what can i use to master?

DREWDANK · Post by **DREWDANK** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:45 am

i was reading the readme file in one of beatjitzus album.....ol dirty kung fu
what did he mean by tape?
like a lil voice tape recorder?
or a multi track recorder?
and like how should i master my tracks?
doing it on tape...i like it...the lo fi stuff....i really like

606man · Post by **606man** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 4:06 am

Hmmm, that's a BIG question man! You should start by looking up some articles on mastering on Google (there's heaps). Basically, mastering is the process by which you make a track 'finished'.

I think, when tape has been reffered to, it is REAL magnetic tape - either standard or (better) reel-to-reel. Nevertheless, if you don't want the hassle of using real tape, you can achieve similar results using tape saturation plug-ins (available for free from KVRaudio). Obviously these are not as good as the real thing, but it's a free start.

Other than that, mastering is a black art, consisting of eq, compression and limiting the track (in that order) to make it loud and clear (but not too loud! cf: 'loudness wars').

Hope that starts you thinking

Hot Sauce · Post by **Hot Sauce** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:20 am

a lot of people want to end up mastering their own stuff but it takes a lot of work. first of all mastering is an art. you will need a specific room to master in, different types of monitors, you need to train your ear and know what to look out for.

i would like to master my own stuff one day but for now i just record everything to cassette tape and don't really give a fuck if certain parts are too harsh or the bass don't hit hard in other places.

Euclid Ov Oåklånd · Thu Dec 20, 2007 10:18 am

You really don't need a studio or special room to master a track, just like you don't need pro-tools or and mpc to make good tracks. Sure it helps to have a home studio but it's not needed if you want to start learning the principles are the same no matter what equipment you use. Besides if artists buy your tracks or you get signed as an in house producer all you music will get professionally mastered anyways. I wouldn't worry until your ready to send out demos then you should have that mastered first.

Hot Sauce · Post by **Hot Sauce** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:39 am

see the thing is that mastering is more of an artform. it takes a long time to even develop a good ear for mastering. if you want to have a go at mastering your own tracks the first thing you WILL need is a pair of monitors which give out a flat response.

mastering is very complicated and very misunderstood. if you want to do it properly you need a shit load of very expensive high end gear. those are just the facts. but if you're just doing bedroom releases then just mix your tunes as best you can and run from there. read some books on mastering, you can learn it yourself but it will just take a while.

MIXING AND MASTERING ARE NOT THE SAME THING.

Euclid Ov Oåklånd · Thu Dec 20, 2007 12:05 pm

Learning to master a track isn't as hard as earning the money to buy the equipment to do it right. But I read all I can about it so yeah it's complicted but not impossible, also something to note even if a studio mixes with monitors it has to sound right on the speakers people play it on, if you make a mix for studio monitors it will not carry over to a car stereo or boombox or anything really that the average music listener has, the average speaker just won't give the right frequency response which is why if you make you kick or bass in your track too powerful when it's on a less power system those very energetic frequencies at the low end will over power the mix and it'll sound like mud.

mostblunted · Post by **mostblunted** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:27 pm

Man mastering is complicated shit... Most studios have equipment that is so fuckin' expansive that it's impossible for you to do it like they do.

But I agree with Dr. 303, he drops words of wisdom.
The first step would be getting free plugins, like the reaper plugins and just get to know what all the stuff does, then just tweak everything until you FEEL that it sounds right. Of course it won't be perfect, but atleast it'll sound a little bit better.

DREWDANK · Post by **DREWDANK** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 3:27 pm

lol....ive been selling all my demos at school.....
they have labled cds and crap.....
but on the real....ive been finishing all my tracks on audacity and editing them on it?
is that mastering?
cuz im not sure.....

and thx for all the replys

Hot Sauce · Post by **Hot Sauce** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 10:54 pm

DR.Sample303 wrote:Learning to master a track isn't as hard as earning the money to buy the equipment to do it right. But I read all I can about it so yeah it's complicted but not impossible, also something to note even if a studio mixes with monitors it has to sound right on the speakers people play it on, if you make a mix for studio monitors it will not carry over to a car stereo or boombox or anything really that the average music listener has, the average speaker just won't give the right frequency response which is why if you make you kick or bass in your track too powerful when it's on a less power system those very energetic frequencies at the low end will over power the mix and it'll sound like mud.

that's why i was recommending monitors that give out a flat frequency. you have more of an idea of what it will sound like universally.

reading about mastering and actually going through the process of it is a very different thing. it takes time to develop your ear so that you can master tracks at a high level.

mastering your shit at home isn't impossible but it is way harder. most people would be better off to just send away their final mix to a mastering engineer.

606man · Post by **606man** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:03 pm

Obviously only a pro mastering service can give pro results. I like the 'punk' (as in home-made) aspect of techno/hip-hop a lot though. It's that 'rough-around-the-edges' sound that gives these genres their street cred :lol:

People do often get mixing and mastering mixed up though. A good thing for new-comers to remember is 'The Four Stage Music Making Process'..

1 - Recording (get/create the sounds)
2 - Arranging (put the sounds in order)
3 - Mixing (make the sounds sound balanced)
4 - Mastering (polish the sounds)

Since you 'can't polish a turd', as the saying goes, step three is by far the most important - get the mix right and mastering is easier!

Euclid Ov Oåklånd · Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:10 pm

Yeah, I agree Hotsauce but I like to have complete control of my music, and I'm not trying to sell music or promote myself so I have all my life to learn to master things better. If you send your shit to someone else you'll never learn your self which is half ass in my mind since mastering your track is key to how it will fell when people hear it.

Twitch · Post by **Twitch** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 3:54 pm

Mastering. If you have the money send it off, most mastering houses have a money back policy.. and you can also sit in on too, (it's your money).. If you are trying at home.. then I would recommend Some plugins.. Like Izotope is cheap and amazing.. However look for free ones first..

Everyone please check out the Free SSL LMC-1 compressor it is a free download you have to register first (name, address an etc..) it is worth checking out very nice.. This is taken from teh SSL 4000 board.. this has done most if not all the tracks of phil Collins during the 80s

If you do want to master yourself. Then learn your weapons.. Compressor, EQ and the Limiter well and I mean damn well

It's very fun to try out things yourself, it's all about trial an error

Rob P · Post by **Rob P** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 6:39 pm

I agree with you 606man,my favorite shit to listen is the unpolished basement type hiphop and electronica(Madlib and Digitalism could be an example...)
And mixing is way but way more important than mastering and it can take a while to learn how to mix properly.I would then find an engineer and sit down with him for the mastering part.