adding a mastering plug-in to an entire song

supster · Post by **supster** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 7:17 pm

xian wrote: i'm sending out a completed record to a label & am just trying to 'polish' a couple of the tracks - that's it. Cheers.

in that case Ozone works wonders.

put it in your master out and experiment with some of the presets. careful: depending on the track they can really screw your sound badly.

but if you find the right one and play with the levels on the individual effects it can make a huge difference. when its time to get a real professional master done, just re-render your track without the Ozone.
.

Sales Dude McBoob · Post by **Sales Dude McBoob** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 7:31 pm

You guys think with some plugins you can do mastering?I dont think so.Sorry.

I don't want to be rude, but I do want to be blunt. I think that kind of thinking is bullshit.

A few years ago people used to say that good sequencing could only be done by trained studio rats.

I don't have the money to go to a mastering place. I can't even afford to go to a cheapass mastering place. I'd rather buy a mic or more outboard. I'll never convince myself that going to a studio is better than buying toys.

I'm not trying to say that mastering engineers arn't useful and important. All I'm saying is that I'll take an 1176LN instead and try to do it myself and I'll do it until I get it right.

Angstrom · Post by **Angstrom** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 7:45 pm

DJ VAKIS wrote:You guys think with some plugins you can do mastering?I dont think so.Sorry.

did you even read the posts ?

about 2 out of 3 recommend a mastering engineer, those that dont are talking about non-commercial preparation.

Read, then comment.

supster · Post by **supster** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 7:48 pm

Sales Dude McBoob wrote: I'll take an 1176LN instead and try to do it myself and I'll do it until I get it right.

well, i think with that kind of attitude you'll have a good chance of eventually doing something right.

which is totally different from what the majority of people are going to do .. which is stick a plugin on the master, try a few presets, play around with it for a while .. then say the track is "mastered"

you know this is true. its the way people are.

also, truth is most people - the avg musician - doesnt have an exceptionally good ear to begin with. evidence of this is the quality of the typical un-released track you hear in the 'check out my track!' type threads.
.

futureproof · Post by **futureproof** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 7:54 pm

xian, I think your going about it the right way. Make the tracks sound as good as you can before sending them out to labels but just make sure to also render "unmastered" files as well.

When you find a label that wants to release your stuff you can give the unmastered files to them as they will almost certainly have them mastered by a pro. In my experience this has been the case even with underground, vinyl only labels.

smart1123 · Post by **smart1123** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 8:36 pm

Angstrom wrote:
DJ VAKIS wrote:You guys think with some plugins you can do mastering?I dont think so.Sorry.
did you even read the posts ?

about 2 out of 3 recommend a mastering engineer, those that dont are talking about non-commercial preparation.

Read, then comment.

He's just upset that people don't like Sasha

thump · Post by **thump** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 9:14 pm

so, assuming that one is going to attempt to learn to master at home, and has the necessary ear and willpower, is there a hard and fast reason that that mastering should take place in a seperate program, like wavelab or soundforge? or is live just as good an environment for mastering, given plug-ins of high enough quality?

Livewire · Post by **Livewire** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 2:49 am

What kind of equipment do mastering engineers use? Does it take a reasonable amount of time or schooling to learn these techniques and is it possible to get as good as a result using just software?

wilsonrx · Post by **wilsonrx** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 9:23 am

I think its more than just looking at what software and training they have. The best engineers have years of experience and have proper lush recording studios not a desk in the corner of a bedroom (like me!). Saying that, everyone has to start somewhere!

MrYellow · Post by **MrYellow** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 9:43 am

Yeah the reason you hire a mastering engineer is a number of things....

They have great gear/room/monitors/amps.... Not good.... Great.

They have great tools.... Old value EQs and crazy expensive software.

They have perspective... This is the big one.

Mastering engineers have listened to a wide range of music over their
monitoring setup, they know how their monitors sound compared to other
mediums and output devices.

Basically they spend all day knowing how something sounds on their
system and others. You can master yourself, but for a top 40 mix you
might want someone who has listened to the top 40 for the last 20 years
on just about every medium and speaker type.

Personally I hate overly compressed "loud" garbage by big name mastering
engineerings and top 40.

-Ben

mocker · Post by **mocker** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 5:57 pm

Mastering engineers, besides the fact they're usually crazy about GREAT and expensive gear, are just professionnals who know their job and have EXPERIENCED a lot of different situations. I hate this new "ican buy the toys-I can do it myself" attitude. Toys are not always tools. And good musicians are not always good engineers. Plus I love to bring my work to someone else's ears and perspective.