I am a huge failure and everything I write/do is trash.

[BradleyHagen]

Bradley, Thank you for the encouragement. It honestly means more than you know. Some days I feel like I'm on top of the world, and others, like throwing all my equipment in the dumpster, setting it ablaze and relegating myself to watching tv and playing video games. Still I keep trudging ahead.

I use Studio One and usually export a mix using their volume leveling option to get to -14db. Up until now, I've been uploading my mixes to bandlab and picking between whichever of 4 pre-canned mastering options they have available for free sounds best. Recently I figured out how to get similar results using the project page in Studio one and hitting it with the built in pro eq and limiter, but haven't revisited my recent songs because they're already up on streaming services and they seem to be "good enough" for those purposes. People are listening at least. I've submitted about 25 songs to Taxi so far, and there's probably no way to retract these pending submissions and save the credit for when I get the mixes right so.. I'll probably throw my armor expecting 100% returns on them and hunker down behind the blast doors and wait until the dust settles... Hopefully there'll be more of the same type of requests in the future so I can re-use them once they're polished properly.

From my experience the online mastering stuff is hit or miss, I used to use LANDR, but you just never know what you are going to get, and typically it isnt very good... Short of hiring a mastering Engineer, or diving deep into the weeds on Mastering, I would look into getting IZOTOPE Ozone 11.
Also, remember that -14 db is not the same as -14 LUFS

Agreed - Hit or Miss to be sure. I don't know the difference between LUFS and DB but I do know there is a difference. Most of the mastering videos I've watched on youtube mention that when I do a loudness analysis of my track, the post values should be -14 LUFS and the other important value is -2 db maximum so I shot for that with my limiter and eq during my mastering experiements.. I think -2 db is the peak reduction value? I have looked at Ozone 11. Is that something I just use as a pre-fader plugin during the mastering phase? I will probably just drop the $100 on Ozone 11. I have the Komplete 14 Collectors edition, justified the purchase vs buying a new performance/workstation keyboard. What's an extra hundred?

OZONE 11 is well worth the investment...... You just stick it on your master buss..... It has AI that listens to your track and then suggests a good starting point, which usually is 80% of the way there, but the first thing I do is turn down the gain of the maximizer module, and then I play with the upward compression, EQ, etc after that... I am not saying that it replaces a good mastering engineer, or somebody who really knows their stuff and has a few high end hardware pieces, but i think it is good enough for here .

[Casey H]

I am a huge failure and everything I write/do is trash.

Join the club! Seriously, we all feel that way from time to time when we get rejections. I'll pitch a song to a good library I work with and if they accept, I'm on top of the world but if they reject, my self-worth will take a dive. Sometimes we feel we are only as good as our last review.

Keep in mind that many Taxi listings are fairly high bar and narrow focused. Getting a forward is a great nod that you tracks have reached a certain level and meet the SPECIFIC requirements of that lasting. But not getting forward doesn't at all mean your tracks are not very good or even better. Many of us get returns from Taxi submissions and go on to sign those tracks with libraries and even get TV placements with them. Same with library rejections. I've had songs rejected by that well known Taxi friendly LA library (starts with "C") which I signed with another library and got lots of placements.

And if they are new tracks, you wouldn't have even created then if not for the Taxi listings.

Best,
Casey

[DanGalasso]

From my experience the online mastering stuff is hit or miss, I used to use LANDR, but you just never know what you are going to get, and typically it isnt very good... Short of hiring a mastering Engineer, or diving deep into the weeds on Mastering, I would look into getting IZOTOPE Ozone 11.
Also, remember that -14 db is not the same as -14 LUFS

Agreed - Hit or Miss to be sure. I don't know the difference between LUFS and DB but I do know there is a difference. Most of the mastering videos I've watched on youtube mention that when I do a loudness analysis of my track, the post values should be -14 LUFS and the other important value is -2 db maximum so I shot for that with my limiter and eq during my mastering experiements.. I think -2 db is the peak reduction value? I have looked at Ozone 11. Is that something I just use as a pre-fader plugin during the mastering phase? I will probably just drop the $100 on Ozone 11. I have the Komplete 14 Collectors edition, justified the purchase vs buying a new performance/workstation keyboard. What's an extra hundred?

OZONE 11 is well worth the investment...... You just stick it on your master buss..... It has AI that listens to your track and then suggests a good starting point, which usually is 80% of the way there, but the first thing I do is turn down the gain of the maximizer module, and then I play with the upward compression, EQ, etc after that... I am not saying that it replaces a good mastering engineer, or somebody who really knows their stuff and has a few high end hardware pieces, but i think it is good enough for here .

I've just been digging through my NI Collectors edition purchase from last year and it would appear that it came with Ozone 10 standard, and I'm eligible for the crossgrade to 11 Advanced. Suffice it to say, I have obviously never used it lol. Is 10 standard good enough, or would you still recommend the upgrade to 11?

[BradleyHagen]

Agreed - Hit or Miss to be sure. I don't know the difference between LUFS and DB but I do know there is a difference. Most of the mastering videos I've watched on youtube mention that when I do a loudness analysis of my track, the post values should be -14 LUFS and the other important value is -2 db maximum so I shot for that with my limiter and eq during my mastering experiements.. I think -2 db is the peak reduction value? I have looked at Ozone 11. Is that something I just use as a pre-fader plugin during the mastering phase? I will probably just drop the $100 on Ozone 11. I have the Komplete 14 Collectors edition, justified the purchase vs buying a new performance/workstation keyboard. What's an extra hundred?

OZONE 11 is well worth the investment...... You just stick it on your master buss..... It has AI that listens to your track and then suggests a good starting point, which usually is 80% of the way there, but the first thing I do is turn down the gain of the maximizer module, and then I play with the upward compression, EQ, etc after that... I am not saying that it replaces a good mastering engineer, or somebody who really knows their stuff and has a few high end hardware pieces, but i think it is good enough for here .

I've just been digging through my NI Collectors edition purchase from last year and it would appear that it came with Ozone 10 standard, and I'm eligible for the crossgrade to 11 Advanced. Suffice it to say, I have obviously never used it lol. Is 10 standard good enough, or would you still recommend the upgrade to 11?

The leap from Ozone 10 to 11 is significant....... I started with 9 Standard, went to 10 Advanced, and then 11 Advanced... i wasnt completely sold on Ozone before 11..... and definitely get 11 Advanced...it is WAY more tweakable than the Standard Version

[cosmicdolphin]

Thank you for this information and feedback. I had a listen to the example MP3's on the second link you attached and immediately bought the e-book you posted here. it appears I still have lots to learn about getting my mixes right before I even start submitting. Disappointing because I thought I was ready. Hopefully I am capable of doing this better. I can't justify the cost associated with studio time for every 2-3 minute submission yet.

No worries, I hope it helps you as much as it helped me - it's very step by step so make sure to work through it. I had it on my Kindle next to my DAW when I used it.

The only way to be ready is to keep doing it. If you mix 100 tracks this year, I guarantee that mix 100 will be better than mix 1 - it's a process. I have 650+ cues now and I mixed every single one of them. That's how you get competent.

[cosmicdolphin]

The leap from Ozone 10 to 11 is significant....... I started with 9 Standard, went to 10 Advanced, and then 11 Advanced... i wasnt completely sold on Ozone before 11..... and definitely get 11 Advanced...it is WAY more tweakable than the Standard Version

I still use 8

[BradleyHagen]

The leap from Ozone 10 to 11 is significant....... I started with 9 Standard, went to 10 Advanced, and then 11 Advanced... i wasnt completely sold on Ozone before 11..... and definitely get 11 Advanced...it is WAY more tweakable than the Standard Version

I still use 8

Whatever does the job! However, I can guarantee you that you be stunned by the difference between 8 and 11! lol

[cosmicdolphin]

Whatever does the job! However, I can guarantee you that you be stunned by the difference between 8 and 11! lol

I've tried it...I wasn't..hence still on 8

[VanderBoegh]

I've tried it...I wasn't..hence still on 8

Got you beat by one, Mark.... I'm on 9! Neener neener

~~Matt

[BradleyHagen]

Well whatever works! You both have great sounding productions, so 8 and 9 it is!!