The BIG question

[croire]

I know this is rather broad, but is there a really stellar (and comparatively compact and easy to digest) guide to getting a PROFESSIONAL sound from your rough audio and MIDI tracks on Cubase over to a CD? I haven't the slightest about mixing, mastering, and all that, except how to press the "export Audio" button, and let Cubase do its thing. I hope there's some kind of tutorial or something, but if not, anyone care to tackle this? hehehe Also, what kind of plugins will I need (if any and if not included in the tutorial). Thank you very much!

 

[toyL]

hi croire...I don't ever want to discourage anyone...just remember to also study the events and devices at work "ahead" of your pc and software...I say this because you mentioned your "rough audio"...if you mean "rough" because it "sounds" rough, this is where you should start--if this is the case, I recommend that you get a copy of the EV PA Bible...it's all about getting a grip on your sound--sans playing techniques--which you'll probably never find in a book...also, digging into the software for hours at a time--experimenting and trying new things--will provide some great hands-on experience...and, this will undoubtedly lead you to some very "specific" questions--which tend to get more/better responses...take care.

 

[Marcel]

If I may interject here a moment, I'd like to add my $.02 worth. I'm in the middle of doing a project where I'm doing about 5 CD's worth of music. All keyboard generated sounds. I'm using a couple of plug-in instruments on the PC as well. When I did my first "rough" mix, it came out sounding like it was done in a home studio. No real consistancy or cohesiveness to the 'sound' at all. Then I ran everything through a mastering processor (eq/compressor/limiter). Although I had the tendancy to OVER-compress, everything evened out and it sounds much more professional. I ran, on the average, about 3db compression on the final mixes. I figure 1.5 to 2db would have been sufficient. I'm going to run the files through again and go for 2db to see what that does. The sound is very smooth and even - much as you would expect from a commercial product. I'm trying out "T-rackS" which sounds absolutely fantastic. It can even simulate soft tube saturation which REALLY adds a lot of warmth and life to the mixes. Especially those where I used a lot of GM sounds. Hope this helps. Might even post some snippets when I'm happy with the final product.

Marcel

 

[frist44]

The best way to get great sounds is having great sounds to begin with. There's not much you can do with tracks that went into the computer sounding bad. I would start at the microphone level and make sure you getting the best possible sound for your liking into your computer in the first place. This means decent condenser or dynamic mics based upon your recording style and musical taste. All the plug-ins in the world can't make bad mics sound good.

Try using the search button on the BBS and look for what people think of good reverb, compression, and eq plug-ins. Many come in packages where they will bundle all these plug-ins, plus probably a few other things for a certain price. Some of them can get pricey, however, you get what you pay for. Ultrafunk make a good package along with TC and waves. You can get demo versions on most of their websites for you to try out and see which suites you the best.

Getting a sound that your happy with into the computer will most often give you that "professional" sound right there and with a little tweaking through plug-ins and mixing, you can get that sound you hear through commercial cds. It is definitely possible.

Reading alot especially on this website will help you a great deal in your journey or recording. Reading the manual alot helps too...

hope this helps,
Brandon