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How do you master your tracks??

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tonyg123
Junior Member

United Kingdom
133 posts
Joined: Sep, 2011

Posted - 2011/12/09 : 23:50:53

Hey, just fininshed my first track, Ive looked up some tutorials and got TLS MAXAMIZER and it helped alot. also my levels in the mixer are spot on, but when i play it in my decks it generally sound weak and the trim/gain on the channel has to be riight up to get it just past 0db. Ive heard about rendering each channel as a sample and mastering them solo, does any1 do this?? if yes what are the benefits?? what vst's is every1 using for this?? cheers

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Karthy
Senior Member

United Kingdom
337 posts
Joined: Jun, 2011

Posted - 2011/12/10 : 01:46:29

quote:
Originally posted by tonyg123:
Hey, just fininshed my first track, Ive looked up some tutorials and got TLS MAXAMIZER and it helped alot. also my levels in the mixer are spot on, but when i play it in my decks it generally sound weak and the trim/gain on the channel has to be riight up to get it just past 0db. Ive heard about rendering each channel as a sample and mastering them solo, does any1 do this?? if yes what are the benefits?? what vst's is every1 using for this?? cheers

Honestly, I'm just learning mastering myself (been learning it for a few months now) and it still baffles me. I mean generally by mastering a track you're wanting it to sound as good as possible with the mix down you have.

If it's sounding REALLY weak, try fiddling with the mix. Whatever instruments sound flat, mess around with, EQ them, if it's a piano or something I find you can really bring them out in the mix just by upping the highs.

If it's definately the master you're having problems with then I don't really know what to suggest without hearing it.

Rendering each channel and mastering solo would be quite pointless imo, I use FL Studio and each channel has effects slots you can add limiters etc to, so no need to render them but yeah I do add compressors, limiters, eqs etc to each individual track (where needed, not on all). The benefits of doing this is basically you can control the sound of each channel, if somethings sounding flat you add the effects to bring it out in the mix, if somethings too prominent you can lower the volume or eq the bits you don't need out etc.

As for the VST's that I use, I just use FL's built in ones (Fruity Limiter, Multiband Compressor, Parametric EQ 2 etc). I don't see the point in getting new VST's that are just gonna require me to figure out all over again, I'd rather just stick with the ones I've got used to and do a better job with them (they all do the same thing at the end of the day).

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tonyg123
Junior Member

United Kingdom
133 posts
Joined: Sep, 2011

Posted - 2011/12/10 : 11:05:58

Its not anything in particular that sounds weak just played against professional tracks on my decks the volume not at the level they are at, Ive got the mix down as I want it. mite try using the tls maximizer i download on each channel as it did boost the overall volume without putting anything in the red, I use fl aswell and alot of the sounds are eq'd with the parametric eq2 (ace vst!!!) thanks for the reply :D

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DJ Immenze
New Member

United Kingdom
56 posts
Joined: Dec, 2010

Posted - 2011/12/29 : 03:07:53

I'm very new to mastering aswell. Many top producers say that mastering is the process of getting the track as loud as possible without distortion,
This may be correct but its not as easy as put on a maximizer on the master track and getting it to as high as possible.

I think that it's getting the balance between the different frequencies and always having the bass, mid and high as equal most of the time and managing the sounds through; compressing them, limiting, sidechaining where needed.

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http://www.dj-immenze.co.uk

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evolutionize
New Member

United States
31 posts
Joined: Sep, 2011

Posted - 2011/12/29 : 03:44:19

Remember also that if your mastering with a vst like T-RACKS, and raising the highs or lows and the mix sounds better, its better to go back to the mix and eq/fix the problem and then go back to mastering for better results.

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Edited by - evolutionize on 2011/12/29 03:49:22

B-Tek Project
New Member

United Kingdom
31 posts
Joined: Dec, 2011

Posted - 2011/12/29 : 10:52:59

I send mine away to a pro to get done. No point in trying to master a track when I don't know how to master properly.

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Shades
Advanced Member

United Kingdom
1,189 posts
Joined: Dec, 2006

Posted - 2011/12/29 : 11:11:17

quote:
Originally posted by B-Tek Project:
I send mine away to a pro to get done. No point in trying to master a track when I don't know how to master properly.

how much do you pay for mastering?

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Triquatra
Moderator

United Kingdom
12,635 posts
Joined: Nov, 2003

Posted - 2011/12/29 : 12:37:54

last I checked the going rate was between 40-50GBP depending on who it is

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B-Tek Project
New Member

United Kingdom
31 posts
Joined: Dec, 2011

Posted - 2011/12/29 : 13:40:56

quote:
Originally posted by Shades:

quote:
Originally posted by B-Tek Project:
I send mine away to a pro to get done. No point in trying to master a track when I don't know how to master properly.

how much do you pay for mastering?

I use Kurt so it's only 15gbp. Best price around and such a top guy to work with too.

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Mortis
Advanced Member

United Kingdom
7,493 posts
Joined: May, 2004

341 hardcore releases

Posted - 2011/12/29 : 13:52:43

quote:
Originally posted by B-Tek Project:

quote:
Originally posted by Shades:

quote:
Originally posted by B-Tek Project:
I send mine away to a pro to get done. No point in trying to master a track when I don't know how to master properly.

how much do you pay for mastering?

I use Kurt so it's only 15gbp. Best price around and such a top guy to work with too.

Check out his work here: http://soundcloud.com/mortis/bang-sailaway-mortis-classic

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hinotestudios
Starting Member

United Kingdom
2 posts
Joined: Dec, 2011

Posted - 2011/12/30 : 15:22:23

theres no 'correct' or simple way to do it. but the tools you would use could be any or all of the following:

Frequency analysis and corrective EQ
compression
parallel compression
multiband compression
limiting
dithering
stereo width analysis
Peak Volume and RMS analysis to check levels to ensure the track is comparably loud with commercial mixes (or other suitable reference material)
fades - at the start and end of the tracks
testing mixes on several sets of speakers and adjusting frequency content to get the best balance across different monitors

As it happens i offer a mastering service :)

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Archefluxx
Advanced Member

United Kingdom
1,112 posts
Joined: Sep, 2011

Posted - 2011/12/30 : 16:06:40

I work in FL sorting out the mix down, export and master in TRackS3. Works a treat most of the time

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Kayin
New Member

United States
52 posts
Joined: May, 2009

Posted - 2011/12/30 : 16:35:30

Sheesh, TRackS3 is $500 x_x
Well I use FLStudio for mastering (yeah a bunch of people say FLS isn't the best for mastering) and usually they turn out okay like that. There's a bunch of plugins specifically for mastering you could add to FLS on the master track, but then I'm just too lazy to export everything then import it in another program hehe.

From what someone told me, so long as you've mixed down everything low enough so it doesn't surpass 0db, mastering will be easy and of course using your ears is more helpful than numbers or what other people's techniques are for mastering.

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tonyg123
Junior Member

United Kingdom
133 posts
Joined: Sep, 2011

Posted - 2011/12/30 : 21:19:00

40-50 I think is quite expensive, but 15 is really good espically from kurt.

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DJ_FunDaBounce
Advanced Member

Colombia
2,008 posts
Joined: Nov, 2001

Posted - 2011/12/31 : 16:18:03

I usually master my own stuff to play in sets. I've gotten some good results with Cubase 5's multi-band compressor, T-racks Brickwall limiter and T-racks linear phase EQ. That being said I actually do recommend getting a professional to do it as it will bring a fresh perspective on your work. For this I've worked with Ruffage from http://www.purefocus.ca/ and have been very pleased with the results. The guy is a pro. About $35-40 Canadian Dollars per track last time I sent stuff over.

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http://www.brightspeedrecordings.com/

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BassfaceRecordings
Junior Member