aaaaaahhhh!!!! levels for pre-mastering

[DjViral]

so i'm trying to get tracks ready for a friend to master, he said
"tracks should be average -12db headroom with spikes no higher than -6db and all fx off the master especially limiters and compressors.
and do NOT just turn down the master volume knob to do this, you MUST lower each track individually. otherwise you're just degrading the quality of the whole song."

1. am i supposed to use the spectrum to monitor my output levels on my master or on each track individually? i cant figure out which one meter i'm supposed to monitor.

2. my master track contains a lot of effects such as compression and other audio enhancing plugins that really effect the overall feel and sound of the track, when their off , there's a lot lost in the track, how is this going to come back. Is the mastering process really going to bring that all back?

thanks for any help

[jerry123]

Wrong forum for this but:
do the best you can to lower volumes without touching the master and keeping your mix even.
Watch your master meter, the -db level at the top of your master fader.
Send him your mix as you hear it and the proper master without effects, this will give him an idea of what you are after but still have a clean version to work with.

Also, if you have effects on the master that 'make' the track, try moving these to a bus to preserve them but make them mixable.
Save your set as a copy before you do anything

Hope that helps.

Reposting this in the General section will get you more help.

[Markus J. Höermann]

.... so I am also searching for the solution.... I have read some books and also on www.tarekith.com especially http://tarekith.com/assets/mastering.html

Hope get it....
greetings,
Markus

[djdownpat]

Definitely shouldn't be anything on the master, reason being if you/they are going to actually master it correctly you'll be sending them the stems (busses) from each track or group in > 24bit waves. Other than that, if you have "brick-wall" type filters isolating the sounds you want on each track then simply keeping an eye on the ableton channel meters and making sure they stay in the range should be fine, remember to expand the volume section upward in session view so you can see the actual db reading.

Cheers !

[grandpa sekno]

Just what I was wanting to know...Ive did a few songs(techno) and when I mix them on decks with other tunes mine always sound low compared to others(for same db readout on mixer). They just don't stand out as well. So been trying to find out how to get that "loud" sound.

Ive been writing all my songs and trying to get my master to peak at 0db as comin from dj background i thought this is what you want.....now i read differently.

So, to do it right from the start so it can be mastered correctly and hence sound "loud" what are the basic rules I must adhere to???

Also when i use the spectrum analyzer i always seem to have much more volume in the low frequencies...should i be looking for a more flat response across freqs? This would maybe explain why my music takes more power(db) than others for a lower perceived volume??

[Tarekith]

http://www.tarekith.com/assets/mixdowns.html

http://www.tarekith.com/assets/mastering.html


Read those first, they answer a lot of your questions. If you have a lot of effects on the master channel, render a version with and without those effects for your mastering engineer. They will know what do to to get you the sound you are after. Don't render stems unless your mastering engineer specifically asks for it, most mastering guys HATE working from stems believe it or not.

Yes, on a spectrum analyzer the low end will typically be louder then the mids and highs, I suggest you just ignore Spectrum though.

[grandpa sekno]

thanks tarekith.

will read them fully when i next get the chance(at work just now).....

then try another song with this knowledge...

[leedsquietman]

Most mastering engineers will still do the job, even if the peaks are higher than -6dB), it's just good sense in a 24 bit environment to leave proper headroom. Also, if you have buss compression and it's slamming and sounding great (without destroying too many transients and with a small, 2-3 dB gain reduction), you can still have it on (Tarekith's advice is good though, do a version off as well as on) if you like it. The more headroom you leave, the more impact the Mastering Engineer can have on the track.

Mastering engineers do whatever pays them. Ted Jensen advised Metallica not to crush Death Magnetic with massive brick wall limiting and no dynamics, but was told - do it our way, or someone else gets the gig. Therefore, he crushed the mix to -5dB RMS, with some songs having no headroom or transients at all, just one big 'arrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhhh' from start to finish, which sounds distorted, crappy and ear fatiguing, but this is what the client wanted ...

P.S. Seperation Mastering (i.e. with stems) is still quite rare compared to regular 2 channel stereo mastering. Some mastering houses don't even offer that as a service, they will tell advise the client to correct the mix (and possibly give info such as reduce the bass -2dB at 120 Hz etc). Mastering with stems is really MIXING and MASTERING, and you might well be charged a MIXING fee instead of a mastering fee (mixing fees are typically 4-5 times more) as it will take much more time.

[Tarekith]

Bingo. Well said.