mastering [Archive] - sidewaysfive.net

WAVERUNNER

11-29-2009, 09:52 PM

RanThrive

11-29-2009, 10:05 PM

Airshow in Boulder is one of the top 5 in the USA. You get what you pay for. $150 an hour. But it is really a good experience.

I use other people and I'm in the process of buying gear, But I totally recommend Airshow.
Google them.

I'll check them out but keep in mind i'm just producing for my own good, I'd rather get some software and learn it myself. If I can get even the slighest difference in sound quality its worth it to me ya know.

DJ Hero

11-30-2009, 07:11 AM

I'll master your projects for $30.oo an hour

Louis Marr

11-30-2009, 07:13 AM

never used his services myself but I hear Zeno is good.

Louis Marr

11-30-2009, 07:14 AM

Oops. you meant software. Never used it either but I hear Waves bundle is the way to go

Fonzie

11-30-2009, 09:07 AM

As for software, I really like Izotope's Ozone VST. It's no substitute for a professional master but it can polish a tune up nicely.

Tommy B

11-30-2009, 09:11 AM

As for software, I really like Izotope's Ozone VST. It's no substitute for a professional master but it can polish a tune up nicely.

I have to agree.. Quin showed me a lil bit with Ozone.

I think the thing it with mastering. you have to know what you are doing. I have heard some tracks mastered in just reason, that would know your socks off.

Ozone is badass for sure. I highly recommend it.

speaking of reason.. I finally found someone that wanted to buy it. lol

Brandon

11-30-2009, 09:31 AM

Ozone is teH tits for sure, but there are some mastering audio groupings in Live 8.0 Suite that are great starting points for beefing up some tracks.

Fonzie

11-30-2009, 09:35 AM

Is the multiband compressor in Live worth a damn? I've messed around with it but always just end up using Ozone instead.

DJ Hero

11-30-2009, 09:47 AM

Man, there some mis-typing mofo's on this thread

rolfmonster

11-30-2009, 10:01 AM

Man, there some mis-typing mofo's on this thread

:lol: That is what I thought too!

brandon bass

11-30-2009, 10:26 AM

I have heard some tracks mastered in just reason, that would know your socks off.

yeah, i don't think people realize that mastering is all about getting a proper mixdown and actually knowing how to master in the first place. no single vst or daw is gonna make your shit sound better.

everybody flips out on the dirtybird sound right now but if you asked them what they think of reason they would talk a bunch of shit about it. little do they know that claude von stroke and justin martin used reason (and only reason) to write like %90 of the tunes that everybody is jocking right now.

same with justin long, mazi and a whole slew of others that have seen a great amount of success in this biz.

but to answer the initial question, learn the program you are using in and out and learn to master well with what you have. then if you feel that it is inadequate go and drop a bunch of cash on vsts. until then just learn how to use what you have

zeno

11-30-2009, 04:21 PM

I use my UAD-1 powered plugins for a lot of my mastering tools. I also use Waves L2 here and there. Reality is, there's no magic tool that will make your shit sound gold. It's all about using your ears and your experience.

I do, however, highly recommend the Universal Audio UAD-1/UAD-2. Legendary analog emulation at a fraction of the cost.

On my own tunes, I'll usually self master the pre-release dubs. But when it comes to releasing them, I'd rather have a fresh set of ears on them.

Alert

11-30-2009, 05:36 PM

...listening to your mixdown in another studio (which has been sonically treated with acoustic foam, etc.) and then fine tuning said mixdown will help to get it sounding proper prior to mastering (the more you get the mixdown on the money, the less work after the fact).

It will also help you to train your ear to hear when the mixdown sounds balanced.

I use Waves L3 to master...as I'm all DIY...:panda:

RanThrive

11-30-2009, 09:19 PM

I went through seperate sounds on the mixer as well as the whole track with some eq's and found that it was pretty proportioned except the drums and bass was a little over powering a few other sound and melody, but then again i'm producing jungle/dnb and that is the main cource of the song. So after equilizing I would like the finishing touch with some mastering.

Oops. you meant software. Never used it either but I hear Waves bundle is the way to go

I found out waves to be really good, I was at guitar center today and they had the waves matering bundle on sale for $600 which is still out of my range, also it may be a bit advanced.

I found this software called sonic sweet that is suppost to be pretty good and its only $100. It's pretty basic too from which I understand and may be a bit more friendly to start out with.

As for software, I really like Izotope's Ozone VST. It's no substitute for a professional master but it can polish a tune up nicely.
I will also check this one out, how user friendly is Izotope?

DJ Hero

12-01-2009, 10:42 AM

I use WAVEs. I have for many years. I highly recommend them.

Brandon

12-01-2009, 11:42 AM

I will also check this one out, how user friendly is Izotope?
Someone with zero experience could figure it out... which I think was the intent. Amazingly easy to use and equally as versatile. I love oZone.

RanThrive

12-01-2009, 04:08 PM

I use WAVEs. I have for many years. I highly recommend them.

I just got waves diamond bundle from a freind today, it has about 40 plugins but no mastering plugin. I didn't relize but I guess this program cost a few thousand, crazy but I hear tons of great things on this.

RanThrive

12-01-2009, 04:10 PM

oh wait I guess I was wrong, it does have mastering, a few differents options..

Just Ben

12-01-2009, 04:17 PM

I <3 waves bundles

zeno

12-01-2009, 05:42 PM

SimonV just posted a mastering tutorial on his site:

http://www.simonv.com/tutorials/mastering.php

Also Izotope has a decent tutorial for Ozone on their website (pdf) - it can be helpful across platforms, though.

I'm willing to bet Hero has a tutorial or two available as well?

I often use the Waves L2 an addition to the UAD. :)

Kenshō

12-01-2009, 09:46 PM

yeah, i don't think people realize that mastering is all about getting a proper mixdown and actually knowing how to master in the first place. no single vst or daw is gonna make your shit sound better.

everybody flips out on the dirtybird sound right now but if you asked them what they think of reason they would talk a bunch of shit about it. little do they know that claude von stroke and justin martin used reason (and only reason) to write like %90 of the tunes that everybody is jocking right now.

Reason is extremely powerful. Yet it also simultaneously provides you the restriction you need to actually spend your time writing music opposed to spending your time trying to make things work. As far as mastering in reason goes- I think that if you're good at EQ'ing and actually understand how compressors work you can "master" in damn near anything and make your mix sound good, not great.

oh wait I guess I was wrong, it does have mastering, a few differents options..

diamond actually has quite a bit for mastering purposes.

infuzion

12-04-2009, 10:47 PM

Reason is extremely powerful. Yet it also simultaneously provides you the restriction you need to actually spend your time writing music opposed to spending your time trying to make things work. As far as mastering in reason goes- I think that if you're good at EQ'ing and actually understand how compressors work you can "master" in damn near anything and make your mix sound good, not great.+1
& the best thing about Reason is when you outgrow it, you're 99% likely to upgrade to a DAW with ReWire, so your Reason investment is still ubber usefull as an outboard VST rack.

BTW, I love the audio-sheen Reason has, esp the reverb.

Brandon

12-05-2009, 06:43 AM

Yea, but Reason always sounds like you're producing in a tin can, unless you rewire the whole rack to another DAW. Frankly, if I'm going to rewire externally, I'll just use that external DAW and remove Reason from the equation.

superchibisan

12-09-2009, 09:56 PM

My chain looks like this.

LP10 Eq > Izotope Ozone 4 > custom plugin that uses live's compression to add beef to the track> PSP Xenon Limiter.

before i do all that, i try to harmonically balance my mixdown. this is the key to getting good masters i've noticed.

zeno

12-10-2009, 03:09 AM

RanThrive

12-10-2009, 09:06 AM

I've heard quite a few tracks straight out of reason that sound great.

just used this program called T-Rack for EQing and waves for compression.. Seems to have helped alot.

Erik Mitchell

12-10-2009, 12:08 PM

i try to harmonically balance my mixdown.

That has always been the hardest part for me hehe

RanThrive

12-10-2009, 10:11 PM

I'm gonna post a link to this track I just finished in the audio/tracks thread, would be great if I could get some feedback from some of you.

superchibisan

12-14-2009, 06:40 PM

That has always been the hardest part for me hehe
quick and dirty answer is back off on the bass... there is more to it, but thats a good starting point.

also, get yourself a nice spectrum analyzer. better than the ableton one.
try to get your shit to peak out at the same levels, the important sounds at least.

RanThrive

12-15-2009, 09:18 PM

I'm gonna post a link to this track I just finished in the audio/tracks thread, would be great if I could get some feedback from some of you.

Posted.

WAVERUNNER

12-16-2009, 04:11 AM

I'm gonna post a link to this track I just finished in the audio/tracks thread, would be great if I could get some feedback from some of you.
Not bad, the only thing I would do differently is put a smooth deep bassline with a hint of distortion 1 octave below the bassline you already have that kinda ties it all together. I kept waiting the whole time for the deep bass to kick in and it never did. i think that would just make the track. But it's all up to you, just my 2 cents.
What are you using for monitoring? Seems like the bass is lacking a little, but I am not at home and just using my earbuds.

RanThrive

12-16-2009, 08:36 AM

Not bad, the only thing I would do differently is put a smooth deep bassline with a hint of distortion 1 octave below the bassline you already have that kinda ties it all together. I kept waiting the whole time for the deep bass to kick in and it never did. i think that would just make the track. But it's all up to you, just my 2 cents.
What are you using for monitoring? Seems like the bass is lacking a little, but I am not at home and just using my earbuds.

Thanx, i'm gonna see what i can do to improve the bass a little. Right now I'm using krk, no sub at the moment. The bass sound pretty loud coming outa these but i'm sure it sounds different coming from other sources. Especially earbuds.

Thanx for tha feedback.

WAVERUNNER

12-16-2009, 01:33 PM

WAVERUNNER

12-16-2009, 01:58 PM

also, get yourself a nice spectrum analyzer. better than the ableton one.

http://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Product_FreqAnalyst/

RanThrive

12-16-2009, 06:42 PM

Yea, if you don't have a sub, anything below what the main monitors can produce, is all guess work. It definately helps to know what is or isn't there. Personally I prefer full range monitors to avoid the issues that come into play with external subwoofers, but I may have to break down and purchase one because I am going to get a set of yamaha HS50M's.

I can acually hear bass pretty well with these monitors, the only thing is when I'm playing low frequencies but still nothing will compair to a full range montior or sub. Those yamaha's look pretty nice.

Also I think the waves bundle that I have has a spectrum analyzer plugin but i'm still new to it and haven't messed with all the plugin's yet. Had it for less than 2 weeks.