Mastering Ideas? Options

[kundama]

hi all new to the forum so i thought i'd start with an easy one :-)

i've been writing tunes for a while now, and always get to the same stage in the prossess before encountering problems...Mastering.

getting the compositional elements right isn't a problem (well it is it just takes a lot of time but when i come to bouncing down my tunes and compare them to oh i don't know some one like prefuse 73, the quality of sound is different. They always seem to be able to get it that little bit louder than me. Obviously they've got all that fancy equipment, but i'm sure it's just a question of time again, and knowing the right steps to take.

at the moment when bouncing down i simply make sure all the volumes are right, nothing is clipping, the panning is nicely spread and there is't too much frequency intrerferance, (everything has its own space) idon't use any compression, or effects, (just a bit of limiter) because i want to keep the dynamic range. iwas wondering if anyone had any tips for me, coz iwant to put up a websight with all mi tunes on , but none of them really feel finnished, ya know.

wicked well if any one has any tips let me know
thaks for your time

take it easy
kundy

[pdgood]

Limiting is the way those guys get it louder. If you want to maintain your dynamics, you won't be able to achieve this...you can't have it both ways. The idea behind compression/limiting is that in less than perfect listening conditions (driving in a car where there is road noise) it is impossible to set really dynamic music to be heard comfortably. If you set the volume for the loudest part, then you won't hear the soft parts over the road noise. If you set for the quiet parts then the loud parts are painful. This is why some people compress. It is highly debated which is preferable - some do and some don't. Limiting just drops the peaks down a bit so that the overall thing can be made louder...usually much louder. The L3 by Waves does this about as well as anything. There are lots of compressors to try out and many companies offer demos. Try Waves, Wave Arts, Elemental Audio, and PSP for starters.

[bobdemaa]

That's excellent advice, and puts the nail on the head. I do a good amount of mastering, and even on some of the classical stuff we wind up using just a touch of limiting, although it's usally in context of the entire recording and never really more than a db or 2. For This stuff I've used L2, but prefer an outboard Summit Compressor.

I've gotten into the habit, good or bad, to mix in the box with a limiter on my master. It took me a couple of years overall to get used to it, but these days, depending on the project, I tend to leave the Waves Multiband Limiter on the master all the time. It allows me to make subtle or not so subtle eq adjustments as well as adding a nice punch and a good amount of control over how the reverbs are going to translate. not exactly an answer to your question, but it's a great plug-in.

The L2 is very good, The L3 is better. They both do a good job of not changing the character of the mix too much as you set the threshold down. I also like the Limiter in Logic, which sounds very musical to me.

Also, Lowering the threshold 3 or 4 db can have a really big effect on bringing up the level of your music without altering the character too much. The imporatant thing to remember is to A/B the differences at the same level. otherwise your ear will be pulled to the differences in volume, and not the mix itself.

[deegone]

i think mastering is not only to compress or 'maximise' the final mix ,but also to even up the frequencies.i usually set an eq (often if not always a renaissance eq 6 bands),then a L2 and finally a PAZ analizer.to get a rich or 'pro' sound on the mastering stage is rather difficult if not impossible if the mixdown it's not done properly.the ideal would be to have a mix with no needs of 'make up'.once you get this,you can add some air on it by rolling off frequencies below 30hz and boosting @ 10khz with a shelf eq(just a little,the freq depends on your taste,but always around there and up).after that maximise it without getting to crazy or the mix will loose it's life,always checking the analizer(you don't want to have too many out of phase freqs if you intend to air the mixes on the radio or tv,as they will cancel on mono speakers).waves are really good tools to do all that.

[Nels]

I'd like to jump in here, if I may. This is a great topic, ...MASTERING

I've been trying to get a good master just within Digital Performer's Master Works Limiter, Master Works Compressor, the 2-4-8 band EQ. I also have Yamaha's Final master plug in that I'm dabbling in...........

So, the question that I'm sure many would want to clear up once and for all is, ..IS IT A BETTER IDEA TO JUST GET WAVES L3, T-RACK, iZotope's Ozone Mastering System, ETC.? Do they really make that much of a difference?

Or is getting a good master with your sequencers bundled plug ins doable?

Thanks guys

[gonechan]

hi everyone!
in response to Nels posting,i think anything is possible on this matter in some extent.to tell you the truth you don't need waves or
all those fancy plugs to get a good sound,of course they'll help a lot
,but the most important thing is to keep focused and think if the piece that you're working on really needs "mastering" or not.nowadays the level standards on cd's went really high,everything you listen to is very hot,that's why you'll always get the feeling that there's something missing....
i had the chance to master an album and a single at a proper mastering studio and you can't compete with that,BUT the important thing i learn there was that the best mixes were almost untouched,of course they crank the volume up while leaving a nice balance between quiet passages and loud ones.
so what i can say is that as long as you do a nice mix,you don't really need to compress or limit anything,after all there's a volume knob on every playback device out there...
cheers
gone.

[Nels]

gonechan,

Great point ..and I have plenty of mixes untouched that sound great. ...You're absolutely correct! Good performance, good ears and good fader/pan should produce good tunes......

.....still, there will always be that quest for the most professional sounding master, before burning to CD.

Wish I knew for sure what it was that mastering studios put on the master tracks before the burn, but then we can't expect the masters to divulge all their secrets.

Thanks

[pdgood]

I would also like to hear someone comment on limiter brands and what it is exactly that L3 does that L2 does not etc. I've been using the Apple limiter with great success since I discovered the price of the L3 was beyond me. How does one shop for a limiter? What are the differences between a good one and one that is not so good?