I need tips on mastering

[Sean]

Hey all. So I finally just got my Reason 3.0 upgrade, which includes a mastering suite. Since this is the first time I've ever had the option to master my tracks, I was wondering what tips any of you that are experienced with the process might have to say about it. The tools included in Reason's mastering suite are an equalizer, a stereo imager, a compressor, and a maximizer.

Thanks for your help!

[viddy]

Mastering is that last step, where you sweeten the overall sound of your track with small amounts of EQ, volume leveling, and compression/limiting.

In the case of mastering a whole album, the goal is to get the volume and the EQ of each track to sound similar (as part of an album), so as not to have eack track sound too different. You don't want one song nice and crisp and loud, and have the next track sound duller and (gasp!) quieter. An example is to compare the overal sound of an album today (overall volume as well as clarity in the highs all the way down to the lowest lows) to one that was recorded a decade or two ago. There's generally a difference.

When just mastering one track, I would suggest finding a song or two by one or two of your favorite artists that you like the sound of, then A/B compare the overall sound of your track to theirs. Tweak the compression/limiting (volume) and the EQ to get your track to sound good like their tracks.

Hope this helps.

[Cranks]

You might want to check out : www.livepa.org

Read the message board, they always have some discussions on mastering, eq, etc....I've found some very useful information on there.

[Tyler]

I have been using the Kompakt Mastering preset that comes with the 3.0 suite, but adjusted a bit for my own preferences. Load some presets and go from there.

[Leon]

My friend is doing a course in studio production and I'm going to record a track there hah.

Anyway, mastering starts with each seperate sound for me. Just watch out that they are not too loud, play it all together and listen to what bothers you the most. Then EQ, filter or whatever that.

I dunno, I'm not an expert either. I know no theories about music, I just do what feels and sounds best.

[rtzig]

It's probably best to have somebody else master your tracks if you are planning a release. Mastering is best left to engineers who have had years of experience and have the tools and speakers to do the job properly. If you do want to do it yourself, I would suggest getting Mastering Audio by Steve Katz. http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Audi...6305917&sr=1-1
This book is the best thing you can buy about mastering but it still doesn't compare to what a good mastering engineer could do for your project.

[King of Snake]

Originally Posted by Leon

My friend is doing a course in studio production and I'm going to record a track there hah.

Anyway, mastering starts with each seperate sound for me. Just watch out that they are not too loud, play it all together and listen to what bothers you the most. Then EQ, filter or whatever that.

I dunno, I'm not an expert either. I know no theories about music, I just do what feels and sounds best.

actually that would be called mixing. Mastering is only done after you've recorded your final MIX to a stereo audio track. Mastering could then involve global eq changes, (multiband) compression, exciting, tape saturation and other mysterious processes.
Any mastering engineer will tell you that it is a completely different process from mixing (where you're trying to make all the different sounds sit well in the mix, versus mastering where you're simply trying to give the final mix a bit more "oomph" or sheen or whatever.)
I'm not a mastering engineer of course, so the only advice I can give is to make sure your mix is as good as possible. If your mix sounds good, but you want to add a bit more volume, use a bit of multiband compression. If you're tonal balance sounds off, try and compare with a professionaly mastered track in the same genre and adjust your master eq (there are several eq analyser plugins available that can help you match frequencies between tracks). Don't overdo it! And don't do it at all if your track is gonna be sent off to an actual mastering engineer later, because they won't like it if you've already squashed all the dynamics out of your mix with some multiband compressor preset. If it's not loud enough, turn up the volume on your stereo!
Myself I usually stick to a bit of compression with Digitalfishphones' Endorphin plugin, and then maybe a bit of eq and that's it.

[viddy]

If you can get your hands on one of the Waves bundles (such as the Diamond bundle), they come very highly reccommended. These plugins can do some great things; such as the L1 plugin, which is a limiter than can make your mix louder (sometimes up to 12db) without distortion and without sounding too compressed.

http://www.waves.com/

[stimpee]

For a second I read "i need tips on mastering" as something else

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

& I was about to suggest the best shops to purchase leather goods.

THANKS for the site stimpee, it can only get more fun from here on!!!!