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

[hoknes]

OK I do all the recording on my home computer using Sonar. Sounds great overall but I sent stuff in and they said it still wasn't mastered good enough. Still sounds like a good demo! So without being able to afford to take all my songs to a professional studio is there any advice on what a person should do in their final mixing etc to get the more professional final product/mp3. What are the most common things a person needs to tweak or edit in the end? Thanks for your help!

[slideboardouts]

hey hoknes,I'm not a great mixing or mastering engineer but I'll give you a couple of tips that have helped me out tremendously.The most important thing is to make sure everything is recorded extremely well. Use the right mic in the right spot and try to acoustically treat your room if you can. You want to have to do as little as possible in the mixing and mastering stages. This really only applies if you are recording live instruments like guitar, voice, etc. If you are using soft synths then getting a good quality recording won't be a problem.Next, learn to EQ a little. This can seem fairly tricky but its not too bad really. If you want to keep it simple, cut all of your lows and low-mids in everything except for the kick drum and bass. When I started doing that, my mixes immediately sounded better. Too many lows and low mids will make your track sound muddy and unclear. Also, make sure you are panning things properly. If everything is centered your track probably won't sound too good. Another thing that has helped me is learning a little bit about compression. Right now, I'm mainly using it as a "pumping" effect on my kick drums. For drums, I usually set the compressor at an 8:1 ratio and really crank it. That really makes my kicks hit HARD without clipping. Compressors can really make your track sound good if you know how to use them. They can pump up drums and smooth out vocals so that they sit well in the track. Definitely a tool you want to learn how to use.If its mixed well, I've noticed that you can skip the mastering process for broadcast quality listings. I've been forwarded and signed multiple instrumentals that were never mastered. When I do "master" a track, I mainly just EQ the mixed track a little and bring the volume up with a maximizer plug. For broadcast quality stuff, you really don't need to get super technical or go to a professional studio IMHO.Hope that helps.-Steve

[ernstinen]

Hi Hoknes!I've been recording since reel-to-reels were the hot item, and had a commercial studio here in L.A. for years where I engineered/arranged/produced CDs for artists (as well as myself).A few years ago, I ALMOST turned my studio into a Mastering House. What turned me off was that the mixes clients brought in were, uh, unusable. I could have taken their $$ and they probably would have been happy, but I just couldn't in good conscience do that. I told many people to remix their stuff.So, to begin with, what Steve said is good advice. Each track has to sound as good as you can make it BEFORE mixing. If all you're doing is using samples, that's fairly easy, but if you're using microphones, that's another story. Experimentation is the key, and the fun!Using a limiter/compressor, especially on vocals and bass, is essential. So is EQ on most tracks. I'm not sure I agree with Steve about cutting all the lows and mid lows on everything except kick drum and bass, though. For instance, I used to do that on acoustic guitar when it was mixed into a band sound, and that worked. But I got used to doing that all the time, and I produced a client who did some vocal/acoustic guitar stuff, and the guitar sounded really thin. I screwed up by not listening with a more critical ear and just did my old thang! I also used to do that when recording electric guitar cabinets, and then listened to guys like Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Page, and there's LOTS of low end on their tracks. --- But as Steve said, for a quick fix/starting point, you can give the bass rolloff idea a try.Sometimes electric bass is recorded with some of the lows rolled off to get a real hot recording, and then some bottom is added in the mix. I really like using a BBE when recording electric bass. Since I'm basically using just samples now, the BBE is lonely and sitting on the shelf. So --- Back to Mastering! I have found that things that are recorded and mixed well don't need a lot of tweaking in the mastering process. I master in ProTools, and add a bit of compression and EQ. That's about it. I'm not a big fan of "the louder the better" concept, but then again I'm doing mostly orchestral music now, which has a lot of dynamics. I DO keep a close eye on peaks and make the loudest parts as loud as possible, though.One last thing about mastering CDs --- Something people forget about is the relative volume level from song to song. A soft song should NOT be as loud as a screaming rock song. I bought some real expensive Waves mastering software, and never use it (except for the EQ). I trust my ears more than a computer program. --- If someday I try it again and find something I like, I'll report back and eat my words! Hope I didn't tell ya stuff you already know! Best Regards,Ern

[mazz]

Another thing that will help your mixes sound good prior to mastering is having great arrangements to begin with. Pay attention to the frequency ranges of the instruments and where they overlap. Then ask yourself questions like: do both guitar parts need to play the exact same chord voicings? Since the piano is already playing thick chords, maybe the guitar should play a sparse part, and so forth. Don't be afraid to take things out to make it sound better. It's all for the good of the song. Also thinking spatially can really help the mix and the arrangement. Thinking about panning the instruments and where they will sit in the mix will affect the groove and the overall sound and feel of the mix. I spend a lot of time placing things like clicky percussion and strumming guitars, etc. so that they complement each other sonically and rhythmically as well as spatially in the stereo field.Less is more (are you listening mazz? ) in arranging and then when you get to mixing and mastering, things won't be fighting each other and you'll need less EQ and compression. Then those things become creative tools rather than sonic scalpels.Start thinking about the mix while you're still recording and you'll be ahead of the game when you get to mastering.Cheers,Mazz

[wta]

Make sure you're using "near field studio monitors" to start. Make sure you've got Mogami or Monster or comparable cables/wiring. Make sure you're using a subwoofer to monitor your bass freqs. MAKE SURE YOU RING YOUR SPEAKERS(run pink noise and use a stereo eg to flatline your signal) this step is VITAL for a great and accurate master. The most important elements in mastering is eq and compression so learn all you can about those tools, learn everything about each element, buy a book on the subject and in the end, with some good hardware and plugins and tons of practice you'll get your tracks into shape. Its really like anything, take it serious and you'll have serious results. If God didn't give you the ear to master, submit a requisition form in triplicate as pray for results cause without a good ear all of the above will not help(develop your library with music from other artists in your genre that sound great and study their eq and comp levels, there's nothing new under the sun so copy the pros if you can). Get mastering software, there are some important tools to analize the track's over all peak volume verses average volume, applying volume envelops, getting good fade ins and outs, ect. I use Sony Sound Forge 8 and its done all I need it to. WTA

[guitarhacker]

Disclaimer: I'm not a mastering engineer....having said that... When mastering , you need to have a decent set of reference monitors. Stereo speakers and headphones are biased towards a certain "color" of sound and mixing on them will reflect that color in your music and can reflect less than desirable results.Before you get to the mix down stage.... get the best sound possible up front..vocals, guitars, etc... I add just a touch of reverb to the guitar in the recording process, but generally, you want to record the tracks...all of them...as clean and dry as possible with absolutely NO CLIPPING of your signals. You can always add the effects later to dry tracks but you can not remove say...flanging from a guitar track later without re-recording the entire track again.Try to avoid the use of compressors and reverb and other effects in the tracking stages. Once you get the tracks like you want...mix it down to two dry tracks (stereo mix) export it...then you can use compression and other effects including raising the levels .Another good suggestion for beginners in mixing & mastering is to find a tune that is from the same genre of your music. Rip a tune or two from the CD that was professionally produced and mastered. Listen with a critical ear and have it available in the same program you are using to master your tune.....compare the two and try to emulate the commercial song's sound. Keep tweeking until you get it as close as you can. Just remember, in the same way that you must work on the skills to play an instrument or write a song, mastering a song requires the same dedication and effort to become good. There are some individuals I have run up on from time to time on the Cakewalk forums that might be interested in mastering a song for you at a greatly reduced rate...some for free. In addition, there are people there who know a great deal about mastering. Go there & check it out.One more thing: after you record the tune...let it set for a few days to a few weeks, to give your ears a rest and when you come back to it...you will be listening with "fresh ears". Don't spend long periods of time mastering the same song..for the same reason...ear fatigue.

[guest4254]

I'm no main masterer either, though I do master my own stuff.As posted earlier, if you're doing a lot of acoustic/orchestral music, you don't need it to be in your face...that would most likely hurt more than anything.But, if you DO want it to be Green Day loud, The last thing I do is use Hard Limiting. I set my max limit to -.3 db (some CD players can't handle 0db) and set the Boost accordingly, depending on how loud you want the quieter instruments to be, with a release time around 100ms.Harry

[jonathanm]

Apr 14, 2008, 11:09pm, wta wrote: MAKE SURE YOU RING YOUR SPEAKERS(run pink noise and use a stereo eg to flatline your signal) this step is VITAL for a great and accurate master.That's an interesting process. Can you tell me a bit more about how to do it? I'd love to eq my overall system for flatness.Thanks.Jonathan

[devin]

I downloaded this little program. It is a frequency generator with the white noise, pink noise, sweeps, etc.As an entry level diagnostic tool, it's a lot of fun. If you want to find out about room nodes, just sweep the frequency continously from 15-150 hz, turn on the subs, and walk around you will hear the spots where the waves crash into each other. D'Oh!The trial version lasts about a month, and it only costs $15 to purchase for life. I like to build the occasionaly speaker or sub in the workshop, so it's now part of my family.http://www.esseraudio.com/ttg.htmIt never replaces your ear though!

[billg]

here's a good free plugin , I use it a lot & really like it. Oh yeah, did I say it's free??? http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.p ... &subItem=3