Mixing & mastering

[Squice]

Hi all..

I need a little bit info on these sides on the recording process.
I for sure know what mixing is. but what do i get from mastering.
My band is recording songs now for our upcoming album, and we have a song now that is finished, the mix sounds good and we´re are going to put it in the radio. Would you recomend that we put that song into mastering for the radio play or just put it unmastered in the radio.. and just master it with all the other songs for the album.. Guess i´m just not sure what mastering will do for the song since the mix already sounds good..
Hope someone can teach me a little about this thing.

best regards
David

 

[No Profile]

have a read of this, a basic guide to mastering

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if u dont get your cd mastered, your missing out. why do u think every comercial cd is mastered.

 

[Krisfield]

I'm currently using iZotope Ozone for the mastering process.

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[7Stringer]

Just got my band's CD back from mastering yesterday and the best way to think about it is "someone took the sock off the mix".

Clarity - Separation - Volume - EQ

Huge huge difference. My other bands had mastered recordings, but this time we worked with REAL pros and what mastering does is really amazing + worth every dime.

 

[detracti]

I do the mixdown/mastering on all of our demo tracks. You have to go through mastering even if just to get your tracks compressed to the level of commercial recordings.

A basic mixdown without mastering and final compression will sound barely audible alongside a mastered and compressed track.

I use Ozone too, its a great product. The band I used to be in - the guitar player used a similar processor called T-Racks.

It is a very time consuming process to get a song properly mixed and mastered. At least it has been for me. It has taken me lots of reading, research, trial and error to get to mixes that I am satisfied with.

Ozone is great, as long as you don't overdo it. Another processor that I find indespensible is Drumagog:

http://www.drumagog.com/

For the hard rock that my band is recording, an excellent sounding kick and snare are key elements of a good mix.

 

[Nuk3m]

Mastering is like the polishing of the mix.

I guess it basically is what you do to all the tracks after youve decided the levels and whatnot.

Alot of things can go on during this time and it does show.

You might even get your track put on tape for that tape compression warmth. \m/

Mastering is important you should get it done, thats only if you think the track is good enough to begin with. Because if the mix down and recording didnt go well then it really is like polishing and you cant polish a turd.

 

[paulraphael]

a wealth of information at www.digido.com (this is bob katz's website ... one of the great mastering engineers in the world).

advice i've heard repeated often is to never master your own mixes. it should go to a fresh set of ears. and if you are going to the expense of having someone do it professionally, chose a real mastering engineer with a real mastering studio ... not a recording engineer with some egg cartons taped up inside a broom closet.

 

[Rick Brienzo]

i´m just not sure what mastering will do for the song since the mix already sounds good..

If it already sounds good and you take it to a qualified mastering engineer, it should sound great!!

Mastering is just the process of taking the final left and right stereo mix and processing it with EQ, Compression, Limiting, and other enhancements. The final product should be one that sounds good on all other playback systems and has a very consistent tone/volume from one song to the next. This is an overly simplified answer and I do consider mastering to be one of the most important steps in recording. It is truly an art form that takes years of experience to become proficient at it. Only trust a professional!

 

[geoffkhan]

I always master my recordings... Izotope's Ozone is good for this, but you still have to use your ears, of course.

And actually not all professional high-end engineers master their recordings. You can get that produced, mastered sound if you're just really good at mixing and mic'ing and all that. I had to hear for myself to believe that, but it's true.