Posted: 25 February 2005 at 7:49pm | IP Logged

First.

the mastering usually starts already when producing..

Normally to gain the optimum, you should work on the hi hats, bass drums and snares when u are making a beat, meaning to cut of the high frequencies at the bass drum, the low ate the hi hats and so on..

this will make the beat sound right.

Depending on what instrument u use, you always should cut off the frequencies not used by the instruments cause no matter what, the non needed frequencies are always there, and they make the sound "foggy" u understand ?

And then if you don´t have a professional mixer, then use WaveLab

by Steinberg with the Graphiq EQ plug in from Soundforge.

the Graphiq EQ got 32 bands

And to see what frequencies you need to work on, use the spectral analysis window from WaveLab..

You will se there what frequencies are too mucc or too less and then you work on them with the graphiq EQ..

I know..sounds confusing but it will work

Cheers

Sebastian

Posted: 25 February 2005 at 8:02pm | IP Logged

Do the mastering in the morning when your ears are at their freshest.  You might find what sounded fab last thing at night sounds pants first thing in the morning

Posted: 25 February 2005 at 8:04pm | IP Logged

true...take your time and have a break before mastering.

just think about what the song should sound like when u have the brak..

If you need the attention more on the beat, put it in the foreground..by vocals, more the vocals and so on.

hmm....

well you can check my music and see if this sounds right....maybe i am just talking nonsense....

Posted: 08 March 2005 at 1:47am | IP Logged

I don't think your talking nonsense. A.D.L.A. is a pro, and knows what he is talking about. I would also like to mention a few other things that should be done on tracks. I use a minimum standard of processing for individual tracks, and mixdown's. 

I usually do the following things to individual tracks (in order):

Center Wav - This will realign any constant freq. offset in the track. This sometimes causes white noise / static.

Very Slight Hiss Reduction - Perform a very slight hiss reduction (3% - 5%) on al analog recorded instruments. 

Normalize - the recording to a standard db. (70% for example while working with it.)

Filter Unneeded Freq. Ranges - As A.D.L.A. mentioned previously, eliminate freq. not used on each instrument.

Compression - This is a tricky one and will take some time for you to find the settings you like for your style and instruments. Some tracks will not need compression because many keyboards and MIDI equipment will automatically do this. Software tools such as reason often preprocess things in this manner. However, most analog tracks such as Guitar, Vocals, Live Drums will need to be compressed. Drums should me individually mic'ed so they can individually worked with and compressed. Drum machines can often be configured without needing compression, but it is still rec.

Additional Effects - Chorus, Echo, Delay and the such should then be applied to tracks individually if you want.

I usually do the following things to Mixdown/Master tracks (in order):

Normalize mixdown to 90%

Listen to see if all volume levels are proper. Fix and remix if not correct.

Look for bass peaks rising above the rest, because this is common. If the peaks are excessive and drowning everything else out, or distorting, you might want to manually turn them down on the track and remix. Peaks should never exceed the top of the sound file visually, this is called overloaded, and would result in distortion or odd noise. If they are not too bad, go to the next step.

Hard Limiting - (3db - 5db)This will attempt to force the track up in volume, but will restrict excessive db areas from being raised. It tends to bring the mids up to where the bass is at, if it is not too far off. If you find it is too far off, start over and adjust it manually.

Mid Brightening - Many mixdowns will require the mids to be slightly raised (1db-3db) after preprocessing. Especially music with vocals or guitar. It seems to bring them out ever so slightly...

I will post more hints later - Hope this helps for now....

-=Disdain=-

Posted: 08 March 2005 at 8:34am | IP Logged

 DO NOT's,-

1 Use any form of eq whilst recording or writing a track. (The thery being that if you do-By the time you come to mix down  your ears will be used to the sound of the used eq and therefore color the mix.)

No reverb either- this is the last thing to be applied. Delays are fine.

Mix for 20-30 Minutes then walk away  have a cup of tea and listen to a completely unrelated cd-this will clear the eq setting from your onboard computer (Brain). Then repeat the process until the desired sound is realised. Try not to be heavy handed with the Pots. Eq is used to fix mixing problems not Mastering one's

Cutting bass frequency has the same effect as adding top (Vise-Cersa)

That's all I can think of  at the moment.

Posted: 10 March 2005 at 8:47pm | IP Logged

Just out of interest, what audio editor are you using for your mastering Wendi?

If it's anything like CoolEdit or Soundforge it should have several presets available. I know little of Wavelab, and cannot comment on it with any authority.

One of the golden rules of mastering is (to quote Youth) 'The Thee C's' : COMPRESS COMPRESS COMPRESS!

This feature is usually found under the heading 'Dynamics Processing' on the menu.

I do my own mastering as follows: - my techniques may be applicable within your own work to a certain extent, however you are a classical composer, and therefore do not need to worry too much about beats, drums, etc....I think that you should aim to get a decent balance between the different instruments, focussing upon the interplay between different strings, 'bass elements' (cello is generally a quiet instrument that loses focus is overamped) and support sounds. Here we go then....

• During the song construction phase - Every time I create a new instrument and assign it to a channel within the track I aim to apply the production/balance elements as an ongoing/evolving thing, taking care to achieve the best stereo width, volume, overall panning and sound dynamic.
  
  For example, let's imagine that I am adding an orchestral, or synth string to a track. I will play the thing freehand, or sequence, depending upon the track and then add it to a free channel in a wav form. NEVER as a pure VST instument.
  
  In other words I'm using Fruity Loops to create the string (you are using Cubase, but the principles are the same), and CoolEdit to sequence the entire track. Once I've composed the string in Fruity, and saved it, and applied any necessary VST or DX effects within Fruity itself, I then export the string as a wav file, and import it into CoolEdit - adding it to the master track I do this because it is much easier to apply effects and compression etc. to a wav than a raw VST or midi sequence.
  
  I firstly decide whether the exported string needs to be natural, or have effects such as reverb, chorus etc...and often put it through a parametric equaliser and enhance the high, low or mid tone as necessary. Once I'm happy with it I'll play back the whole song so far with the new string, checking the manner in which it blends with the rest of the song, and that nothing is out of place.
  
  I play back through headphones, and also through speakers, in order to get the best of both! it should sound good through either format, and the phones are good for checking stereo balance.
  
  This same prodedure goes for each channel within the track - from drums, to guitar, to keyboards, to vocals...and so on....applying as much of the mastering legwork to each channel as possible as I compose.
  
• Once the track is as complete as possible, I'll to a test mixdown to wav, and simply listen, listen and listen. Through headphones, through speakers....and through other media. I've even put the file onto my MP3 player flashcard, and played it on my HiFi, and through the MP3 Player speakers....just to check how it sounds on a variety of different devices.
  
• After that, leave it for a good hour or two, do something fun and undemanding, and then come back to it with fresh ears. You'll be amazed at the difference, as the rest period helps kill predjudices and lazy ear symptoms that are caused by too much spot concentration during the construction phase.
  
• I'll usually know at this stage is anything is too loud in the mix, or generally unbalanced, and also have a good idea if the finished track needs to be deeper (more bass, or low frequency enhancement within the graphic qualiser), quieter, have stronger treble or mid-tone..whatever. I'll go back to the master track and correct the volume or balance for any instruments that I'm not happy with, then re-export it as a wav.
  
• The final stage is one of getting the overall volume right, applying compression and dynamics, final equalisation and polish.
  
  I begin with a normalisation of 90%, and then manually alter the amplitude (volume) of the wav until is just sits comfortably between within the 2000 area of the sample value (as below).
  
  

This is the ideal volume for mastering. Overpeaking occurs when the overall volume exceeds the top line of the grid, and this can result in distortion and a 'muddy' performance.

• Once I've got the volume to a working level, and applied normalisation, I apply the compression. This ensures that all loudness peaks are rounded off and unbiased within the mic, resulting in a smooth, fluid, level, final product. There are many presets to choose from within the Dynamics Processing menu, and getting the right ones for your music is largely a matter of trial and error. I personally find that a Cool Edit pre-set called 'Real Audio Compander' works well for me, but you will find others depending on the software you are using 'hard Limiting' is generally a good place to start - and work from there.
  
• The last tweak involves the graphic or parametric equaliser. This should be used with a light hand, and with care, as too much bass boost (or the reverse) can have negative effects. remember what sounds good through headphones, will not necessarily sound the same through your PC or Hi Fi speakers. Play through both! A very gentle mid boost is usually sufficient.
  
• Last of all - put the overall volume back up to the correct level. Again, be cautious! A gentle 2.5 DB boost is usually enough, taking the sample value into the 235 mark on the grid, with some of the higher peaks, just shy of the master line at the top.
  
• When converting to MP3, take into account the final destination of the upload. 128 Kbps is generally fine for day-to-day uploading/emailing etc. 196 Kbps gives a sharper, crisper result, but creates a larger file.

I hope that this has been of some use to you

Posted: 10 March 2005 at 9:10pm | IP Logged

• This will not work with midi channels.  You can either take the audio output channel of your vsti, or render the midi piece in audio first and work with it as an audio channel from there.  Remember, it is an audio effects channel, and midi is data.
• You can direct several audio channels to the same effect channel.  Of course, they will all undergo the same effect.
• Send channels have a dB setting, so you can direct a channel to a FX Channel, but at a lower volume.
• You can send a audio channel to up to 8 FX Channels for cool effect mixes.
• The effect channel will be visible in your mixer, so you can mix it in as if it were a normal audio channel.
• When the send tag is collapsed, the send square next to the symbol will turn yellow if a send is active.  You can deactivate a send to check it's influence by clicking on the on-off button top left.
• In the mixer you can make all inserts and sends visible at once.