Mastering!

[h2o]

This has always been a weak point for me especially trying to master inside the 404. If anyone has some wisdom to pass down or just wants to open the discussion im all ears! Mainly I feel like once i try to smooth things out i end up loosing a lot of punchiness and end up muffling things a lot.

[GOODMAMA]

i by no means have a perfect mix but ive been mastering my tracks inside the 404sx for years now (i know all sp units are a little different but most of these tips should transfer to MOST sp units)

1. start with processing and EQing drums and sample
i usually make the drums bump a little harder then i want them to sound in the final version
and i try to cut out any super sharp high end noises in the sample since these will be magnified in later steps

2. make the beat as normal

3. compression on the whole track
i usually have control 3 all the way right, 2 all the way left, and then play around with control 1 until i get the levels i want

4. last but not least, run the whole track through the isolator and bump the levels as needed
most of the time the compressor will cut out some of the low end and bump the high end, so adjust accordingly



for me, less is always more with the SPs
they have a lot of effects but its easy to layer to much up and it starts to get muddy

again its not perfect, and i think everyone has a different desired mix so im not claiming this will help you achieve what YOU want, but maybe you can start playing around with some of these steps and theyll help you get to where you wanna go

[h2o]

i by no means have a perfect mix but ive been mastering my tracks inside the 404sx for years now (i know all sp units are a little different but most of these tips should transfer to MOST sp units)

1. start with processing and EQing drums and sample
i usually make the drums bump a little harder then i want them to sound in the final version
and i try to cut out any super sharp high end noises in the sample since these will be magnified in later steps

2. make the beat as normal

3. compression on the whole track
i usually have control 3 all the way right, 2 all the way left, and then play around with control 1 until i get the levels i want

4. last but not least, run the whole track through the isolator and bump the levels as needed
most of the time the compressor will cut out some of the low end and bump the high end, so adjust accordingly



for me, less is always more with the SPs
they have a lot of effects but its easy to layer to much up and it starts to get muddy

again its not perfect, and i think everyone has a different desired mix so im not claiming this will help you achieve what YOU want, but maybe you can start playing around with some of these steps and theyll help you get to where you wanna go

I think I need to EQ everything first, thats probably a big step i skipped on my last go. Fortunately i did everything using the sequencer though so i can do all that after the fact.

Your beats sound good! Definitely gonna use this as a jumping off point, thanks!

[THEGREAT]

From expereience .. resampling starts to wear the low end off .. if you have tape recorder available .. use that as your final bounce before completion and reboost the bass levels.

Or you could do that in a DAW . eq first in SP ( individual elements .. kicks .. samples - before composing/putting beat elements together