Mastering beats

marathonbeat

New member
UGH I've been struggling with mastering for so long. I'm a hip-hop beat producer, and every time I make a beat, it gets destroyed in the mastering stage. I know many people will say to just ignore the loudness war, but that's not the only problem. When I take my nice sounding, dynamic mix to my mastering track, as soon as I even add .1 db to my limiter, the bass destroys the highs and pulls everything down. This is incredibly frustrating. I know loudness is not the only important thing, but the max volume I've managed is still no where near the professionals, can anyone help??
 
In what program do you master?
Have you looked up tutorials on how to master in that program?
Is it worth to have professionals master your track?
 
I master in Cubase, I have watched tutorials but the methods I see just don't seem to work for me. I have considered professional mastering, I think it may be beneficial.
 
Mastering, as music production, is something that usually doesn't happen all of a sudden. You need to put in work. You do have happy accidents, but most of the time it's skill and knowledge.
There's two facets to mastering. There's the software and there's the hardware. A lot of ppl try to short cut there way to a master by only using software and monitor speakers. Ppl that offer professional mastering have the knowledge, skills, treated studio, proper hardware and usually some sort of software. There's a lot of amateurs out there that also offer their services, usually lacking in one or more of those departments. It comes down to what it's worth to you. A lot of producers have their tracks professionally mastered and pay for it. If paying is not a viable option for whatever reason ( in my case, I'm nowhere near earning money with my hobby) , you can see how far you can get yourself.
If the methods don't seem to work for you, it sounds to me your lacking in one or more departments as well. Big chance it being theory and skills. You should be able to brush up on those by the help of the internet.
https://ask.audio/articles/9-essential-cubase-mastering-tips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDViKqK53IQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iguKLoQmtVo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVLX7mT7EgM
Put effort in it to get somewhere I'd say. Find a nice balance between learning/reading/listening to theory and incorporating it. Don't expect to ace everything straight from the start.
How's your hardware setup? What AI, monitor speakers, room treatment?
If this all sounds like a big hassle, you rather concentrate on the creative part and you think it's worth throwing money at it to have it professionally mastered, that's also a nice route to take.
 
Sorry, but mastering strategies don't depend on which software is used.
AND if just -.1 dB limiting kills your mix your mix might not be as good as you think.
 
"it gets destroyed in the mastering stage" seems like a mixing problem to me or your sounds have low quality
 
To me it sounds like you have your bass levels too high. I did this a lot as well, when I was mixing in headphones only, before realising it was a common problem in my tracks. Headphones can be super deceiving.

Rework the bass mix, preferably on monitors and it's going to get a lot better. There really is no good way to master a track if the mix is not good. A good master can't save a lacking mix.
 
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