Discuss the various methods you use in music production, from compressor settings to equipment type.
By JesseHolmz Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:20 pm
I can't afford to hire someone to mix and master my album. I have pro tools m-powered. Are there any resources available that will teach me how to do something halfway decent? I can always get it remastered when the time comes but I wanna do something that sounds relatively decent myself if possible.


Thanks for any help.
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By Lampdog Thu Feb 09, 2012 12:53 am
Try:

Putting an 80khz low cut on every track that doesn't need lows, ie; hhat, conga, ride.

Tracking mono unless the sample has stereo left-right info, ie; left to right sweep needs stereo).

Add reverb to where you barely barely notice it.

Recording into your DAW at 48khz/24bit if possible.

"Subtractive EQ'ing" instead of adding eq.

Anybody else care to throw some of the top of the head?
I think I know who is coming next with knowledge or lack thereof, lol.

Let's see if I'm right.
By JesseHolmz Thu Feb 09, 2012 1:05 am
Lampdog wrote:Try:

Putting an 80khz low cut on every track that doesn't need lows, ie; hhat, conga, ride.

Tracking mono unless the sample has stereo left-right info, ie; left to right sweep needs stereo).

Add reverb to where you barely barely notice it.

Recording into your DAW at 48khz/24bit if possible.

"Subtractive EQ'ing" instead of adding eq.

Anybody else care to throw some of the top of the head?
I think I know who is coming next with knowledge or lack thereof, lol.

Let's see if I'm right.

Thanks for the info for sure. I have everything recorded, I'm just at the stage where I want it all to sound as crisp and full as possible I guess you could say. I'm only good at making the music, I don't know much about the technical aspect. In a perfect world I wouldn't be broke and I'd hire a professional. Thanks again man.
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By es-k Thu Feb 09, 2012 1:30 am
Lampdog wrote:Try:

Putting an 80khz low cut on every track that doesn't need lows, ie; hhat, conga, ride.

"Subtractive EQ'ing" instead of adding eq.



those two are really good.

another obvious one, make sure nothing peaks
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By cozy Thu Feb 09, 2012 4:09 am
Its pretty hard to give you an idea without hearing what you have recorded and what you plan to do with it (is it hip hop or rock or country? is it instrumental or are there vocals tracked? if its just an instrumental, are you planning on recording vocals over it?).

As far as resources, its going to take more than a couple of days to learn how to mix and get that crispness.

That being said:

Hi pass filter on all tracks except kick and bass. Remove as much low end off of these tracks as possible without affecting the tone of the instrument.

Then slap a low pass filter on the kick and bass and remove hi end frequencies to taste.

If you don't know how to use a compressor, I would stay away from it.

As Lamp said, subtractive eq. I highly suggest making sweeping the frequencies and making subtle cuts only if necessary. Don't get in the habit of doing things just to do them.

Also, mix in mono. If you can get the mix to sound good in mono, it should sound good in most other places.

Good luck
By JesseHolmz Thu Feb 09, 2012 4:18 am
cozy wrote:Its pretty hard to give you an idea without hearing what you have recorded and what you plan to do with it (is it hip hop or rock or country? is it instrumental or are there vocals tracked? if its just an instrumental, are you planning on recording vocals over it?).

As far as resources, its going to take more than a couple of days to learn how to mix and get that crispness.

That being said:

Hi pass filter on all tracks except kick and bass. Remove as much low end off of these tracks as possible without affecting the tone of the instrument.

Then slap a low pass filter on the kick and bass and remove hi end frequencies to taste.

If you don't know how to use a compressor, I would stay away from it.

As Lamp said, subtractive eq. I highly suggest making sweeping the frequencies and making subtle cuts only if necessary. Don't get in the habit of doing things just to do them.

Also, mix in mono. If you can get the mix to sound good in mono, it should sound good in most other places.

Good luck

Sorry I should've been more specific, this is hip hop I'm doing.

I appreciate the advice. A lot of this sounds foreign to me, I won't lie. Are there any good books that "everyone should own" on the subject? I don't know what half the shit you said even means, like sweeping the frequencies, etc.
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By Ill-Green Thu Feb 09, 2012 7:38 am
To add on, keep it all recording between -4 to 0dB and monitor your meters that they bounce reaching the peak occasionally. If your VU meter is stuck on the right position or the dB meter is erected to the peak without bounce then you're clipping major.
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By padlock Thu Feb 09, 2012 9:28 am
i got a little mastering trick on pt9..

maxim!

put maxim on the master fader. and flip thru the settings.. it is a maximizer and makes almost anything have that loudness and full sound, its under dynamics or the compresser drop box part when u add an insert.

i use it on all my bounces now, it may not be the best thing to do all the time, but when knowledge is low on mastering it works a charm.

not sure if its on other versions of pt but there should be something similar

pce!
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By bliprock Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:12 am
Ill-Green wrote:To add on, keep it all recording between -4 to 0dB and monitor your meters that they bounce reaching the peak occasionally. If your VU meter is stuck on the right position or the dB meter is erected to the peak without bounce then you're clipping major.

Depends on if its is dBFS or dB though. Absolutely right for analogue but this is because most gear has a headroom of about 24dBu and Zero dBu is around +4dBu in the real world giving 20 dBu for head room and captures fast transients. in DAWs the clipping point is always 0dBuFS. This means that you need to be at -20dBuFs for tracking, with transients going no more than -6dBuFS.
Mastering gets rid of the headroom, and most commercial stuff will peak at zero dBFS but average -12 dBFS. hope that does not confuse you more.
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By Borat Thu Feb 09, 2012 12:46 pm
JesseHolmz wrote:I appreciate the advice. A lot of this sounds foreign to me, I won't lie. Are there any good books that "everyone should own" on the subject? I don't know what half the **** you said even means, like sweeping the frequencies, etc.


If you're looking for a book, I got this one http://www.amazon.com/Mixing-Audio-Concepts-Practices-Tools/dp/0240520688
It has a lot of informations about everything related to mixing. It comes with a cd with a lot of audio examples and comparaisons. It's very deep though, I haven't finished it yet, but if you're really wanting to learn, it can be really helpful.
By JesseHolmz Thu Feb 09, 2012 7:05 pm
i usually work with stereo samples because there's 2 different types of samples. would it be better to split it into mono? sometimes the samples have different things going on with each side, but i feel like sometimes the entire track sounds muddier.
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By Lampdog Thu Feb 09, 2012 7:48 pm
Lampdog wrote:Putting an 80khz low cut on every track that doesn't need lows, ie; hhat, conga, ride.


This is usually the cause of mud.



If you have different things going on in left and right (sounds or effects) then that sample needs to stay stereo.
By JesseHolmz Thu Feb 09, 2012 8:05 pm
Lampdog wrote:
Lampdog wrote:Putting an 80khz low cut on every track that doesn't need lows, ie; hhat, conga, ride.


This is usually the cause of mud.



If you have different things going on in left and right (sounds or effects) then that sample needs to stay stereo.

Is that some sort of filter? i mean I'm really a big newb when it comes to this aspect of making music. What do i look for in pro tools to do this?
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By Lampdog Thu Feb 09, 2012 8:12 pm
Look through whatever filters you have and mess with them.
If you can find one or a few that do 80khz cutoff (low cut) then try them all.
Place them in a track with a high sample and use the filter. Listen in headphones and see how it sounds. You gotta try.