Just wondering. Most of my stuff sounds fine to me, but then i hear it back to back with others, and somethings always off. How do u master a track? any programs? tips?


thnkx in advance!

"Mastering" used to be a specific term for compressing, equalizing, and limiting an entire album. Now it is just more general and people tend to individually master each track as the "final step" in track progress.

For example, I master each track when I am finished with software called Tracks-24. It's excellent at what it does: You load the final track up then set the controls to your preferance. There is an EQ, Compressor and Multi Band Limiter. They are all very useful for things such as boosting volume without clipping and getting each frequency correct. Tracks-24 also comes with a variety of presets which makes learning how to master much easier.

There are other options besides software if hardware is your preference. Hardware has a much steeper learning curve, although the mastering would probably be better with a more "analog" sounding device. Hardware is also much more expensive.

Tracks-24 is probably your best option for value and functionability. Also I have heard very positive responses from "PHP Vinatage Warmer" which supplies the "analog warmth" to your tracks that everyone is seeking. Both can be run as VSTs- not sure about PHP, but I know that Tracks-24 is also a standalone application.

I hope this helps and good luck with your mastering days,

Andrew

Yeah T-Racks24 is a good little program also, Izotope Ozone is canny too but you have to use it within soundforge or a wav editor like that

tezz

Yeh, T-Racks is a good bet, like broken silence said it is also good 2 learn on

PM me with yr email address and i will send you a copy

___________________

Actually, I still believe the fact that you should be able to 'improve' the sound of your track with mastering... well, I think this is still a myth. To me, mastering already starts in FL itself, panning elements, making sure not every synth drowns the rest, compress drums if necessary. I've always wondered how you could equalize/master a specific element from a track. If you eq, for example, the part around 1kHz, all elements that have frequencies around that part are affected.

What I do with my T-Racks proggie is mostly making sure the db's are correct, compressing enough to make some silent parts louder (don't overcompress though! make sure your track still has enough dynamics in the sound). To say that it improves the sound as a whole, no... I can't re-assure it.

Well, it might not be the brightest post about 'mastering', but I could advice you to already take steps within your own program (FL, Reason, Cubase etc) before taking it into T-Racks or any other program. Unless, of course, you'd want to make the effort to export every synth in the whole track separately and then import in soundforge or so

Take care,
Wim / LW

___________________
Icone / Van Gelder / Blue Manta / The Elemental

Icone Home
Icone Store -> New Percussion SAMPLE CD here!
Icone MySpace

thnkx for the explanation...



PMed u ABSYNTH

quote:

Originally posted by Lightworks Actually, I still believe the fact that you should be able to 'improve' the sound of your track with mastering... well, I think this is still a myth. To me, mastering already starts in FL itself, panning elements, making sure not every synth drowns the rest, compress drums if necessary. I've always wondered how you could equalize/master a specific element from a track. If you eq, for example, the part around 1kHz, all elements that have frequencies around that part are affected. What I do with my T-Racks proggie is mostly making sure the db's are correct, compressing enough to make some silent parts louder (don't overcompress though! make sure your track still has enough dynamics in the sound). To say that it improves the sound as a whole, no... I can't re-assure it. Well, it might not be the brightest post about 'mastering', but I could advice you to already take steps within your own program (FL, Reason, Cubase etc) before taking it into T-Racks or any other program. Unless, of course, you'd want to make the effort to export every synth in the whole track separately and then import in soundforge or so Take care, Wim / LW

i agree with this, i tend to spend ages on the sounds as im making the track, trying to make sure that one particular bandwidth of sound isnt too overcrowded yet at the same time optimizing the eq for it to sound its best.. so the end result is excellent sound quality before mastering. then all is left to do is perhaps give it some spangly eq over the entire track to give it a little sparkle, and make it fucking loud

everyone masters in a different way though, you are best to just play around until u get a way that suits u

___________________
MUGGETS

quote:

Originally posted by Lightworks Actually, I still believe the fact that you should be able to 'improve' the sound of your track with mastering... well, I think this is still a myth. To me, mastering already starts in FL itself, panning elements, making sure not every synth drowns the rest, compress drums if necessary. I've always wondered how you could equalize/master a specific element from a track. If you eq, for example, the part around 1kHz, all elements that have frequencies around that part are affected. What I do with my T-Racks proggie is mostly making sure the db's are correct, compressing enough to make some silent parts louder (don't overcompress though! make sure your track still has enough dynamics in the sound). To say that it improves the sound as a whole, no... I can't re-assure it. Well, it might not be the brightest post about 'mastering', but I could advice you to already take steps within your own program (FL, Reason, Cubase etc) before taking it into T-Racks or any other program. Unless, of course, you'd want to make the effort to export every synth in the whole track separately and then import in soundforge or so Take care, Wim / LW

MASTERING!! What a word! Many of us producing music, think it's just the final steps we make before we release the track. Well , Wim is right! All producers or sound engineers are actually mastering our tracks from the very first start of the production. Mastering includes everything we do to get the sound right, out of the speakers. Volume, paning, equalizing....listening! what we are actually talking about right now is the final master. The finished track that shall impress the audience. Indeed it can be the best track ever...but if some of the parameters, like volume which should always be at 0db or just under f.e. -0.2 db, loudness or RMS power which depending on the style of the track can have an average around -10 db, increased stereo wideness... so if those and other parameters are... wrong...the audience will not be impressed.

I always use 2 programs for my final mastering.

I perfom the mastering with T-Racks 24, which is , in my opinion, the best available software, emulating analog mastering equipment. After mastering the track and rendering it to the first master, I perform a check in Wavelab, checking that all parameters are as optimal as possible. If needed I will perform a second or third mastering.

Do not master only on high volume. Be sure that the track is also sounding good at low volume, some errors such as clipping can be heard easier at low volume. Also do not just listen standing or siting exactly in the middle between the speakers, test the sound from various angles in your studio, also test how it sounds with headphones.

I am not a ...master of mastering, I simply tell you what I do. I hope it can help.

Regards

Yiannis
Kuffdam & Plant

quote:

Originally posted by Power Plant Do not master only on high volume. Be sure that the track is also sounding good at low volume, some errors such as clipping can be heard easier at low volume. Also do not just listen standing or siting exactly in the middle between the speakers, test the sound from various angles in your studio, also test how it sounds with headphones.

You are SO RIGHT. Forgot to mention that in my post. Make sure you listen to it on every god damn set of speakers you have in your house. With headphones...eeerrmm.....make sure you do it but not over do it-like maybe less than 10 or 5 minutes of use. I am a STRONG advocate of not using headphones heavily in the studio because of the significant ear damage you can receive (trust me, it DOES exist) and the lack of depth you have with listening through headphones. Also make sure the volume is not high at all when you use em...I can't stress that enough. BUT! Listening on headphones is good...but dangerous in many ways.

Like some of you said, the best way to make your track sound "MASTERED" is to make sure it doesn't NEED mastering.

Negative Altitude

Hi, I use FL Studio (4.12) to produce & sample editing done with Soundforge 6.0.

These days (and moreso in the past) I carefully choose the sound of something before it even enters a specific production. I keep in mind how my track is going to sound as a whole, and I divide it up into parts; High, mid, low, grainy, smooth, textured, quiet, loud, stereo, mono... Based on these simple elements of a track, I carefully design my samples and synth sounds before the construction of my track begins -- This is 99% of what everyone calls "mastering". It may sound like a lot, but it's just patience.

After all that, I simply stick a "Fruity Soft Clipper" Effect on the master mixing track and - viola.

Here's an example. (note, this is old, this isn't complete, this is only a sample, this is yet to be worked on when I find more time, but please give comments

Click Here

This probably took me about 4 hours to do (there's more to the song, I just cut this outta the middle), On and off (For about 6 months, lol), but it should give you an idea of how careful planning of the sound greatly contributes to whatever "mastering" really is after all.

quote:

Originally posted by deft Click Here This probably took me about 4 hours to do (there's more to the song, I just cut this outta the middle), On and off (For about 6 months, lol), but it should give you an idea of how careful planning of the sound greatly contributes to whatever "mastering" really is after all.

I'm liking this... excellent melody!

quote:

Originally posted by S2K I'm liking this... excellent melody!

Yeah very "Happy" and "Bouncy", love the choir bit in the back

___________________


Top Atm:
Activa - Perception (Original Mix)
Coast 2 Coast - Cut Me
Icaria - Onwards (Original Mix)
Hiroyuki Oda - Transmigration
Shadowrider - Blue Horizon (Luke Terry Remix)