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ray1018 7 October 2005

hey buddy!
How do i mastering my Songs or Album to the Quality or the Volume Level as Commercial Volume Level?

I'm using Soundtrack Pro...is it posible to do that on this software?

After Mixing,is it the Volume Output to the Higherst Level before Mastering step i take?

Give me help man...

Ray

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Cucco Fri, 10/07/2005 - 08:36

Well, you add credibility by replying, but you take away credibility by slaughtering the language further.

So, here goes, I'll give you the default answer.

1. First, there is tons of information about mastering here in this forum. Take the time to search through it and you'll likely get such detailed answers, it will make your head spin.

2. As for :

ray1018 wrote:
How do i mastering my Songs or Album to the Quality or the Volume Level as Commercial Volume Level??

All I can say is, see number 1. And, if in doubt, hire a mastering engineer. They're not that expensive and they're worth it. You wouldn't go to the dentist and have him fix your teeth then go home and put your own braces on with super glue, would you? Why put so much work into mixing and recording if you're just gonna crap on it.

I don't mean to say you can't master any thing, but if your questions are as simple and vague as they appear, then I'm strongly suggesting you seek professional mastering help.

Just bear in mind, I have one of the lowest-end mastering chains out of any of the folks on the board (and am probably one of the lowest MEs on this here totum pole) and it still exceeds $50K plus I have training (classical music) from a few universities and privately.

3. In regards to:

ray1018 wrote:
I'm using Soundtrack Pro...is it posible to do that on this software??

Sure, why not...? Each ME chooses his DAW (if that's his/her weapon of choice) based on several factors. If you have chosen Soundtrack Pro and feel that it will give you control over fades/crossfades as well as allow flexible routing for exiting "the box" and coming back in so you can use outboard gear, etc. then feel free to use it.

My personal choice is Sequoia. It's designed to be a mastering tool and as such has great management of fades/crossfades, markers, effects, routing, evaluation, metering, and perhaps a quite forgotten feature would be DDP export and CD authoring. (Of course, I'm short-changing Magix here, cuz it's a whole lot more than that..)

4. As for:

ray1018 wrote:
After Mixing ,is it the Volume Output to the Higherst Level before Mastering step i take??

If I understand this right, then I want to give a hearty "NO!" Mastering is not about just getting the highest level. Though many think it is, that's one of the misconceptions that makes my job SO friggin hard. If you want to master your tracks by making them loud - send your master bus to a Waves L2 and hit it as hard as you can. You now have a CD at least as good as Green Day's latest release.

If I had to give a definition of mastering it would be:

The process where a disinterested party listens critically to your music and makes minor changes, based on education and proper planning, to enhance the final product that is your piece of music.

If that happens to be slight compression or limiting, or tweaking an EQ, so be it.

However, slamming a mix or making major fixes are NOT the job of an ME.

Here's my hypothesis regarding the value of a mastering engineer.

You should be able to place a mastering engineer in a well-designed room with a good monitoring chain. Beyond that, he/she could have the EQs in a mackie mixer and the Alesis compressor and reverb and they could STILL do their jobs effectively.

Why, because they are trained to LISTEN, not tweak knobs. It just so happens that they also know what the knobs do when they're tweaked. IOW, you won't see an ME reach for a knob and say, "Hmm, I wonder if I twist this knob if it will make the track better."

They listen, they know.

They are worth their money.

But, if you want to master it yourself, please read this section of RO (the mastering forum) and go in armed well. Don't just open up your limiter and get the mix loud.

Good luck!
J. 8-)

Reggie Fri, 10/07/2005 - 08:36

ray1018 wrote:
How do i mastering my Songs or Album to the Quality or the Volume Level as Commercial Volume Level??

This is an impossible question to answer. It's like asking "How can I fly to the best city in the world by myself?" Well, first we would need to know where you are, where exactly your desired destination is, you would need to buy a plane, you would need to learn how to fly the plane, and on and on and on....

It's OK if your English is a little goofy, but you need to understand that there isn't a set way to "master" that works for everything.

ray1018 Fri, 10/07/2005 - 10:27

Thanks You Very Much!!

Hey Reggie and Cucco,Thank you so much...I really understand what did you guys try to share about!!erm...thanks again!!

if i really find out some of my theory problem..i'll post it again ... wish that you guys will continue to give me more input of knowledge!!

Thanks..

Cucco Sat, 10/08/2005 - 06:02

Massive Mastering wrote: Oh...

My...

God...

:lol:

Yeah, my initial response to this was:

Hi! I've never done testicular surgery before, so could you tell me what tools I need to buy and how to use them and what each one's specific function is? I need to get a vasectomy and it's cheaper to do it yourself. My friend down the street did his own and a couple of my friends' and it worked out great!

:lol:

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