Mastering practices discussion? -Sound Forge - PC - MAGIX Community Forums Archive

Subject:Mastering practices discussion? Posted by: MarkM Date:3/23/2001 7:50:22 AM I'd like to hear some ideas on the subject of mastering. Obviously, everyone has different tastes is sound and music, but does anyone have any general practices that they follow for certain types of tracks for projects? For example: a) Overall mastering of a final stereo music mix b) Mastering a voice-over track for a commercial c) Mastering a drum track You get the idea -- any takers? Thanks, Mark
Subject:RE: Mastering practices discussion? Reply by: jp3 Date:3/23/2001 4:56:39 PM Mark, I'm all ears. After many years of recording and mixing both Analog and Digital productions, I've come to the conclusion that there must some pretty serious voodoo involved in creating a hot mix that rivals what you hear on the radio. I've "mastered" a couple of projects that sounded pretty decent, and I've worked on many others that turned to mud. I hope some pros can join in here and give us an idea where to get started. It sure would be cool if there was a site that let users post MP3's of their problem mixes so that others can critique and make suggestions. Until then, it's all rather hit and miss (for me). jp
Subject:RE: Mastering practices discussion? Reply by: nlamartina Date:3/23/2001 5:42:53 PM If you guys want some really sweet tips on how to record/mix/master properly, I HIGHLY recommend this site: http://www.artistpro.com It's actually an online database/course you can take at home, at your leisure, and for FREE. Yes, that's right. Free. Go ahead and be skeptical. All the better when you're shocked at how valuable some of this information is. The course material has been written by numerous Grammy winners, plus there're forums where you can discuss theory, as for advice, etc with the pros. It's all very well explained, illustrative, and lost of audio clips are used as examples. It's an awesome site. Don't miss out on this. Sign-up today, for FREE. You won't regret it. Nick LaMartina
Subject:RE: Mastering practices discussion? Reply by: Rednroll Date:3/24/2001 3:53:02 PM I tried mastering the voice on commercials in the past and found that it had very little effect overall, and sometimes introduced distortion. For mastering music you will need a "multi-band" compressor in conjunction with an equalizer. If is best to use both of these devices at the same time. The compressor will give you the voodoo loudness you're talking about. When you start to compress with the multiband compressor, it will effect the frequency content of your song, so you will need the equalizer to compensate for this. I use the TC Finalizer in conjunction with a program called "Spectral Lab". It is a spectrum analyzer software program, which also allows you to capture a frequency curve of a reference song, so you can see how your song is compared to a professionally mastered CD. It makes it very easy to see where problem frequencies are so you can do equalization in those areas only. There's no voodoo in mastering, only having the correct tools to do the job. Don't think these plugins like waves L1 maximizer, and the Wave hammer plugin is the real answer to mastering. These are nice if you're looking for nothing but loudness. Loudness they will give you, but they do not take into account the frequency content of your song. Low, Mid, and High frequencies should be compressed differently, this is how you get the punch out of your song you're looking for. I notice most of these loudness maximizer plugins usually add a little high frequency distortion, so I never use them, but I guarantee you my mastered songs are as loud as anything you'll hear on the radio. I do use a plugin by steinberg called "magneto", this plugin simulates tape compression and saturation. I use this plugin as a compressor to get a little more loudness and I find it does very little if nothing to my frequencies. Brian Franz The Groove Factory mastering

Subject:Mastering practices discussion?

Posted by: MarkM

Date:3/23/2001 7:50:22 AM

I'd like to hear some ideas on the subject of mastering.
Obviously, everyone has different tastes is sound and
music, but does anyone have any general practices that they
follow for certain types of tracks for projects? For
example:

a) Overall mastering of a final stereo music mix
b) Mastering a voice-over track for a commercial
c) Mastering a drum track

You get the idea -- any takers?

Thanks,
Mark

Subject:RE: Mastering practices discussion?

Reply by: jp3

Date:3/23/2001 4:56:39 PM

Mark,
I'm all ears. After many years of recording and mixing
both Analog and Digital productions, I've come to the
conclusion that there must some pretty serious voodoo
involved in creating a hot mix that rivals what you hear on
the radio. I've "mastered" a couple of projects that
sounded pretty decent, and I've worked on many others that
turned to mud. I hope some pros can join in here and give
us an idea where to get started. It sure would be cool if
there was a site that let users post MP3's of their problem
mixes so that others can critique and make suggestions.
Until then, it's all rather hit and miss (for me).

jp

Subject:RE: Mastering practices discussion?

Reply by: nlamartina

Date:3/23/2001 5:42:53 PM

If you guys want some really sweet tips on how to
record/mix/master properly, I HIGHLY recommend this site:

http://www.artistpro.com

It's actually an online database/course you can take at
home, at your leisure, and for FREE. Yes, that's right.
Free. Go ahead and be skeptical. All the better when you're
shocked at how valuable some of this information is. The
course material has been written by numerous Grammy
winners, plus there're forums where you can discuss theory,
as for advice, etc with the pros. It's all very well
explained, illustrative, and lost of audio clips are used
as examples. It's an awesome site. Don't miss out on this.
Sign-up today, for FREE. You won't regret it.

Nick LaMartina

Subject:RE: Mastering practices discussion?

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:3/24/2001 3:53:02 PM

I tried mastering the voice on commercials in the past and
found that it had very little effect overall, and sometimes
introduced distortion.
For mastering music you will need a "multi-band" compressor
in conjunction with an equalizer. If is best to use both
of these devices at the same time. The compressor will
give you the voodoo loudness you're talking about. When
you start to compress with the multiband compressor, it
will effect the frequency content of your song, so you will
need the equalizer to compensate for this. I use the TC
Finalizer in conjunction with a program called "Spectral
Lab". It is a spectrum analyzer software program, which
also allows you to capture a frequency curve of a reference
song, so you can see how your song is compared to a
professionally mastered CD. It makes it very easy to see
where problem frequencies are so you can do equalization in
those areas only. There's no voodoo in mastering, only
having the correct tools to do the job.

Don't think these plugins like waves L1 maximizer, and the
Wave hammer plugin is the real answer to mastering. These
are nice if you're looking for nothing but loudness.
Loudness they will give you, but they do not take into
account the frequency content of your song. Low, Mid, and
High frequencies should be compressed differently, this is
how you get the punch out of your song you're looking for.
I notice most of these loudness maximizer plugins usually
add a little high frequency distortion, so I never use
them, but I guarantee you my mastered songs are as loud as
anything you'll hear on the radio. I do use a plugin by
steinberg called "magneto", this plugin simulates tape
compression and saturation. I use this plugin as a
compressor to get a little more loudness and I find it does
very little if nothing to my frequencies.

Brian Franz
The Groove Factory mastering