Ableton Forum

thanks for the suggestions -- I have tried normalizing (to no avail) and Ozone does seem a good, somewhat affordable option. Does anyone think that Toast might help matters?

I do realize that professional mastering is 'professional' and costly for a reason, and while I don't expect to sound as 'full bodied' as a Monolake cd, I was just hoping my friends could listen to the tracks and not have to strain their ears and wonder if their ipods are broken....somehow, I think at least that decent rendering should be possible with Live. I can't imagine Garageband making much of a profit if people can only burn cds that sound like tinny 8-tracks....well, of course it can be said that 8-tracks sound fine, but you know what I mean.

Hi!

Before paying anything you should check some free ones.

Try http://digitalfishphones.com/ You will be surprise

Hugo

Jonathan Binns wrote:thanks for the suggestions -- I have tried normalizing (to no avail) and Ozone does seem a good, somewhat affordable option. Does anyone think that Toast might help matters?

I do realize that professional mastering is 'professional' and costly for a reason, and while I don't expect to sound as 'full bodied' as a Monolake cd, I was just hoping my friends could listen to the tracks and not have to strain their ears and wonder if their ipods are broken....somehow, I think at least that decent rendering should be possible with Live. I can't imagine Garageband making much of a profit if people can only burn cds that sound like tinny 8-tracks....well, of course it can be said that 8-tracks sound fine, but you know what I mean.

run your exported live tracks through T-racks 24. if you can't afford pro mastering, this is (one of) the next best thing(s).

Take care not to overdo it with limiting. I often overdo and wouldn't wish my incompetence on anyone else.

Thank you SO much, Ableton team. Live 4, I think I love you.

-n

thanks again -- of course I had to try the freebie first, and unfortunately the fishbones only seem to have one plug-in for OSX. nonetheless it might be the answer, although i will have to work with it more this weekend. tracks-24 seems good as well, but i'm getting a good reading on my irony meter by having to shell out almost as much as the cost of Live...

i would be curious still to learn

1. if an abletonian has any further response to this issue, considering that Live seems to be morphing into that forever dubious 'studio-in-a-box' -- even if someone was to say 'well obviously idiot, you have to get professional mastering or buy more software to burn that Live set cd. ' it seems like ableton want us to use Live as our daw of choice, and i want this to be so, but i can't help but feel like it is not quite there...

2. the full workflows of the previous 'happily made my album in Live' posters.

i don't doubt the genius of Live, i just want to be one of the happy campers with a shiny little cd souvenir of my travels...

Jonathan Binns wrote:thanks again -- of course I had to try the freebie first, and unfortunately the fishbones only seem to have one plug-in for OSX. nonetheless it might be the answer, although i will have to work with it more this weekend. tracks-24 seems good as well, but i'm getting a good reading on my irony meter by having to shell out almost as much as the cost of Live...

i would be curious still to learn

1. if an abletonian has any further response to this issue, considering that Live seems to be morphing into that forever dubious 'studio-in-a-box' -- even if someone was to say 'well obviously idiot, you have to get professional mastering or buy more software to burn that Live set cd. ' it seems like ableton want us to use Live as our daw of choice, and i want this to be so, but i can't help but feel like it is not quite there...

2. the full workflows of the previous 'happily made my album in Live' posters.

i don't doubt the genius of Live, i just want to be one of the happy campers with a shiny little cd souvenir of my travels...

I'm on OSX and I use the Fish Fillet from Digital Fish Phones: Blockfish,Floorfish, and Spitfish. Also check out VIntage Warmer by PSP Audioware - I always get compliments on how punchy and full my mixes are. Antares Tube is also a good one.

Remember - EQ EQ EQ.

Robert Henke and Chris Cowie on the same thread. I'm impressed!

i used live to make my whole album

i'll throw in again... for my record, i did my own mastering, and i really don't know a damn thing about "professional" mastering. i made things sound how i wanted, saved them as high quality .wav files, edited them a little bit (mostly making sure there was the right amount of space at the end of each song), and then sent it off for pressing. i think the finished product sounds great, and i haven't heard anyone else complain...

Just wanting to bring some of the more interesting production oriented threads back up to the front!

Great idea

I came across recording.org and learned alot out there.
One of the questions raised there is: Why does everybody wants to master his own stuff?
I do believe that people who have been spending money on gear and education for years, can do a better job at mastering then me. (what do i know?)
But is there a difference in mastering for a release or mastering for a live situation?

H

I do all my songs with Live only. I record direct to live, do all my loop chopping in it, and mixing too. for me it's fast and easy.
here are a few of the songs that are all Live created...
http://mapmap.em411.com/list/release
map~map

That's a super interesting topic...does anybody have any knowledge of this to share?

As a footnote to this thread, I did buy the T-Racks plugin and I am pretty happy with what it can do to my Live sets....Still, it is a lot of work to reach that 'just right' stage, and I sure wish I could just get back to making music.

And as I think Hoffman2k was implying, it is probably preferable to have it done by someone else....if anyone can afford it. However, a friend of a friend sent their stuff out, paid a few hundred dollars and the finished crap product cannot be played in most club sound systems...so be forewarned. I am all for the 5dots approach....

j.