Ableton Forum

"Besides, too many people copy others, there's nothing wrong with mixing and mastering a song in a different way from everyone else."


Nothing wrong at all T!

Got your point. And, yes, our goals are different. Most of my releases are sent to BillBoard reporters and radio so I have to match the commercial level.

Most of my releases are sent...umm... well they're not sent

im interested in getting a hold of a spectrum analyzer because there are some bass issues im having in my mixes, that and im curious to see if itll help me out for a few other things.

what are the best software analyzers out there?

while I'm talking about audio spectrums, is there anything available that allows you to do spectral morphs from one sound to the next (i know kyma can do it but i dont have that kind of cash)

Voxengo Span is free and I think pretty good, and I think there are eq's that he's done which can take the spectrum from one track and apply it to another

A spectrum analyzer is a useful tool, but no substitute for practice.
(or an EQ plugin which has its own spectrum analyzer, like http://www.kvraudio.com/get/2747.html)

As is comparing your music to "professional" CDs (warning: there's a trend these days to run everything through a brick-wall limiter before releasing a CD, which many skilled produces call "bad" but gets done anyway.)

Its not always the right tool.

For instance, a dip around the 400hz area can produce the same effect as boosting around 6khz. Just trying to match the 6khz region of your song versus the professional CD will not necessarily make your vocals as clear as theirs, since yours might have more "muddiness" in the 400 region. So use that tool exactly as you describe, just don't trust it implicitly.

another useful tool are EQ guides like:
http://www.modcam.com/emusic/Frequency_ranges.pdf

Using a guide like that, using a spectrum analyzer, using professional CDs as a comparison are all good ways to train your ears. The bottom line is it takes practice.

hey that's pretty good thanks

thanks a lot to everyone

hmm handy. thanks for that.