so i know I shouldnt try to master myself without propper experience and equiptment, but my tracks are so low compared to yours guyses, they are balanced, but it seems when I amp them to get them to level, i have to eq it again, should I leave my tracks quiet, or amp them to normal, im kind of stuck but its no big deal if i screw up because I can recall the sessions.

any advice ? please and thanks.

What are you recording to?

I record to tape, then use Audacity on the laptop to record from tape into computer.
Then I can amplify up a little bit in a few seconds time.

do you do any compression or eq after its recorded to the computer ?
or do you eq from your tape machine ?



this is my signal chain.

digital recorder >(digital connection)> 606(interface) > computer

then sometimes from the 606 interface to tape because it doesnt transmit
any dither, so I can get real clean signal to tape from the computer + fx .

I usually mix in the computer, everything that ends up as a computer file
is meticulously handled and cared for every step up the way, so it is rich.
all out takes are deleted in pre production in the tascam, so computer
sessions are rich data and easy to work with, I find no syncing problems
bouncing single tracks to tape and then replacing them in the digital mix.
I noticed that as a problem on other tapedecks though.

I think I found my problem t , i'm using a windows computer and have no reference to loud music, So, I will turn my windows mixer down and get louder mixes.

i did a little experiment, amped my mixdown to 16 db, then compressed it
and it was the same size of wave as before I amped it ! ha i got lots to learn .

try this (quick advice)
very important:
first step
EQ...1)try to hear what peaks are "troubling" the whole separate tracks:hi,lo or mid freq that seem to you not necessary or deranging...the more you free tracks from them the more you can then amp/comp without amping/compressing unwanted freqs...2)if it's one track (drums+samples etc), in this case try to do the EQ "in the box" (sp isolator or eq or other) or other) then try multibandcomp (vst with eq+comp)
...then (if needed) comp every separated track (no need for this if you are in case 2)
...after that
mixdown everything (see levels and eq and reverb)...no need if you're in case2 except maybe reverb...
...then...
master the whole (enancher or multiband comp or normalizer or wide your mix etc depending of what is your original mix);

2 euro opinion
ps
if master "in the box" is aimed, on the 606 in particular you have some cool dynamic/mastering fx plus a mastering section...

a mastering plug-in like t-racks

yes this could be cool
but don't forget that the magic don't starts alone with just a plug in...the EQ previous part is very important before the mix and mastering parts...

a plus mec!

the lazy route would be (what i do) a limiter on the master track

yes it's just dirty and quick but don't replace a real mixing and mastering of course
a plus

cool, thanks for the quick responses, I will perform an emergency rescue on my album. I want to try trax. but i think the problem is mixing at a low volume, I dont think i like to much compression, as it harshes out my smooth highs, so I will try to keep compression to a minimum, but my spikey drums seem out of control and need some compression. maybe the whole beat.

I found a plugin called soft clipper, it sounds the same as having really slamming punching drums, but they dont spike out nearly as much,.

so i will try compression, amping, mixing louder, and eq.

word.

Google .. Auto Audio Master .. download the program and try it out ..I used it on one of my projects to level out ..

no shame in my game .. takes time to process tracks but it will give a better result than if you don't know what you're doing

here's a few examples

http://rawspit.bandcamp.com/track/the-mind-travels

http://rawspit.bandcamp.com/track/if-you-think-remix


ile be honest .. I like raw mixes ..

http://rawspit.bandcamp.com/track/half-2
^ self mastered
in audacity .. compressor ..then deliberate peaking by 2-4 db's

cool., ill look out for that program.

the things i leanred from 'mastering' this album.

headphones bad for everything. ( learned my headphones mixes need a 300hz dip.

so I normalized everything and eq'd it, the quality lost a little from amping and compression, but it stayed pretty smooth and now competes with other loudnesses, still unshure of any sort of standard for loudness, it seems like youtube goes right to 0db, i keep it safe and stay around -3 db for my peak. this seems like a good habbit to adopt. even if your missing that couple extra DB of loudness, youll always stay clean for a real mastering.
I tryed to keep it music, I remastered this album like 5 times, and ended up going back to old techniques, ( hard limiting and compression) to get a compretetive level..)

Patience ! . never throw something out just out of impulse, sit on it, take a break, come back, check it on speakers, study it somemore.

patience.!!!!!


at the end of the day 98% of people dont give a shit or can tell the difference between good and bad sound, i think i can hear things in music now though that i didnt notice before, I still have bad ear. so make it musical first because thats what people want, then work on your curve.

just drew a blank, was going to write more shit oh well.

Mastering a lot of times refers to an album, i.e. making all the tracks of the album relate to each other sound wise so that the listener isn't jarred by volume/dynamics changes on one album (i.e. your first track is super loud with megabass and your next track is quiet and lots of highs = bad mastering).

Overall, your sound is your own. You don't need to 'compete' with other tracks. That feeds into the loudness wars. You just need your own tracks to not be uneven with each other in an album. You can take care of this by listening to your intended tracks one after another and find frequencies/volumes/levels etc. that seem to stand out that you don't want to then make an adjustment. It's a timely process, but making a homogenous album/EP is worth it. Most people don't mind turning up their stereo a little bit if the track is quieter.

It's more important, if you're asking me personally, to have good dynamics (even if you deliberately squash them for specific sounds) than to go for sheer volume and power. It leads to ear fatigue, clipping, distortion, annoyed listeners, etc.

Even Apple's iTunes Store is reducing/boosting volumes based on RMS (i.e. perceived loudness) in order to get more homogenous sound between all tracks they sell.

So don't sweat it. The best thing you can do is pick 3 different sources, when mixing your individual tracks, and listen to your track on all three speakers. If you're satisfied with the way it sounds on those 3, you're done. I personally use 2 (because that's all I have): DJ cans and laptop speakers. I make the music on the cans, then audition on the laptop speakers. If I hear something that's out of place or too loud on the laptop speakers, I go back and drop that element back a tad. Rinse and repeat.

I also recommend not doing mixing/mastering at full volume of your setup. I keep the master out at around 50% when doing eq/mastering stuff. It's easier to hear the dynamics with lower volume. Then when you play at 100%, it sounds nice, loud and clear.

Even if you don't know what you are doing you can still HPF your track at 30-40hz and then make it 2db louder with a limiter.

[quote="hseiken"] I personally use 2 (because that's all I have): DJ cans and laptop speakers. I make the music on the cans, then audition on the laptop speakers. If I hear something that's out of place or too loud on the laptop speakers, I go back and drop that element back a tad. Rinse and repeat.[/quote]

yo good advice here. if it sounds good on laptop, check your bass on the cans and it will be golden.

i have a bad habbit of rolling off the lows, because my speakers dont go that low, bad idea, but i dont know whats rumbling down there, but i keep a little rumble for the cans.

[quote="LimpyLoo"]Even if you don't know what you are doing you can still HPF your track at 30-40hz and then make it 2db louder with a limiter.[/quote]


just recently learned thisas effective, this low mid rumble is embarrasing.

mix that with ear fatigue and you got a one way ticket to bad soundville