What IS Mastering?

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Hard2Hear

Hard2Hear

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I did many searches on mastering here and really can't find out an answer.
I want to know what happens in the mastering process. I see things about levels and limiting and compression, but I don't really know whats going on.
The reason is that I'm a pretty poor guy who plays music in churches and for youth groups and your occasional town festival. I have put together some tracks with the songs I have written but they just are missing something. I am guessing they would have to be "mastered" but I don't have the money for expensive mastering equipment or to pay studios to do it. So could I just make a stereo mix and then use a limiter oon the whole thing? Is this a crude form of mastering?
If I had the money, I would just have a studio do everything for me, but I'm trying to live with the hand I've been dealt.
I am really a complete idiot on this subject and would love if someone could explain a little to me in stupid mans terms. I'm not a physicist or a genuis or any good at calculus for that matter.
Thanks heaps!!
 
Here's a poor man's answer to your question.

Mixing and mastering are the things you do to your music AFTER you've recorded it. What makes it a bit confusing is that there is a good deal of overlap between the two processes and I don't believe an absolute distinction exists. Nonetheless, fools rush in, so I'll give you what I use as a mental framework:

After you are done recording, you will typically have several individual tracks of music (e.g., lead vocal, guitar, drums, background vocals, etc.). You will first need to get each of your tracks to sound good individually (e.g., by eq'ing the track or adding FX, a la reverb). Next you will need to "blend" the tracks so they sound good together (e.g., raise the volume on the vocals, lower the drums at bit, bring up that guitar solo in the bridge, etc). All of this type of work I would classify as "mixing".

Maybe it would help to look at it like baking a cake. You take all the raw ingredients (your individual tracks) and "mix" them together and bake at 450o to make your cake. Staying with that analogy, "mastering" would be similar to adding the frosting:

After you're satisified with your mix, you will typically "mixdown" all your individual tracks into a single stereo track. As part of this process you can add compression/limiting to lower your peaks and increase your average volume, or to even out your mix. You can also add effects or eq to the ENTIRE mix (as opposed to just an individual track). And lastly, if you are creating a CD with multiple songs on it, you will want to make sure the volume level of each song is similar to all the others (so later you won't have to get up out of your Lazyboy and turn the volume knob on your stereo after each song). All of the this type of work I would consider as part of the "mastering" process.

You don't NEED to have your work sent out for expensive professional mastering - just like you don't need to hire an expensive professional carpenter to remodel your kitchen. However, in either case, if you forgo the professional you better own some of the right tools and know how to use them.
 
Just pointing out - if you DO intend to have your music mastered at a pro shop, you're much better off not compressing, EQing, or otherwise tweaking your final mix - you don't even have to worry about any fades! The mastering houses have far better tools than even the Downtown studios to prepare the finished product, and if you've overdone any of your own tweaks, there's no way for them to correct it!

Bruce
 
Bruce- Thanks for that thread
D- Thanks for the tutorial

So...Being that the CD's I burn from my tracks now just don't sound right, would this idea be prudent: (I am using a PC for recording)
1 Record my tracks
2 Blend to make the song, add eq and fx to taste
3 Create a stereo mix of the song
4 Take the stereo mix and add compression or limiter to flatten it out and then increase the overall volume so that I can hear it better on a cd.
5 Possible minor EQ tweaks of final mix
6 Burn it

Will this help me out? If so, is a limiting effect better than compression or vice versa?
 
I'm going to disagree with you here Bruce with regard to compression on your mix. If you get the balance you want without compression and then take it to a mastering studio for them to compress it the balance will change!! because that's one of the things compression does. If you want a tight compressed sound on say a funk track do it yourself cos it will change the way you mix.

Mastering is more about sequencing tracks rather than about repairing them. If you are expecting a mastering guy to fix your mix you will be in trouble. You should be totally happy with your tracks when you've mixed them, a mastering studio will then sequence them so they have a similar top to bottom ratio and even dynamics etc. That's all - the rest is up to you to get it right in the first place.

Cheers
John :)
 
H2H - What is it that doesn't sound "right" about your mixes now?

I'm only guessing, but if your mixes are not translating properly to CD, I suspect it's your monitoring system. If you're trying to mix on headphones or computer speakers, the mix typically won't translate well. Check out some of the threads on this board regarding monitor speakers.

Also, as regards compression vs limiting, or reverb vs delay, or any other item in your toolbox that "colors" the music, IMHO there is no such thing as better or worse. They are just different tools. As I think Bruce once told me, you need to do what sounds right. Try different approaches and use your ears to determine what's better (often it will differ from song to song).

First however you need to be listening on a neutral system (i.e., monitors) so that when you think it sounds good in the studio, it will still sound good when burned to CD and played in your car.

Lastly, mastering won't make a bad mix good; however, in the right hands it can make a good mix even better.
 
John Sayers said:
I'm going to disagree with you here Bruce with regard to compression on your mix. If you get the balance you want without compression and then take it to a mastering studio for them to compress it the balance will change!! because that's one of the things compression does. If you want a tight compressed sound on say a funk track do it yourself cos it will change the way you mix.

Mastering is more about sequencing tracks rather than about repairing them. If you are expecting a mastering guy to fix your mix you will be in trouble. You should be totally happy with your tracks when you've mixed them, a mastering studio will then sequence them so they have a similar top to bottom ratio and even dynamics etc. That's all - the rest is up to you to get it right in the first place.

Cheers
John :)
Click to expand...
You're right -- mastering is NOT about fixing mixes as much as adding a professional sheen to them, sequencing them and adjusting levels from track to track. In practical terms, there usually is some sort of consistent sound issue to deal with in a lot of final mixes -- maybe there were phase issues at the console - misusing NS-10s, poor EQing, sibilance, misuse of exciters, etc... That was the extent of the "fixups" I was referring to.

As far as compression goes, I don't agree with you completely John - if I feel the mix needs some compression, I would maybe apply it very lightly myself (to keep some of the balance intact), but RNC notwithstanding, most mastering houses have far better compressors than I, resulting in a better sounding product.
If I over-compress, no mastering facility in the world will be able to undo it and I'd be stuck with the results...

Bruce
 
Hey everyone-
Thanks for the replies. My songs sound well mixed in that you can hear everything going on, voices, instruments. It seems like they're just missing some punch. It's true I'm not using very good monitors, maybe thats got more to do it than I thought.
Thanks again!
H2H
 
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