create the production master without a capable PQ editor...
 
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