MasterinG

yeah, that's how I got to not putting much on the master bus, I had to mix with peaks between -6db and -3db, no compression or limiting on the master, I actually didn't even eq the master bus, those tracks were sent of to mastering, and we normalized a different copy and burned them to CD and we prefered that even to what the mastering house did, so I keep that in mind as I mix. I do take stabs at mastering my shyt, just to practice, but I'm missing a few key things besides experience, like a good room to monitor in.

TicToc wrote:every enginner and mastering house IVe ever spoken to or used all said the same thing, in bold capital letters...

"DO NOT EVER PUT A LIMITER ON THE MASTER BUS".

This is true, if you're mixing a record for a commercial release that's going to be PROFESSIONALLY mastered. Let the mastering engineer make descisions in this regard. But lets keep it real. We talking 'bout hommies mixing in the basement trying to get their sound right. Everybody has a way they like to work. I take the approach that there is no right or wrong way to this sh*t. Only good sound and bad sound. If I need to demo a track, I do a quick mix which involves eq and a limiter on my master bus. If the track gets purchased, its going to get remixed and mastered at a later date after the session files get delivered.

i think you should leave the mastering to the professional guys who do this for a living in the mastering suites.


unless you are on a reaaaaaaaaaaally tight budget

Like good mastering people work cheap!

elmacaco wrote:Like good mastering people work cheap!

shhhhhhhhhhhhh

if i can plant that seed early on, they will start believing that they need to hire professionals..i.e. me in the future

(starts counting pennies)

Yeah, but youm know it is actually not bad advice to mix like you will send it to a mastering house. You will probably do a better job trying to maintain the low level without the use of the compressor on the main outs. That's what I have found out so far, but I am still learning.

tdot wrote:i think you should leave the mastering to the professional guys who do this for a living in the mastering suites.


unless you are on a reaaaaaaaaaaally tight budget

why dont u let producing to the pro's too, and go fishing or something???

anyway...

back to the subject:
1-why should/shouldnt i limit the mix
2-do u master each track alone? or all tracks together (for an album or ep or demo)?
3-how much do u experiment with stereo fx (stereo imaging 3d stuff...)

does anyone here use ozone? how good do u think it is and how good are u at it?

I second that last question about ozone - I'd like to know people's thoughts about it too. I got a demo, but not really fiddled with it yet...

scizz wrote:

tdot wrote:i think you should leave the mastering to the professional guys who do this for a living in the mastering suites.


unless you are on a reaaaaaaaaaaally tight budget

why dont u let producing to the pro's too, and go fishing or something???

easy there tiger. if your really serious about getting your record out there at the highest possible quality, you go to the guys who know how to fondle a J desk in a way that is godly.

If you wanna be a DIY guy, then by all means. But Im just stating the obvious i guess

Ozone, T Racks or any other mastering suite software will give you decent results if the track was mixed well, if not then you're just gonna get a less dynamic, louder, garbage track.................. garbage in, garbage out!

scizz wrote:back to the subject:
1-why should/shouldnt i limit the mix
2-do u master each track alone? or all tracks together (for an album or ep or demo)?
3-how much do u experiment with stereo fx (stereo imaging 3d stuff...)

1- if you strap a limiter on the master bus you'll start adjusting your mix to compensate for what the limiter is doing. Also, if you plan to send tracks to a mastering house for mastering they'll want and need at least a few db's of headroom to work their magic.

2- mastering is the processing of a stereo track containing all elements of a mix

3- In the mix I experiment with the stereo imaging all the time, when it comes to mastering this should already be done although with processors like Ozone you can "open up" the stereo field a lil bit if you wanted to

tdot wrote:

scizz wrote:

tdot wrote:i think you should leave the mastering to the professional guys who do this for a living in the mastering suites.


unless you are on a reaaaaaaaaaaally tight budget

why dont u let producing to the pro's too, and go fishing or something???

easy there tiger. if your really serious about getting your record out there at the highest possible quality, you go to the guys who know how to fondle a J desk in a way that is godly.

If you wanna be a DIY guy, then by all means. But Im just stating the obvious i guess

From my experience, you don't run down to GC, cop an MPC and by next week, you're mixing on a J and getting mastered by Bernie Grundman. I guess you have to work up to that. When you're ready for pro mastering, you'll know it. Until then, you're a DIY guy.

cooocooo1 wrote:

scizz wrote:
2-do u master each track alone? or all tracks together (for an album or ep or demo)?

2- mastering is the processing of a stereo track containing all elements of a mix

when i said "tracks" i meant songs

I get outstanding results with Ozone.....

2nd that

get the ozone package and the dvd guide and you'll be on your way-

greg

Ozone aint no joke. 2nd that.