Leaving music as raw as possible? (Mastering)

[eoneel]

Hi Future Producers, I had a question reguarding eq'ing, compression, and all of the other mastering technique's to make one's music sound the best it can possibly be. I know alot of producer's here master their own music. I wish I could be able to do that effectively but more than likely I would probably FUBAR it completely compared to a skilled ear at that process of engineering. My question is, If I decided to take my tracks to a proffesional mastering house to let them do the work for me should I leave my tracks as raw as possible? I mean they will be mixed down, and I know to leave alot of headroom, but as far as normalizing, compression, EQ, hard limiter, etc... should I not even touch it? Another thing I was wondering about was the producers who master their own music, for example, usually add compression to an individual track. How are proffesional mastering engineers getting to be able to work at this detailed level, when they recieve a CD that is in stereo. The reason I ask is because I thought that when you give a CD to get mastered by someone they prefer it to be in stereo, and not have the beat tracked out. I would appreciate it if anyone could clear this up a little for me.

 

[moses]

reading the sticky thread (the first post is enough) about mastering on top of this forum will help.

 

[dvyce]

Hi Future Producers, I had a question reguarding eq'ing, compression, and all of the other mastering technique's to make one's music sound the best it can possibly be. I know alot of producer's here master their own music. I wish I could be able to do that effectively but more than likely I would probably FUBAR it completely compared to a skilled ear at that process of engineering. My question is, If I decided to take my tracks to a proffesional mastering house to let them do the work for me should I leave my tracks as raw as possible? I mean they will be mixed down, and I know to leave alot of headroom, but as far as normalizing, compression, EQ, hard limiter, etc... should I not even touch it? Another thing I was wondering about was the producers who master their own music, for example, usually add compression to an individual track. How are proffesional mastering engineers getting to be able to work at this detailed level, when they recieve a CD that is in stereo. The reason I ask is because I thought that when you give a CD to get mastered by someone they prefer it to be in stereo, and not have the beat tracked out. I would appreciate it if anyone could clear this up a little for me.

...and do some general reading on what "mixing" is and what "mastering"

You seem to be confused regarding the differences between mixing and mastering.

You seem not to really understand what mastering is, even on the basic "definition of the term" level.




...and, no, you don't normalize, compress, eq, hard limit, etc your stereo mix before giving it to the mastering engineer.


...but you really do need to do some reading... get the fundamentals down.

good luck!

 

[eoneel]

"Afterwards, you may choose to apply dynamics(compression, eq, limiting)to the entire mix(optional, you could just get it mastered)."
This was on the first sticky. Thanks for pointing that out. That statement right there pretty much sums my question up, I guess. I thought mixing was adjusting each instruments volume/level in a song to where it sits nicely with everything else?

 

[dvyce]

"Afterwards, you may choose to apply dynamics(compression, eq, limiting)to the entire mix(optional, you could just get it mastered)."
This was on the first sticky. Thanks for pointing that out. That statement right there pretty much sums my question up, I guess. I thought mixing was adjusting each instruments volume/level in a song to where it sits nicely with everything else?

I believe the thread Moses was suggestion you read was this one:

Super Secret MIXING/MASTERING Info!

...and he was saying you only need to read the first post within that thread (the thread who's topic has to do with mastering.)

I do not know what post you are quoting from, but it is not mine, so I cannot vouch for it. It is taken out of context here, and I do not even see how it applies to your question in any way whatsoever.


...and "mixing" is not only adjusting the volume/level... it is doing EVERYTHING needed to your songs elements to make it sound finished-- this includes any necessary EQ, compression, FX, levels, panning, automation, etc, etc.


Go out into the world and look for articles regarding mixing and mastering... ones that explain what they are... make sure they are RELIABLE SOURCES! not any random thing you see written (like "MIX Magazine"... not "Jimmy's House Of $5 Mixing&Mastering How-To Guide")

 

[MASSIVE Mastering]

I thought mixing was adjusting each instruments volume/level in a song to where it sits nicely with everything else?

It is. Mixing is creating a mix from a collection of individual sound. Mastering is the creation of the production/replication master from a collection of finished mixes (VERY generally speaking, of course).

 

[eoneel]

Thanks everyone to take time out to leave your reply's and knowledge, Much appreciated. I probably will buy that book that you suggested Dvyce. Thanks again.

 

[WatchWhatHappens1204]

Keep in mind though that every little bit of advice and knowledge counts with this, but as a buddin music maker somewhere around your level too eo, I myself found this site and it was gold to me. When I first found the site I was lookin through the articles and threads like it was a book itself. Now my schedule is a bit hectic, but when I do come on, what I do before posting is I look at alot o the stuff already up. It'll blow ya mind, and you'll likely find more info than you were even lookin for, to put you on to more stuff.

As far as mixing, before looking for outside info I kinda taught myself gradually to use plugins and mixers, but mostly what I use for now is the FL7 package with my own physical bells and whistles when it comes to cuttin things up, findin instruments and sounds, packs, et cetera.

Nutshell, once I'm able to put together some space (working on it right now), I plan on puttin together a musical workspace, gettin my money right some more, bringin some much-needed hardware into the mix, and THEN upgradin me real quick to that next level. I wish I could find more in the way of help where I live right now...