I can't afford to master my songs but I need help!

[jonathanm]

Apr 17, 2008, 12:57pm, billg wrote:Oh yeah, did I say it's free???If it's free, it's for me. Thanks, guys!

[wodinlord]

As some have said before, the trick to good mastering is good mixing. I found 30 years ago that the biggest trick to mixing is what I call frequency layering. If you start out soloing eack track and eq'ing it to where it sounds best, you will tend to end up with all the tracks eq'ed in the same frequencies ranges. Then when you put them all together, it is a big ball of mud and nothing can be heard well. I have always started with the drums and get them great and then bought in the bass. Eq it to "fit" in best with the drums. Don't boost the low end the same place as the kick. Find different places for each and maybe cut the bass where you boost the kick and vice versa. Then as you bring in each new track, eq it to fit in with what is already there. And seriously, cutting or scooping with eq is just as important as boosting! As you add more and more tracks , it requires going back and tweaking the earlier tracks also. But finding an eq "home" for each instrument is what makes a mix sound like a "Record" as opposed to a good demo. (oops, showing my age with that "record" thing) In a good mix every instrument can be heard clearly and has its own "space" in the mix. Sorry to rattle on, but I have always loved discussing the philosophy of mixing and I could go for pages, but I won't. It is not easy, it takes time to learn well and it is SO much more than just turning levels up and down. If music is mixed well, mastering is little more than just tweaking. If it is mixed badly, not even Bob Ludwig can save it. BTW, I have been in the room while he mastered my mixes and he is GREAT!!!Keep at it!Wodinlord

[mazz]

wodinlord, excellent advice!! I remember when it finally occurred to me that EQ knobs actually had a "cut" feature! It was a huge moment, actually, because the whole concept of making frequency room for each part became the cornerstone of my mixing philosophy and my mixes started getting better almost immediately.To this day I use very little boost unless it's a wide bandwidth "rise" in the high end or something. I don't hold anything as a hard and fast rule because there's times when severe boosts are musically necessary but as a general practice, I cut way more than I boost.I consider mixing to be "sonic painting" and try to get mixes to have width, depth and height. To me, it adds emotion and color to the song, kind of like making an aural movie.One other thing I can recommend is to think about using mono tracks for some instruments. When an instrument has a distinct place in the mix, it can really add a nice vibe to the overall picture. Several mono percussion tracks panned across the stereo spectrum can really make a groove and mix "dance", particularly if the tracks are arranged so they "talk" to each other. Acoustic rhythm guitars in a thick mix can really benefit from a mono treatment, they can really help anchor a groove where a stereo signal might be too "washy" and indistinct inside the texture. Also, I've squeezed down stereo pianos for the same reason with great results. Also, a Leslie speaker mic'd in mono has a completely different sound than one mic'd with two or more mics. It sounds more "warbly" in mono which is a cool sound in a thick mix.Just caffeine fueled rambling! Like you I could go on for hours on this stuff!!Mazz

[feaker]

Mazz.You have no idea the benefit your "ramblings" do for us beginers. Thank goodness for the caffeine. I have all of this info copied for tonights lazyboy readings. Sincerely Paul

[nickfever]

Apr 22, 2008, 2:47am, feaker wrote:Mazz.You have no idea the benefit your "ramblings" do for us beginers. Thank goodness for the caffeine. I have all of this info copied for tonights lazyboy readings. Sincerely PaulI second that!

[ibanez468]

And here again, is another opportunity to mention a really good book that I purchased, that really layed everything out for me, and helped me to get much better mixes than what I had been trying so desperately ta' do on my own with minimal success. The Musician's Guide to Better Home Recording gave me the secrets that I had been looking for, for so long. Once I started utilizing the information, my mixes took on a complete turnaround. Then I purchased books on eq'ing & compression. But the one thing that was constantly mentioned in each book, was the importance of the recording of each instrument. That was key, to getting a good doable, hot mix! Once I started working on compressing & eq'ing instruments prior to recording the actual track, mixing became alot easier ta' do. Guitar tracks ended having good compression, and proper eq'ing, so in alot of instances, I would end up cutting, rather than boosting. Same with bass & drum tracks. Keys were never too much of problem. The other 3 are usually always a problem. I imagine it's also a problem for vocs too, but I rarely do vocs. Understand, I have no affiliation with the above mentioned book, just trying to let others know what worked for me, by utilizing the information in that particular book. Hope this helps.I-468

[clanmorgan]

I have found compression and eq's are my friends. I just love the Waves's products to add the final 'mastering' touches. I believe the final mix really comes alive when you use the L2 and L3 with multiband compression in the end stages. One trick I found is to make sure the mix is hot enough (-.1 to -.3db) with dynamic range depending on the style of music. I find that 6db - 12db often works allowing a nicely dynamic track with not too much flatness or overall compression. If Im mixing a harsh metal tune then the hottest mix with about 3db dynamic range is really good. Most of the major metal releases are pinned with little movement. A good trick is to compare similar tracks and kind of 'reverse engineer' them to see what they are doing in the mix. Thats has always been helpful for me. I have mastered many albums and I also believe the mix is the critical element that will make or break the final results. A good reverb on the Aux bringing together groups of tracks makes them sound like they are in the same room. But in the end the compression and eq has been the 'glue' in my mixes. Good luck.