mixing and mastering an album

[Phology]

hey guys

 

 

im currently in the process of finishing my album

and want to start putting it all together..

im guna use Adobe Audition to do it

and wonderd if anyone here has used it to master an album?

and had any tips?

 

 

also....is it possible to put in 'markers' in the arrangement, that when you export the whole lot

it created seperate tracks, instead of one long file?

 

 

cheers

[muzzell]

its a completely different art to master music and can only be done properly by the pros. you need a treated room and all the proper gear... so if you think you have mixed your music to the best of your ability then send it off/go with a cd to be mastered by a pro. Its probably worth sending your mix off to the master guy so he can give you a heads up if anything need to be changed before hand... like turning bass down or taking excessive reverb off. This will cost money but it will be worth it. There’s no point just whacking a few compressors and limiters on your finished tracks thinking that will do. Hope that helps mate.

 

have a look at some of these talks

 

[Wax On]

I haven't got any advice on this, but i just thought i'd say i'm looking forward to hearing the album!

[Phology]

cheers Wax!! i cant wait either!

 

 

 

nioce one Muzz - ye i mean i basically want to just get all the tracks mixed together nicely so they fit together

and then try to do some basic mastering myself

i think ur right, i'll probably have to take it somewhere after that, to a pro..

[snuff]

its a completely different art to master music and can only be done properly by the pros. you need a treated room and all the proper gear... so if you think you have mixed your music to the best of your ability then send it off/go with a cd to be mastered by a pro. Its probably worth sending your mix off to the master guy so he can give you a heads up if anything need to be changed before hand... like turning bass down or taking excessive reverb off. This will cost money but it will be worth it. There’s no point just whacking a few compressors and limiters on your finished tracks thinking that will do. Hope that helps mate.

 

have a look at some of these talks

 

 

 

what muzzell said. now that i'm signed (as of last night! woop woop) then i've got to deal with that shit. masterign is something that takes about 10 years to get a half way decent ear and requires a shit load of high end gear, SSL to teh max,. if you're even a bit unsure about your own mix they mastering engineer should be abel to mix it porfessionally for you and you'll def get a better result. depending on who you use depends on the cost innit.

 

oh and fuck Adobe Audition!

[dextrous]

As everyone has said, mastering is an art form and good mastering engineers are far more in demand than recording engineers.

If you want to start learning about it from one of the best go to www.digido.com

Check the articles for free info or buy his book if you're serious about it.

[Phology]

hmm...ok so Audition is a bit pointless then

 

im guna have a look at prices at Studios in the area

and try and get the best deal, but obviously without comprimising quality

 

i mean i do have an understanding about how it works

but id rather someone who does it as a profesion to do it

 

 

 

who are u signed to snuff?!

 

congrats man!

[dissonance]

you can do an okay job by yourself, but you'll need to invest in a really nice pair of studio monitors. you need that flat delivery to properly mix. to be honest, you can do just as well or better, in a home studio on audtion or soundforge, as some tool that has the pedigree and the equipment, but no ear.

 

but the speaker must come with the FLAT...and something to dampen any reflection of sound.

[Phology]

to be honest, you can do just as well or better, in a home studio on audtion or soundforge, as some tool that has the pedigree and the equipment, but no ear.

 

 

exactly

 

if i did get it mastered somewhere

id want to be there for every step, every change...............EVERYTHING!

 

if i can do it myself..

why not?

i know how i want it to sound....they dont

 

i agree about the monitor speakers, it would be worthwhile getting a new pair

[muzzell]

yer you can do it yourself (if its just a short batch of CD's and not vinyl), You can use plug ins for sure, but do you really think that’s the same as paying for a dedicated master engineer that does it for a living - a room specially built just for that purpose - high end monitors and all the outboard equipment made for just that job. You dont think a software plug-in is better and the real thing do you?

[muzzell]

http://whitfieldmastering.com/

 

this guy naweed did donkeywork2. he has done alot of uk hip hop and is well know for his good work.

[Lorn]

I master my own shit and it comes out pretty solid, I think. Try it out for yourself

[Grizzly]

Bob Katz (worl renowned mastering engineer) has a book out called "Mastering Audio: the Art and the Science". It's a really great book about mastering and sound in general. I'd say read it, and then try to master some other stuff on your own to practice before trying your own album

[snuff]

to be honest, you can do just as well or better, in a home studio on audtion or soundforge, as some tool that has the pedigree and the equipment, but no ear.

 

 

exactly

 

if i did get it mastered somewhere

id want to be there for every step, every change...............EVERYTHING!

 

 

yup coz that's just what a mastering engineer with 15 years experience in the game needs, a noob looking over his shoulder

 

http://whitfieldmastering.com/

 

this guy naweed did donkeywork2. he has done alot of uk hip hop and is well know for his good work.

 

donkeywork 2 sounds really dope.....

 

i'm using Chemo for my album, he did Kashmere's album, last skpetik/verb t's album and a whole load of other shit as well....he's cheap and good. alternatively there's Adam Audsley how did Witness the Fitness and loads of other shit.....it'sa all about No Sleep Nigel for the old school touvch though lol

[dextrous]

if i can do it myself..

why not?

i know how i want it to sound....they dont

 

Mastering actually has very little to do with how you want it to sound - that should have been taken care of at the recording and mix down stage. Mastering is more about optimising the recording for whatever the output is going to be and a lot of it can only be done with experience. There's nothing wrong with doing mastering yourself to get practice in but if you've worked on a record and you're going to spend ££ pressing and distributing it, you'd be daft not to get a professional to master the recording.

[Phology]

yup coz that's just what a mastering engineer with 15 years experience in the game needs, a noob looking over his shoulder

 

 

well im not guna send the tracks away to be mastered

then returned and i dont like how it all sounds....bit of a waste of money

 

 

Mastering actually has very little to do with how you want it to sound - that should have been taken care of at the recording and mix down stage. Mastering is more about optimising the recording for whatever the output is going to be

 

 

 

thats what i mean....the overall 'ouput sound'

[Phology]

if ur signed to a label, u can use their studio/engineer right?

or do they pay for all studio costs if u worked elsewhere?

[Paul_Caruso]

Sorry if I'm stating the obvious:

 

Recording/Programming - creating the bits that make up your song.

 

Mixing - balancing the individual elements within the song.

 

Mastering - taking a look at the mixed track as a whole and making it sound as good as it could at that point.

 

If you imagine you're making a chair - recording/programming is like when you make the legs, the back rest bit and the seat. You just make each part as best you can, you have an idea of how they're going to all fit together but you're not worried about glue and nails at this stage.

 

Mixing - glue/nail that shit together - it now looks like a chair.

 

Mastering - paint it, varnish it, polish it, sand it smooth. Yes you could sit on it before but now it looks as good as possible and it's nice and smooth on your arse!

 

Sorry if that sounds condescending but people seem to get confused as to what each stage is and when it starts or ends.

 

advice:

 

You can mix a record yourself.

You can master a record yourself.

You don't need fancy equipment to mix or master.

You can get good results.

 

The main factor is time.

 

If you're inexperienced, it will take you longer to translate what you're hearing in your head to what's coming out of the speakers. If you have whack gear, it's going to be more difficult to tell if what's coming out of your speakers is the same as what's going to come out of other speakers elsewhere. All speakers sound different, that's a fact, but there are techniques and ways you can listen to what you're hearing to ensure that your track will sound good elsewhere.

 

You can mix with shit speakers but you have to know their deficiencies. You do a mix, burn a cd, take it to your car - how does it differ from what you were hearing before (make notes if necessary) play it on your home stereo, play it on your ipod, listen on headphones - notice the differences between all these systems. It's then a balancing act to try and take this into account so it's as good as it can be everywhere.

 

I would say mix it yourself on whatever you have (spend money on new, fancy gear if you've got the cash and you want to invest - it will only make it easier!) - once you've got some mixes. Play them to people - are you on the right track? If not - back to the drawing board. I'm sure the label won't put out something that sounds like shit, hopefully they will tell you if it's not quite there yet... It's all time. I'm inclined to say if you're reading this and learning - get someone else to do it. Either sit in with someone who can mix your track or send the files off.

 

If you're interested I wouldn't mind mixing a track (in an SSL studio) for free - if it comes out how you like it it'd be cool to talk about doing the album? If not, no strings... the last thing I mixed got 5/5 in DJ and International DJ mags.

 

Mastering is not my thing but I can make suggestions as to who I would get to do it. I could do it myself on a similar free trial basis but I can't guarantee anything!

 

Oh yeah, generally if you're not present at mixing or mastering you usually get one free change. Meaning, they do a mix or master and send you it, you make suggestions for improvements and they send you back the final version with those improvements. If you pick someone whose work you like, that one change is usually adequate.

[Phology]

thanks for the post.....im guna ignore the first half of it, but thanks!

 

 

 

 

ye im guna have a go doing it myself i think....

if it begins to seem like its not working, i'll take it somewhere else

[dextrous]

While I agree to an extent with Paul, there are still a number of things that you need experience of to be a good mastering engineer, besides knowing what you want it to sound like and having a good pair of ears.

 

If it's going on vinyl then you need to have a good set of meters and know your tolerances. You can only get so many frequencies into a groove.

What if it's going to get radio play? Yep you've got it sounding perfect when it's coming off a CD but what when it's compressed down to FM and all the bass has disappeared - how does it sound then? There is no substitute for experience in mastering, I don't care how good your ears are.

 

And studio time is very rarely free - signed or not. Even the biggest bands pay somewhere along the line - either out of an advance or future money. In fact it's been to undoing of many bands. Let's say you're in a band and you get signed - you get a 1 album contract and £100k advance. Sounds like a dream. Oh wait there's 5 people in the band. £20K each. Oh wait you've got to RECORD the album. The label pay for this maybe, but they're gonna want it back. If that record doesn't sell the label still want their money and you owe THEM. Lots of people have fallen foul of it.

[chile]

shadow mastered endtroducing himself, that doesnt sound too shabba. I remember reading an interview where amon tobin said he masters his own stuff too

[Phology]

hmm interesting Paul

i remember when we had a lecture with Jazzy Jeff and he descirbed a very similar situation

that in theory ur always in debt people if signed to a label

never really actually making money