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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Recording Corner »

Permalink mastering question

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When home recording on the computer, do you also do mastering? The reason I ask is because I don't master my home recordings (I don't know how) and as a result they sound kinda quiet to me. Do you all master?

I master all the dpsurfmusic stuff in Cakewalk using a variety of mastering plug-ins...

...I'm still learning, mastering is like that, you always seem to be learning...

good luck,
-dp

Maybe someone can give us a basic overview on what mastering is, for all us neophytes?

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party

Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF

the "way-basics":

Mastering is a process used to balance the sonic dynamics of a recording, or collection of recordings.

Mastering uses tools such as equalization, limiting, reverberation, compression, dbx, noise reduction etc. in order to achieve a "listenable" balance within a single recording, as well as among a collection of related recordings.

Mastering is a way to "polish" a collection of mixed-down recordings.

Mastering is used to prepare mixed-down recordings for distribution via CD, DVD, mp3, webstream, TV, radio, cinema etcetera...each media has it's prevalent "dynamic standards" for recorded program material. In order to conform to the standards of each type of media, a mastering technician must make adjustments to the dynamics of a recording project.

Mastering can be quite involved, but, thankfully there are many very good "how to" type reference books out there.

I say, find a decent introductory book to read up...and then start giving it a shot. Your music will thank you...

good luck,
-dp

a good one, you can find at amazon:
image

I've been using Ozone 3 (now part of M-Audio) for mastering. A set of plug-ins, VST or AU, and available for Windows or Mac audio programs. Ozone is often described as the Swiss Army Knife of mastering plugins, since it includes EQ, Comp, sonic maximizing, reverb and others. All this for about $200 (beats Waves stuff at $2000!).

Worth trying out. Very high quality plugins.

Of course, you have to know how to use them, and therein lies the challenge...

Rev.

www.revwillis.com
www.willisclow.com
www.slajo.com

the isotope ozone plug-in has a very good free manual that covers a lot of basic mastering.
can be found here:
http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/guides.html

dp
the "way-basics":

Mastering is a process used to balance the sonic dynamics of a recording, or collection of recordings.

Mastering uses tools such as equalization, limiting, reverberation, compression, dbx, noise reduction etc. in order to achieve a "listenable" balance within a single recording, as well as among a collection of related recordings.

Mastering is a way to "polish" a collection of mixed-down recordings.

Mastering is used to prepare mixed-down recordings for distribution via CD, DVD, mp3, webstream, TV, radio, cinema etcetera...each media has it's prevalent "dynamic standards" for recorded program material. In order to conform to the standards of each type of media, a mastering technician must make adjustments to the dynamics of a recording project.

Mastering can be quite involved, but, thankfully there are many very good "how to" type reference books out there.

I say, find a decent introductory book to read up...and then start giving it a shot. Your music will thank you...

good luck,
-dp

a good one, you can find at amazon:
image

Mastering is a art form in itself and this book will get you started on that path. I've been home recording for awhile and will leave the mastering to a pro, but to get and an idea of what it will sound like, you can finish your two channel mix and use a stand alone product such as the Sony pack Soundforge/CD Architect http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/Products/ShowProduct.asp?PID=961

It's a bit much for someone just starting out but it one of standards that many mastering shops use.

Another way to get and Idea of what the finished porduct will sound like is to use a good limiter as the LAST processor in the stereo mix. Checkout this video from SawStudio on Live Session Recording and in the last cell call Tip and Tricks you'll see how if you use a limiter as a last process you will get a near press ready output.

http://www.sawstudio.com/LiveVideoPromo.htm

Here's a link to a project where I followed the last step use of a limiter.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jvanhornrlh/music/BreakingSurface.mp3

(think B movie western)

Hap
The Neptunes

Limiting as a last stage... be careful, here, for a few reasons.

Limiting as a last mastering stage is different than use of limiters to reduce peaks in recording. Really a different device. Mastering limiters are more often referred to as Maximizers, such as the Waves L2 and L3 (hardware or plugin). Ozone 3 and other software mastering suites usually contain one of these (as well as a traditional limiter working with a compressor).

Use of Maximizers is controversial. Basically they maximize the loudness of a recorded work by using a look-a-head algorhythm to find peaks then matching the rest of the sound to that level. Fun to play with, but completely destroys dynamic range and sense of air to a recording. All the sound is mashed into about 3db of dynamic range. Unfortunately, the use of a Maximizer is pervasive, particularly in rock/pop recordings, and, I think, is a reason why people complain about "CD sound." Recording engineers hate using Maximizers, but the demand is there by groups so their CD is as loud as all the other CDs on a CD changer.

I'll use about 3db boost from a Maximizer to give a little more heft to a recording. But if I've recorded something particularly sweet, like in a great room with great musicians, I don't want to treat it at all. Keep it natural.

Anyway, I think this is what is meant as using a "limiter" at the end of a mastering chain.

Rev.

www.revwillis.com
www.willisclow.com
www.slajo.com

RevWillis
Limiting as a last stage... be careful, here, for a few reasons.

Use of Maximizers is controversial. Basically they maximize the loudness of a recorded work by using a look-a-head algorhythm to find peaks then matching the rest of the sound to that level. Fun to play with, but completely destroys dynamic range and sense of air to a recording. All the sound is mashed into about 3db of dynamic range. Unfortunately, the use of a Maximizer is pervasive, particularly in rock/pop recordings, and, I think, is a reason why people complain about "CD sound." Recording engineers hate using Maximizers, but the demand is there by groups so their CD is as loud as all the other CDs on a CD changer.

I'll use about 3db boost from a Maximizer to give a little more heft to a recording. But if I've recorded something particularly sweet, like in a great room with great musicians, I don't want to treat it at all. Keep it natural.

Anyway, I think this is what is meant as using a "limiter" at the end of a mastering chain.

Rev.

True.
It is very much over used in the pop rock world.

When I use my limter is after mix down, a few test passes are done to listen for the clutter occure (rested ears work best not eyes) then back off just a pinch (-3db). Then the normalizer to bring up the volume to just under max.

Lots of times I can hear how much comes up through the mix after mastering and can re-adjust for that. Like when reverb sounds great here but after mastering it's way over the top, big time.

I my case since I have SawStudio, the Levelizer comes with a normalizer built in which I set for 98% of max.

But still I would send out projects just mixed and let them master it to the density you want. And alot of times they will comeback with really good advise.

It is an Art Form. It can make or break your mix.

Hap

RevWillis
...Use of Maximizers is controversial. Basically they maximize the loudness of a recorded work by using a look-a-head algorhythm to find peaks then matching the rest of the sound to that level. Fun to play with, but completely destroys dynamic range and sense of air to a recording...

...I'll use about 3db boost from a Maximizer to give a little more heft to a recording. But if I've recorded something particularly sweet, like in a great room with great musicians, I don't want to treat it at all. Keep it natural.

Rev:

Great advice! One of the tricks to the mastering process is finding that "balance" between doing something and not doing something...

it takes finesse...

Yeah, and whenever you can afford to, go to a real mastering studio, with a good mastering engineer. Not cheap, but worth the money.
Ran

The Scimitars

too bad Phil Dirt doesn't participate in this forum. He has his own mastering service.

Crying

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party

Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF

Anyone out here have recommendations of good mastering studios? I need to sit down and hammer out the nitty-gritty with our recording engineer for whether or not he will master our new disc when we're finished recording, but if not, I am curious if there is a particularly good place to go, and ideally, how much should I budget for it?

~B~

Bob Irwin at Sundazed does an outstanding job mastering his releases. To me, he Sundazed stuff is the best sounding rereleases.

Rev

Canadian Surf

http://www.urbansurfkings.com/

A couple days before we got our album mastered we found out he mastered Sonic Bullets: 13 From The Hip. And he may have done Dumb Loud Hollow Twang Deluxe. I haven't checked. He is a friend of the band and he runs the studio we got into for dirt cheap considering how nice it is and what a part of the history of Seattle music it is.

One of the biggest advantages of having a pro master your work is to have a completly impartial set of pro ears listen to your fininshed product and as several members have already stated, turn your finished album into a cohesive listening experience.

However I'm a hands on, do it yourself, hard headed old fart and I refuse to give in and let a pro do in several hours, what it can take me weeks to do down in the "boatwerx." I use Sound Forge Pro and it's more fun than you can imagine. It is fully capable of doing any of the finishing work a pro can do but it's limitations are ME. But, it is a great tool to clean up tracks and organize a project. It's the best $300 you will ever spend in your home studio outside of acquiring several really good mics. Sound Forge has a home package that runs about $60 at the local computer store and it too is quite an amazing product, It's biggest drawback was that "Wavehammer" was not included and it's ommission makes really pumping up the loudness more of a time consmuning effort. If you want to play around with "mastering", it's a good idea to have severl sets of speakers that you can use for reference, I have two different sets over the conslole and then I run around like a moron listening to the "finished" tracks on every CD player in the house, at the office, in each of the cars, you get the picture........I am certainly no pro, but I sure do have fun......ed

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

Eddie,
I hear ya on the home-mastering. I am also considering getting a stripped-down laptop that I can outfit with SoundForge and keep just for audio purposes.

I am guessing we'll have the guy who engineered our CD do the mastering as well. I trust his abilities at the board, and I know the fellas and I always like having a little say in what the final final sounds like.

~B~

Bill, if you happen to drop by Israel, I reccomend Tali Katz in Ramat Gan. Very good, he does work abroad too. Not cheap, but not hugely expensive. Did a great job on "Channel Surfing With..." for my old band.
But seriously, no disrespect to anyone, but if you think you can master you cds yourself on your home computer and reach the same results as a good pro (that knows what he's doing), then you probably haven't a/b'ed your work compared to the pro (with the same source material).
Good luck,
Ran

The Scimitars

Ran,
Thanks for the heads-up, but unfortunately my only upcoming foreign travels will be in Italy and France, so Israel is a bit far out of my range.

I agree with you on the "home mastering" aspect - granted, I don't know peep about home recording and all that, but people who do it professionally have literally thousands of dollars worth of equipment at their fingertips.
For all you dissentors, I know that no one knwos your music like you do, and just because people have the technology doesn't mean they know what to do with it.

I am confident that our engineer, who does audio production stuff for a living can get us a sound that we want. At least I hope so....

~B~

SurfBandBill
Thanks for the heads-up, but unfortunately my only upcoming foreign travels will be in Italy and France, so Israel is a bit far out of my range.

Dude, Bill, when and where are you travelling?

Rules to live by #314:
"When in Italy, if the menu says something's grilled, don't assume it is."

https://www.facebook.com/The-Malbehavers-286429584796173/

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