Mastering a bootleg

K

KasioRoks

Guest
Evening All,

I really need some practical advice. I've just finished a bootleg (i.e. 2 tunes stitched together which will be amusing the first time you hear it and will then start to grate). I know that no legit record label is gonna look at it, but since things like it do get put out I guess distributers must be involved somewhere. Here's my plan: I get the thing up to the highest possible standard and then approach a distributer to put up the pressing costs & distribute it (which I know is possible). Here's my problem I have no money - this thing has got to make me some, 'cos I'm sick of eating dogfood - but know that it needs mastering. I've never done any mastering before, but I know how important it is. My idea is to download a trial of a mastering software plugin and use dat.

All comments - apart from don't do it go to a Mastering house - very much welcomed.

And if it does get released & you hear it & it annoys the arse off you, I'm really sorry.

:cheers:
KasioRoks
 
basically bro you are going to have to get it to a release standard yourself, as with all releases. if you dont have the tools or skills then that means going to a studio with your tune.
then i guess you will have to pay to press it up and then try to get shops to take them to sell, many will do a sale or return for you.
most distributors wont touch it. they are only there to make money and a dodgy bootleg just leads to too much potetntial headaches. sorry but thats how it is. also if you have no exposure then it makes it way way harder.
dont give up though if you think you can do it.
just try to make it as good as possible and try to have rms as high as possible, if you use analog, try to get it at 0dBu with peaks at about +4dBu...... on digital not sure, guess as close to 0 without distorting.
then eq it to get it to sound like you want it to be and thats all you will have to do. that is basically mastering. and for a bootleg it will be fine.
then you have to get in touch with a pressign plant and pay em to press it up, you are looking at about £500 for a couple hundred. if you think you can sell a few, press up as much as you think you can shift. the plates are the expensive part, about 250 and these do about 2000 records. vinyl comes in at about 40 pence each then you have sleeves, just stick to disco bags for a bootleg as your margin will be tighter.
oh yeah, dont put your name on it so you dont get your *** sued.
 
Cheers Neil,

then i guess you will have to pay to press it up and then try to get shops to take them to sell, many will do a sale or return for you.
Click to expand...
. Yeah I know that this a way to do things, I've put out a single already myself with other people - we all shared the misery - so I've been through that whole thing already (I've still got a box of 12s in my bedroom if you need some tablemats).
But in my adventures in running a label (sounds so posh, actually means carrying boxes of records round London, going to record shops) I discovered that HMV and Virgin now only take records if they come via a distributor (in the old days there was more discretion to individual stores). So I was thinking that since I picked up the white label bootleg of 'All I Do' (sooo much better than the Defected re-vocalled version) in HMV this must have had a distributor. 'Course, if you can set up a record label (basically just think of a name) then it must be pretty easy to set up set up a distribution company - but this just seemed to be taking things too far. If you know any more about this I'd be well interested.

As for going to a studio - how can I put this - I have no money. BT are after me, NI bods are after me, the frickin tax-man may be about to shoot a bill over to me for some publishing money that has only just paid for my Pedigree Chum for the last 8 months. If the VAT man comes knocking I may have to fake my own death just to be able to live! ....sorry to ***** on, but tings are not good at Bank of KasioRoks. It's totally valid advice, I always tell everyone the same thing - it'll save money in the long-run,etc, etc. But it's just not possible in this case so any more thoughts on mastering will also be most welcome.


:cheers:
KasioRoks
 
howdy kasio, things do not sound good man :) make sure you are insured though before you fake your death, you gotta get somethign outa it lol
on the mastering front, you can easily do it all by yourself (well depending on your equipment). in my experience essentially all mastering does is get rid off any obviousl hiss etc, unless its meant to be there, set levels both peak and rms with compression etc and sculpt your sound into how you actually want it to be. sometimes you have to record a raw track a certain way and then mould it into a finished product with mastering.
if you have a good eq you should be able to do this. do you have a 30band eq or something you can use. i prepare my tracks completely at home. they leave as i want them to go to vinyl so dont go anywhere to be mastered. it is just a case of reading alot about studio techniques and trying stuff out. listening to tracks you like the sound of and then trying to get your similar..ie are the highs as prominent etc etc.
i will try to give you a rough idea here but its hard as i dont know what you have access too.
primarily you need your volume set up. if you have an analog desk, you want peak around +4dBu with rms around 0. i dont use digital so not sure about that. if you have a DJ mixer with a vu meter on it, run your output through it adn you will be able to use this meter to set your level. use compression to get the difference between your peaks and average (rms) down. if you have to use alot and it F^cks with your sound too much, just run it through a few times, reducing it each time till youi are there. once this is done use your eq to mould the sound in to something you want it to be. if its muddy try thinning out about 60HZ, if you want drum punch try boosting about 1.2kHZ, if you want certain sound to be more prominent, find their frequency and bring them up a bit, vice versa if want them down.
do this till you have it as you want it. it is easier to do this with a loop fo the fullest bit of your track playing but not necessary. also remember, take breaks alot to keep you ears fresh and maybe do it over a couple of days.
hope this helps a bit. ask away if you want to know any specifics. good luck
 
IMHO bringing certain instruments up or down with an EQ at the mastering stage is too late! Changing any frequency of a mix will affect all the instruments in the mix.

Use too much EQ on the mastering stage and you'll risk losing dynamic range and making your mix sound dull and very non-PA-playable.

It would be best if you could apply an EQ on each different instrument channel separately so you can bring them up without affecting (ruining) the whole mix.

EQ would be useful in mastering only for special tasks like removing hiss (which will not appear if your gear is in decent condition and properly set-up) and very low rumble.

Toni L.
www.mp3.com/NativeAlien
 
thats all very well funk and a fair point but what about using eq as a functional tool. in my experience the way to eq is to use it to remove noises and unwanted frequencies of certain instruments at mix down then use it to sculpt the overall sound of the mix at mastering, thats the way everyone i know uses it too. you are right that you can use it to adjust the sound of individual instruments and this can only really be done prior to the final mix being done as after, eq then effects everything in the mix but to say that this cannot be valuable is wrong.
the most effective way is to get all your sounds and levels (of each individual instrument) correct before you record the final mix then use EQ on the whole mix when you master it. here you should use the EQ to then manipulate how all the sounds fit togehter so that the overall product is how you want it. need the drum to cut throuhg a little more ....boost at about 1.2khz, need more bottom end boost at 60-80hz etc.
by doing this here rather than individually you can change the sound or feel of the track rather than just of a few instruments. bringing up bass here brings up everything rahter than just your drum and boosting highs adds sharpness to the whole mix not just your hats etc.
essentaily thats what masterings all about. you use it to get the finished track sounding just how you want it.
of course bad level setting pre final mix cannot be rectified too much post mix but in masering you do use EQ as a sculpting tool.
 
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