quote:

Originally posted by Vizay this is how I see it.. I'm going to master my own stuff by myself until i get a record deal (if i ever get one, who knows)... geting it mastered professionally costs money, hey I'm 18 this year and haven't even finished school, there's no way I can afford a proffesional mastering for my tracks, and also what's the point of geting it pro mastered just to send it to a recordcompany as a demo, the chance is very little that they will even listen to it anyway so... and also, if i DO get a record deal the rec. company will probably master it for me (they usually do this for you)

Exactly!!

What is the purpose of a record label if is not mastering your tracks?
If everybody knew how to master in a professional level then no one would sent out demos and just worry about getting a publisher.

What you need to send a demo is make it as good as possible, but don't push yourself for mastering it at a professional level, because that you won't accomplish.
Record Labels are looking for producing talent not mastering talent, because they are the mastering talent.

My Two cents.

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Der Mystik's Music

quote:

Originally posted by The Drow I've got another idea Can some one post presents for programs? Like presents for eqing bass or compressing kick. For FL please

you can't use presents since each track is different.. there's not a good chanse that a preset will work as good on 2 different track's

so you wount have any luck there really

PDM: i'm pretty sure that the purpose of a label is more then mastering your track

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Daniel

quote:

Originally posted by dbl you can't use presents since each track is different.. there's not a good chanse that a preset will work as good on 2 different track's so you wount have any luck there really PDM: i'm pretty sure that the purpose of a label is more then mastering your track

yeh but it helps to learn...
I'll hear the differnce.

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My tracks:
The Darkone - You Come With Power
The Darkone - Falling Stars Part 1 (Original Mix) *NEW*

quote:

Originally posted by dbl you can't use presents since each track is different.. there's not a good chanse that a preset will work as good on 2 different track's so you wount have any luck there really PDM: i'm pretty sure that the purpose of a label is more then mastering your track

Oh yeah, but my point is that you shouldn't be worrying about mastering if you don't have the talent of such an art.

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Der Mystik's Music

most engineers (im talking about for rock,rap,pop albums) even if they mixed the song they wont master it just because you need that seperate set of ears to do that final touch. I believe if the record company wants to pay a mastering engineer to master your final mix then its a great, but you have to leave them headroom or they cant do anything.

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I really suck at making music

As has probably been mentioned already (I only skimmed through a couple of pages), composers shouldn't need to worry about mastering at all. Mixing, perhaps, but mastering is a whole other step that can take just as long to master as composing itself.

If you're looking to better the sound of your mix though, some knowledge of compression and EQ will help, but it's rare that I've heard this done well. Sure, in addition composers could attempt to master their own work if they're not too serious about it, but for best results you really should leave these things to a dedicated engineer.

That said, if anyone has any questions or is after tips, ask away, though I really don't think worrying that much about mastering is all that important. Besides, as dbl mentioned too, mastering is different with every track, and there's no quick recipe to getting a good sound, most certainly not if the mixing isn't done well.

Actually, in the words of anssi h (a98), mastering is mixing, and I couldn't agree more. If you've done a goodmix down, the only thing that may be left to do in the mastering stage is multiband compression to 'glue' everything together, some corrective EQ to remove rumble and roll off any build-up in the top-end, and of course multiband limiting.

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Put an end to the loudness war. Don't limit or compress your mixdown until mastering; leave the master channel alone.

Contact me for mastering.

when sending demos to labels I say do your own mastering because it's not very economic to let a pro ME do that work at that stage. Mastering your own stuff will be enough for the demos and most labels will be okay with this.

What you shouldn't do is master your work for pressing unless you have a few years of experience from the art already. (to be honest you shouldn't do it anyway because objective ears are always better at this stage)

what people need to remember is that mastering means preparing the track for pressing on either CD or Vinyl. (what most novices don't think about is that there's big technical differences between a vinyl-master and a CD-master)

and as a final word, please remember one thing. Mastering isn't some kind of magic that can sort out a horrible mixdown. Get it right from the beginning, put the extra effort into mixing the track instead of mastering it. It will end up better that way

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quote:

Originally posted by davedresden i suggest getting the gabriel & dresden prog-a-minute. in 3 easy steps you too could change the face of dance music. batteries not included. - dave

Question:

If you heard your favorite trance song in it's unmastered form, would you not like it then?

I think that for the most part, "pro" mastering is a sham. People hundreds of thousands for that "analog warmth" just because it sets them apart, not because you can't do it better and easier in the digital world. Also, Britney Spears wouldnt take you seriously if your studio was just a Mic booth and a G5.

Fact of the matter is, Music was sounding good long before there was "mastering", so im confident we can get by with our $99 Software pacakges. Just because its cheap, doesnt mean it don't work.

That being said, if i had a track signed, i wouldnt be ooposed to sending it to a mastering house for a freshing up, just so i could hear it on those hundred thousand dollar moniters....

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Volume Productions - Providence, RI
Rocksteady - "Genre Sluts Beware" | Winter 2004 Mix | 160kbps (85.3MB)
A 75 Min Genre Mashup Breaks|Electro|Techno|Trance

extremley interesting thread, been reading it for a while. Thanks for all the info

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**David Elsewhere** Kollaberation IV

quote:

Originally posted by rocksteady I think that for the most part, "pro" mastering is a sham. People hundreds of thousands for that "analog warmth" just because it sets them apart, not because you can't do it better and easier in the digital world. Also, Britney Spears wouldnt take you seriously if your studio was just a Mic booth and a G5. Fact of the matter is, Music was sounding good long before there was "mastering", so im confident we can get by with our $99 Software pacakges. Just because its cheap, doesnt mean it don't work.

To further is point, It doesn't matter what sort of software you have to work with. If you can make your stuff sound hot without dropping thousands on plugins and gear and shit, then people will be see you're rig, hear your shit, and be like, "HOLY SHIT, you did that with just THIS?!"

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Konichiwa, Bitches!.

Ok I just posted this on another thread (my apologies) but I think it is also relevant and could be helpful for some on this thread,

I just purchased the new spectralive (dirt cheap at $25 IMHO) plugin (www.crysonic.com), and it really made a huge difference. It's like BBE or PSP warmer but they are out of my budged at the moment. Here is what I discovered, download the demo and apply spectralive to a track and (choose the 5th preset I think) put the volume down by about 5-8Db's and play the same track (dry) at the same time, the mix jumps straight out the speakers. In fact all my instruments and tracks for some reason sound punchier and clearer and more distinct when passing through spectralive, my two cents worth.

cheers

I also place the Voxengo elaphant(great plugins)or sometimes L3 from waves always after spectralive.

Very interesting thread!
A good mastering is the half of the track for me.You can have nice loops and nice ideas but without good mastering you can't go nowhere.That's why there are studios and people that are studying this...science.For the amateur music producer the point is to master something that can be heard good and for our genre to be heard LOUD!
For those who don't have mastering hardware or software yet(like me) try to work the track at 0db (at Reason for ex) and when you are finish take it to a simple sound editor (like Nero) and give the volume you want and the compression you like (there a lot of presets).After 5 or 10 different recordings try to listening at your hi-fi or your car or your friends hifi and decide the recording that sounds better.It work's for me to my latest track (will be in the air this week).It's not amazing or pro quality but it's ok for a presentation.

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psy tunes in the mix "psyunite"