Hey everyone,
I have been avoiding the mastering process for years now, but I watched the movie Modulations recently, and finally picked up a copy of T-Racks, Now I just need to figure out what I am doing. Basically I’m just looking to give my tracks a bit more space and a bit more punch. Anyone have any tips?

Thanks. =)

wavelab + waves 5

ultramaximizer+ <3

The mastering process is definitely more than just “hey guys, how do I master my tracks?”

Many people also seem to believe that “I don’t need to be thorough with my production, the master will fix it”. Yes, mastering can do alot, but a good production with a good master sounds better than a bad production with a very good master. In my opinion, to understand mastering you should first understand production.

But, going from a wannabe know-it-al, I can tell you what I know

I use Wavelab as host, and Waves, Akai and Apogee plugins for mastering.

Depending on the style of the track, the first part is mixing so the track doesn’t clip, that it’s tight and have an overall good volume. For many, a standard procedure is to first do some eq-work, a light compression, then some multiband compression, perhaps adding a little warmth and doing some multiband limiting - but remember, it’s individual for each track.

Try searching Google for “audio mastering” , or buy a book or more. Believe me, books are teh shit

Good luck!

I use Izotope Ozone. It seems to do the trick nicely.

I think it’s utmost important to know how to produce.
You should always treat your track like the final master from the very beginning.

I know many people who go like “I will first finish the song, and then I will take care of the
quality…” But this is not a good philosophy at all and usually their stuff sounds like shit
afterwards. Like Kaktusen said, always keep in mind that mastering can improve your
production, but it can never turn a badly produced track into something really nice.
You should rather try to make a superb sounding and well produced tune, and then
give it the final polish. If you are on “software only” solutions, I came to the conclusion
that mastering becomes almost unnecessary if you produce nice from the beginning.

I also noticed that there are some misbeliefs about mastering:
Some people think that mastering = “maximize to death”,  and later spoil the complete
dynamic of their tune using the compressor til it bleeds… That’s not the way either…
One should always learn to understand what it is all about instead of just doing stuff he
doesn’t really understand. I do not understand everything myself (far from that), so I
just keep practicing - it’s the only way to improve. I think it’s pretty much about catching a
certain ‘feeling’ for the process, and it’s very individual for each tune, so it’s not just about theory.
Always try to produce clearly, if you want your production to sound dirty, you can still
‘spoil’ it afterwards .

The gear you are using is not that important either I guess, as long as you understand
what you’re doing, everything serves! I personally am a big friend of my Creamware
SCOPE project soundboard, it’s a secret weapon in every way.
If you are searching for a good investment, go and get yourself a pair of good monitor
speakers, this will help a lot.

Have a nice time,

mux