Mastering songs

[ernstinen]

Quote:Quote:Hey Matto,Since you're now the regional manager of Hertz , what is the fundamental of the Wagner Bass Drum in EWQLSO Gold?I have no idea, but that thing kick serious butt... LOL! That's for sure! I'm using it in a new symphonic piece, and I have to be VERY careful not to overdo it. I'd guess it's around 25Hz. HOW LOW CAN YOU GO!?Remember when they used to cut off all frequencies below about 60Hz because of stylus jumping? Now, with the rap stuff --- I'm not sure there IS any limit anymore. At least not in the cars in L.A. with their equalizers and subwoofers. Ern

[hephaluemp]

Quote:I have heard a engineer say that cutting frequencies below 45hz is a good practice becausethere is not much musical stuff going on down there and by cutting those frequencies youtake out a lot of energy that can now be replaced by the more musical frequencies giving you that much more room to work with when it comes time to sum.Any thoughts on this practice? Hi Kouly,It's quite common to do so, especially in the pop-music style.That way it is possible to get the song a little louder, and also, when people press that MegaGigaExtraBass setting on their ghetto blasters, it will still sound good - and it's easy (!)That said, if you do a frequency analyzes of current music, you will find that released music in other styles, like the chillout-style from the European very popular Buddha Bar cd's, don't do this, this music do their rolloff from around 30Hz, with usually a peak around 29-31 Hz.Also, pop-music played on radio will go through the radio stations own compressors and limiters and rolloffs, like an Orban 5 band leveller, so it will be "remastered" on the radio station, which is understandable if you want to play a 20 years old song mastered to -18 RMS after a modern song mastered to -10 RMS.They probably don't play the deepest frequencies anyways, - they don't play the highest - FM goes just to about 15 kHz. So, my advice would be: If you have very decent monitoring and maybe also a frequency analyzer, roll off from about 30Hz, if you don't, or just wants to be on the safe side, roll of from about 40-45, like you mentioned. Small speakers - like small radios, will not care if there's anything below 80, you will not here the difference (almost not) on such speakers.I myself thinks it's a shame many roll off the music as high as 45-50 - because then the music will not connect to me physically in the same way, I don't feel it in the guts - and I like to feel music - although I never play loud, always under like 85dB, and most of the time way under. Remember, be nice to you ears! And in reply to the original poster, I would recommend watching your RMS levels, a -12 RMS level would probably be loud enough without squashing to music to death, and that's easily within reach for most limiters these days.Hepha Luemp

[ernstinen]

Quote:Why do the numbers on the decibal scales of my Masterlink and HD24 all begin with a minus sign, while the scale on my board has both negative and positive numbers?When Ray Charles was asked how he mixed and mastered his hits, he replyed: "Man you gotta LISTEN! If you don't hear any distortion, then there is none. Use your ears, fool!"I use his advice whether it's analog or digital. Meters are a point of reference. If they're pegged in the red ALL THE TIME, you may have a problem. But I don't bother with LED meters in a Masterlink, ProTools etc. Learn how to shut off those damn peak meters! --- Why do radio studios still use VU meters!? Because they're more human. When things are slamming on VU's, be careful, but listen nevertheless. --- The answer is your ears.Ern

[andreh]

Quote:Quote:Why do the numbers on the decibal scales of my Masterlink and HD24 all begin with a minus sign, while the scale on my board has both negative and positive numbers?The answer is your ears.Ern I completely agree with Ern...it's easy to get all caught up in flashing lights and forget about how things actually sound.A quick note on levels - in the analog realm, it's still generally wise to push levels as hard as possible (without undesirable distortion occurring) to maximize signal-to-noise ratios. However, in the digital realm it's better to leave some headroom when tracking or mixing since the math used for signal processing and summing doesn't work as well near peaks, and with modern 24-bit systems noise isn't really an issue anymore.To answer your question, Horace, your digital devices only go up to "0" dB [dBfs, actually, or "decibels full-scale] because numbers are absolute...it's not possible to represent a higher signal level than "full scale," which equates to all 1's in binary. Your analog devices, however, have variable headroom and are based on a relative reference level (often determined by the user), and their markings are measuring voltage as opposed to a digital signal level. The "0" point on these devices is there for reference, but the headroom of each device varies so the maximum level cannot be standardized.Here's a link if you'd like more info about this:http://www.johnvestman.com/meter_madness.htmAndre

[hephaluemp]

Quote:Here's a link to a timely thread about ears vs. meters:http://www.gearslutz.com/board/masterin ... s.htmlThat reminds me of my car-driving - I never use the speedometer when I drive - I just drive kind of like suitable to the terrain and to where I am.If in doubt, I look at the other cars.How did I get there?Well, some years ago I had a car where the speedometer stopped working, and I didn't fix it for almost a year.During that period I learned how to drive without looking at the speedometer - a bit scary in the beginning - but now I don't use it in any cars I drive, I just don't use it anymore! (well - almost never )So, if anyone ask how fast I drive, and if I follow the speed-signs, I just say, - just feel the speed and drive according to your surroundings. This can of course also be used in the audio-world.If anyone ask a question about recording, tracing, mixing or mastering, the standard answer would be to them all:Just use your ears and turn those knobs till it sounds good!! Hepha Luemp

[ernstinen]

Quote:Here's a link to a timely thread about ears vs. meters:http://www.gearslutz.com/board/masterin ... htmlThanks Andre, that's very interesting!Re: "Fish Finder" ---- This may seem an odd parallel, but I'm a pretty good fisherman, and a few years ago bought a fish finder to use up at our family cabin in Minnesota. After a few weeks of staring at the damn computer screen, I had to admit to myself that I was catching LESS fish than I normally would.The reason? Like mixing/mastering, a good fisherman relies on INSTINCT. You need to sense the water flow, the wind, how the bait may bump off the bottom now and then, if it's rocky and deep or getting shallow and weedy.My fish finder is now on the shelf. Ern

[andreh]

Quote:It was a very interesting link Andre. Thanks. But dang you, you hooked me on another forum. I was trying to quit. I feel your pain...my laptop is my mistress, and she keeps me up all night. The gearslutz.com folks are a lot cockier than this crowd, so be prepared for far fewer smiley's than you see around here...but you'll learn a LOT about production there (even though just about every suggestion is countered with an opposing one...maybe it's not so different after all). Andre