How do you master yours?

[mojobone]

I tend to mix into the master compressor in the latter stages of a mix. Forgot to mention that when I'm given a live recording direct from a mixing board w/ no room mics, (happens a lot) I reach for a convolution reverb to add back some space lost to close miking. A tiny amount of ambience can make all the difference, and most folks can't really tell you've done anything, yet perceive it as being loads better. Shhhh, don't tell.

[marcblack30]

Sept 24, 2008, 5:42pm, weslong wrote:The MClass Mastering tools plus the RV-7000 reverb in Reason do most of the work for me normally and then pipe Reason into Logic for treatment with Ozone. For those cross-platform projects that require addtitional tracks in Logic, I'll use only the bare-minimum effects in Reason needed for mixing on that end and use Logic's effects and Ozone to get the bulk of the sound work done.weslong, do you only use Reason to master your Reason projects?it would be cool of you could import wavs into reason.... you can't do that right?

[milfus]

you have to use a work around, if you load it directly into one of the samplers and play it at c for the duration it will play with the song as the wav. Rappers used to do it all the time locally, because they didnt have another DAW.

[grandmatarkin]

Sept 24, 2008, 8:49am, rld wrote:I don't call it mastering, but to get my songs ready for the pitch, I use a T.C.Electronic Finalizer.I got it used on eBay and I love it.Basically, when the mix is as good as I can get it, I run it through the Finalizer and record that back to the PC for the stereo master.It has all the bells and whistles of many plug-ins, but being a hardware unit, it's independent of the PC.I had a couple of my songs finalized with this unit, and I was VERY pleased with the results... Also, when I do my mastering, I always start off with a little PSP Vintage warmer, and Timeworks Mastering Compressor at the end of the chain. Usually I'll have some sort of multiband compressor in the middle. -Dave

[milfus]

how do you have a name that cool, and me not know you?

[marcblack30]

Sept 25, 2008, 8:29am, milfus wrote:you have to use a work around, if you load it directly into one of the samplers and play it at c for the duration it will play with the song as the wav. Rappers used to do it all the time locally, because they didnt have another DAW.ah ha! very clever. I'll have to give it a whirl.

[bluntbeats314]

yo milfus i have a question-i'm trying to learn to mix vocals-i've got recording mag which offers some great tips and is often a good read but i'm looking for a basic foundation or starting point. i know i'm not going to get anything better than subpar results because i'm recording with a cheap usb mic but at least i'll have an understanding of what i should begin to hear before i get a real mic and go "AH HA! ding and the light goes on-electricity sound buzz buzz" you get the point. i'm a cubase user by the way.

[ernstinen]

Sept 28, 2008, 6:34am, bluntbeats314 wrote:yo milfus i have a question-i'm trying to learn to mix vocals-i've got recording mag which offers some great tips and is often a good read but i'm looking for a basic foundation or starting point. i know i'm not going to get anything better than subpar results because i'm recording with a cheap usb mic but at least i'll have an understanding of what i should begin to hear before i get a real mic and go "AH HA! ding and the light goes on-electricity sound buzz buzz" you get the point. i'm a cubase user by the way.I'm 'no' milfus (thank God --- just kiddin' milfus!), but I started my engineering career back in the days of analog, and I still firmly believe you need to use a limiter/compressor when TRACKING vocals. The human voice has such varying dynamics, that I can't see how you can get a warm, level recording without using one. I like to get REALLY close to a vocal mic, set the preamp level so it doesn't distort, and let the limiter/compressor do its thing (I like to use about a 4:1 ratio). But don't overdo it, because it will make the vocal muddy and lifeless.Plus, in digital, I took a class at UCLA a few years ago that stressed "filling up all the bits" (if that's the correct term --- can't remember ). It's the same basic theory as in analog recording: Get your tracks as hot as possible without distortion.As Ray Charles once said, "If I don't HEAR any distortion, there isn't any!" And of course, he didn't have the luxury of looking at meters to make that judgment for him. But that's good advice --- use your ears!My 2 pesos,Ern

[mojobone]

Old-school analog guy myself, and I don't believe it's necessary to limit live vocals going to tape/disc, unless you have a vocalist with an enormous dynamic range, which happens from time to time. There's no good reason to expect sub-par results just because you're using a (possibly) noisy USB mic; results depend more on technique than hardware, and performance trumps technique every time.

[bluntbeats314]

thanks a lot guys all i've ever known is digital music and i do everything in my bedroom so it's not like i'm going to aftrmath studios to watch the pros....yet. i'll try each approach and compare it to the method i use, my favorite cds and use it as an audible template. i read conflicting opinions on peaks in digital music vs hardware/analog gear. supposedly hot sounds in analog = distortion in the digital world. either way i'll keep you posted on my progress or lack there of