Need Help For Sound Quality And Mastering

[DJ Mark T]

Hello All ,
Well i just need to know about Mastering and RED SIGNAL in Master Track
I Have just Produced a Track and the Signal on Master Track IS RED , Also when Exporting The Sound IS So Low compared with other Tracks ...

Need Help on how i do manage it ..

Thanks

[leedsquietman]

Redlining your mixes is OK for listening within Live's 32 bit float audio engine which has massive headroom, but is a NO-NO for mixing down tracks designed for CD or mp3 in a 16 bit resolution, clipping and all kinds of nasty artifacts could present themselves.

You need to read up on mixing techniques and LEAVE HEADROOM.It also helps if you do your recordings in 24 bit as opposed to 16 bit where possible to give yourself more headroom capacity off the bat.

Commercial mixes left headroom when they were at the mix stage, it is subsequent mix finalizing/mastering processing which has elevated the levels. Most of these would have been done in pro facilities who have tools which can push way beyond what the average home owner's plugin set can achieve, with super expensive monitoring, outboard gear as well as plugins, top level converters such as Lavry Golds etc. A home or project studio with plugins alone can push your mixes closer to commercial level but can't achieve those super loud mixes that pro mastering facilities can achieve, which isn't always a bad thing because many commercial CDs are hypercompressed and ear fatiguingly loud and compromise sound quality for volume.

There has been a lot of posts on the forum lately about these issues. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day and some kid doesn't just go up to 2 Technics SL1210s and become a master of turntablism, it comes from experience and practice.

I recommend you start with Bobby Owsinski's ' The Mixing Engineer's Handbook (2nd edition) ' published by Thomson Educational. Also read Tarekith's guides especially to mixing, mastering and dynamics control
http://tarekith.com/misc.html and any other free info you can glean off the web, such as Tweakheadz guides etc
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

[Tarekith]

Thanks Leeds

[kb420]

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/2868571/

[henke]

Hello All ,
Well i just need to know about Mastering and RED SIGNAL in Master Track
I Have just Produced a Track and the Signal on Master Track IS RED , Also when Exporting The Sound IS So Low compared with other Tracks ...

Need Help on how i do manage it ..

Thanks

The red light indicates that the signal level is above zero db, which you should avoid. But signal level tells you not much about perceived loudness. A simple example: You can create a 5 Hz bass wave at 0 dB. It will give you a full red meter, while you are hearing - nothing. But chances are good that you'll kill your speakers if you turn up the volume.

Achieving loudness that sounds good is an expert science and come from years of mixing and production practice. It should not be your fist goal if you are starting producing music. A good track is good even if not loud. There is a volume control on every known piece of audio gear

Robert

[kristian]

just a quick tip; don't forget to normalize when exporting your audio

[Imaulle]

just a quick tip; don't forget to normalize when exporting your audio

really?

[kristian]

just a quick tip; don't forget to normalize when exporting your audio

really?

thats what it says on the tin!

[Cryptic UK]

Im am the best drummer in the world because i can play really fast!
And that's all that matters.

[djsynchro]

Put the limiter on the master channel, now increase the volume going into it by either by having all faders really high or a utility plugin until the meters are slammed at the top and hardly move anymore. That's it!

[myxomat0515]

Put the limiter on the master channel, now increase the volume going into it by either by having all faders really high or a utility plugin until the meters are slammed at the top and hardly move anymore. That's it!

You'll know you're done when your waveform is a solid rectangle.

[supamonsta]

guys.... you don't know where to stop


Mike T : you'd better go in the TIPS & TRICKS section if you want serious answers.

[DJ Mark T]

Thanks Much for helping all , Really Appreciated
But need To Know About The Normalize Thing , When i Click on Normalize , the exported track sounds different ...


Also I Need To Know How to Make the Bass Drum aka The BEAT Sounds Pretty Good After Putting that Limiter ..


Thanks Again All

[quikava04]

Thanks leeds, your brief but informative post was great.

Does anyone recommend a good book or reference guide on sound mastering? Thanks!


Download Urban & Techno Loops - LoopBaby - http://www.loopbaby.com/

[leedsquietman]

http://bobbyowsinski.com/The_Audio_Mast ... ndook.html (this book is the new title to replace 'The Mastering Engineer's Handbook'). The Youtube clip is quite well done too.

This is a good place to start which gives good information without being too technical. After you understand the principals and points laid out in this book, which is designed for beginners to intermediate users, progress to Bob Katz's 'Mastering Audio : The Art And The Science (2nd edition)'.