Mastering Techniques.
Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2011 6:53 pm
Hey guys!
So, i personally think i'm pretty good at coming up with decent bass lines, melodies and drum loops in my head for producing electronic music. The only thing i'm still learning about is mastering. Basically, i'm kind of a noob, and i just want to know what to get and how to use it. I've been looking some stuff up and i kind of get the jist, but it would be great to see how other people master their tracks. First of all, what hardware/software limiter(s) should be a good starter? I don't mind if it's hardware or software but i'm limited on money so please take that in mind (cheapest, that is not the crappest, if you know what i mean). From there, whats the best way to do it? My thoughts are, you make all the different tracks, blah blah blah, make them all sound good together, so you have the song 'un-mastered', then you go through each track and limit them, and all the other stuff that you do in mastering that is don't really know (lol), then limit and stuff the whole thing, to get a finnished product. This sounds really basic and breif, but i'm trying to make it sound as simple as possible. What do you have to say about this? Am I on the right lines? Also what are the signs that you are 'mastering right'. Like, simply no distortion? Or what? One last thing, i'm pretty sure this is the noobiest question, but i hear the term 'bus' alot (e.g. 'i got this piece of hardware so i could finnish some stuff i wanted to do with the drum bus' - some guy of youtube). I vaugely know what a bus in computering is. I think it is something that makes it so that you can use as little pathways as possible to get communication between components? Again, i'm still learning but i think i am on the right lines.
I realise that these are a very large complex set of questions, written very basically, i just wanted to get it all out and help will be very much appreciated!
Chris.
So, i personally think i'm pretty good at coming up with decent bass lines, melodies and drum loops in my head for producing electronic music. The only thing i'm still learning about is mastering. Basically, i'm kind of a noob, and i just want to know what to get and how to use it. I've been looking some stuff up and i kind of get the jist, but it would be great to see how other people master their tracks. First of all, what hardware/software limiter(s) should be a good starter? I don't mind if it's hardware or software but i'm limited on money so please take that in mind (cheapest, that is not the crappest, if you know what i mean). From there, whats the best way to do it? My thoughts are, you make all the different tracks, blah blah blah, make them all sound good together, so you have the song 'un-mastered', then you go through each track and limit them, and all the other stuff that you do in mastering that is don't really know (lol), then limit and stuff the whole thing, to get a finnished product. This sounds really basic and breif, but i'm trying to make it sound as simple as possible. What do you have to say about this? Am I on the right lines? Also what are the signs that you are 'mastering right'. Like, simply no distortion? Or what? One last thing, i'm pretty sure this is the noobiest question, but i hear the term 'bus' alot (e.g. 'i got this piece of hardware so i could finnish some stuff i wanted to do with the drum bus' - some guy of youtube). I vaugely know what a bus in computering is. I think it is something that makes it so that you can use as little pathways as possible to get communication between components? Again, i'm still learning but i think i am on the right lines.
I realise that these are a very large complex set of questions, written very basically, i just wanted to get it all out and help will be very much appreciated!
Chris.
