Simplest Mastering, Please Help

[realista69]

Hello All,

So I finally finished making a track and am pretty much scared to screw anything up. Right now my levels are pretty loud, I cant really play the tracks volume past the mid point on a headset without being forced to take the headset off. I dont have studio speakers and usually use the headphones since its all I got. I want to smooth the sound down so regular people listening dont have to play the track under 50% to hear all the nice sounds. The track resembles some newer age dubstep with alot of chirps and burps which when turned down to low end up loosing their punch. I am a minimalist/ hobbyist and am by no means am a pro. Can anyone one describe to me how to get the tracks various sounds to meld better and allow the sound to retain its juiciness.

Please direct me to the easiest method of getting this track to sound right. I will even buy any extra apps to get this done in the easiest way possible since I truly am not versed in this part of music production. I have read and seen numerous other threads about mastering and have tried to replicate some of those tactics but honest I lack the understanding of the verbiage and get a bit confused when trying to decipher other peoples attempts at getting this to sound right.

Your advice is appreciated, please steer me in the right direction

Thank you kindly,

Real

[ObtuseMoose]

So I finally finished making a track and am pretty much scared to screw anything up.

Obviously, you should do a "File > Save a Copy" to save a snapshot of what you have now to a different name or location. Then you can always get back to this point to start over if you make a total mess of things.

Please direct me to the easiest method of getting this track to sound right.

Strictly speaking, the "easiest method" would be to pay someone with the skills and experience to do it for you. Maybe

http://tarekith.com/mastering/

Take a listen to some of his tracks and decide if you like how they sound.

If you're more interested in learning how to do it yourself, start here:

http://tarekith.com/helpandsounds/

Disclaimer: I have no connection to Tarekith other than benefiting from the excellent tutorials he makes available on his web site, and really digging his mixes and original music. [wait... is "digging" something still "cool"? I can't keep up with you kids and your crazy language these days.]

--
Moose

[vitalispopoff]

Strictly speaking, the "easiest method" would be to pay someone with the skills and experience to do it for you.

which sadly may end up in return of the mixdown with request to fix the errors that preclude good mastering.

You may also invest in both - mixdown and mastering.

independently on You choice however You'd better work on the mixdown to improve the sound before sending/starting the mastering.

Obvious things:
1. no FX on master track at all.
2. every time You equalize try rather to substract than add and after that raise the volume level.
3. beware of peaks over 0dB in both: particular tracks, and master track
4. try to lower the average volume level to ~ -12dB to leave necessary room for the mastering.
5. Use compressors, limiters, expanders (and other junk like this) rather as an instruments, and be carefull - these may screw the sound
6. try to keep everything below ~250Hz in phase rather and always be aware of sounds that go out of it (if they do so, You'll miss them in mono, which is usually qualified as a serious error)
7. Keep your instruments and effects tidy in respect of frequencies - it's better to have a tattoo "I suck" on a forehead than to leave clashes between different instruments in particular frequencies - especially in bass and subbass, in which case You'd rather consider a tattoo "I suck, and swallow sometimes"

[Tarekith]

Strictly speaking, the "easiest method" would be to pay someone with the skills and experience to do it for you.

which sadly may end up in return of the mixdown with request to fix the errors that preclude good mastering.

You may also invest in both - mixdown and mastering.

independently on You choice however You'd better work on the mixdown to improve the sound before sending/starting the mastering.

Without claiming to speak for all my peers, I'd say that MOST mastering engineers these days consider making a few suggestions on ways the mixdown could be improved part of the job. If I kick a mixdown back to someone, it's not saying that I don't want to work on their track. I'll send some quick notes on things I think could fix things (bassline up +2dB, Highpass kick at 45Hz, etc) and then give the mastering a go once they make those changes. Most ME"s I know do the same.

That said, you really AREN'T paying them to mix it for you, so you should ideally be pretty happy with it before going to get it mastered professionally.

The other option as was mentioned is maybe consider paying for a mixdown. I don't think it's really feasible for people to do with every track they write (but by all means I will if you want), but having it done even once can be a pretty good learning experience if you just have no clue what you're doing. I'll even mix it in Live or Logic using the included plug ins, then send the client back the project file once I'm done so they can see exactly HOW I made their song sound that way. PLenty of other people offering this kind of thing other than me too, probably cheaper than I am too

Last but certainly not least, just keep practicing. I've got the guides on my site linked to earlier in the thread that would be a good starting point (IMVHO). Lots of good books and freebie tutorials YouTube if you hunt around. Vespers.ca has some good stuff related to Live that might help.

[Dragonbreath]

Lots of really good advice allready. Heres some more.

Obviously, read and practice as much as possible.
Dont be afraid to break the "rules". The only definite rule is limiter last in your mastering chain.

About the bass getting whimpier when you turn down the volume, its not necesarly a fault in your mix but a phenomenon of psycoacoustics. Your perception of low frequencies (and highs) goes up with volume. Your song WILL sound different at different volume even if you pay the best engineers in the world to mix and master it.

I understand you dont have money to spend on people doing for you and dont suggest you buy more software. The native plugins are good enough for DYI mastering. If you were to spend money on anything get a pair of monitors. Rokit 5's from Krk are pretty decent for the money.

First thing like was allready mentioned is get a mix you like and give yourself some headroom on the master (-12 is alot you only need about -6 (average, its ok if a few occasional transients go over that)

Dont worry about volume for now, if you find its not loud enough turn up the volume on your headphones.

Once you like your mix, save a copy sa suggested and work the mastered version in a new save file.

Start with a compressor go easy on it, just catching the large transients. Just a few db of reduction about -3, just to massage the signal and "gel" the mix together. Then use HiQ EQ8 and try filtering the very low end (around 30hz or so), then do some gentle EQ, try not go too surgical, wide Q settings work better here and shelfs as well. You might want a mutliband compressor on there. The preset "standard multiband compressor" is good starting point. At very last put on a limiter, turn up the gain up to taste. Use a reference track of professional mix thats similar to what your trying to achieve to check volume.(you can load it in a new track and bypass your mastering chain by sending the audio ou straight to your main outputs instead of the master track). Make sure you dont oversquash with the limiter. You should see the gain reduction jump up and down on the limiter.

On export normalize.

This should give you a good headstart.

And dont forget to have fun

[realista69]

Thank you all, I will give a go and break and reapply, til it works. I really appreciate your advice, thank you for your time.