By "mastering" them - meaning, by balancing each individual song against the others in level and sound to create a coherent, satisfying whole.
Many of my posts are squarely aimed at people who want to get as close as they can to having their CD mastered by a professional. However these tips and suggestions are more general and will benefit anyone who wants their CD to sound good - they apply equally, regardless of the level or standard of your mastering skills.
- Think big - Mastering is about making an album from a collection of songs. Now isn't the time to agonise about the details - whether the vocal is too high in one song, or whether you should add another guitar part to another. Mixing is over - move on ! Think about how songs relate to each other, look for a "line" through them, so they flow convincingly. I often describe mastering as finding the "centre of gravity" of a collection of tracks, and helping them all sit right next to each other. Listen to the overall sound of each song, and work on that.
- EQ and volume are everything - The equalisation (broadly speaking the bass, middle and treble balance) of each track needs to be right before anything else will work. To choose the right EQ, the level needs to be right, but the EQ influences what level you choose. Sounds like a Catch-22 ? It is. So, set the level, adjust the EQ - repeat until happy. Of course dynamic compression is a crucial part of this process - see below.
- Have an open mind - Normally my advice to people is "don't try to master your own stuff". If you are trying to do it yourself though, throw away all the pre-conceptions and ideas you have inherited from the recording and mixing process, and start afresh. Be prepared to cut swathes through all the detailed decisions and reasoning you've put into the project so far - a mastering engineer gives an impartial, third-party opinion about what's best for your material - you need to try and do the same. Listen to the Big Picture.
- Match vocal levels - When choosing how loud each song should be compared to the others, it's easy to get confused. A great rule of thumb is to balance the vocals. If you can get the vocals for each tune to sound as if they're in the same ballpark, almost anything else will work around them. Where you don't have a vocal to listen to, pick the main melodic element instead.
- Work fast, be bold - Use broad brush-strokes; listen to each song and make big, instinctive changes. Set the level, choose an EQ and go for it. Instinct is important in mastering, and often your first thought is the right one. If you find yourself going around in circles worrying about the details, it may be best to move on to a different song and come back later.
- Keep it Dynamic - You can master a CD without boosting the overall level at all, and all the EQ and level adjustments will still be invaluable. However most people also want to lift the overall level to be closer to commercial releases as well, and so compression and limiting become important parts of the process. I'm writing a whole series of posts about this, but the main point to make here is - don't be tempted to over-cook it. Music needs light and shade - without Quiet, there can be no Loud. So strive to find the "sweet spot" for your album, where the benefits outweigh the problems compression and limiting can cause. If in doubt, check out my post How Loud Is Too Loud ? Don't let your CD be a victim in the Loudness Wars - no-one wants to be the next "Death Magnetic"...
- Good gaps - mix it up - The silence between tracks on your CD can sometimes be as important as the tracks themselves. If a gaps are too short, the album can feel rushed and exhausting - too long and the listener is distracted form the flow of songs wondering where the next tune is. Some people swear by two-second gaps, but my favourite rule of thumb is - make the gap equal to two bars of the out-going song. Times to consider breaking this rule are early on on the album, where you might want to build momentum, or after a song with a slow fade. Occasional longer gaps can give the listener time to catch their breath, or frame a change of mood or style, for example. Variety is the key here.
- Burn Slow, Burn Steady - So your songs are sequenced, balanced, boosted and spaced - all you need to do is burn a quick copy at 52x and listen, right ? Wrong. Different brands of CDRs work better in certain burners than others, and error rates vary widely depending on the write speed. Yet again this is a complicated topic, but on the whole we see the best results burning at slower speeds like 16x, 8x or even 4x. This isn't such a big issue unless you want to use your CD for replication, but avoid the very high speeds, and spend a little more on "name" brands like EMTEC, TDK or Verbatim. If you want to use what we use, these brand-names are no use, though - the company widely-regarded as producing the most reliable CDs of all is called Taiyo Yuden - but not all suppliers can offer them.
If your goal is to try and get a professional result for a CD release, all the above techniques will help you. You'll also need decent monitoring in a reasonable room, and probably to read all my other DIY mastering posts - but you'll find the ideas here equally valuable, even if your goal is only to make your band's demo sound as good as possible, or you just want to make a better-sounding mix tape.
I hope you find them useful, let me know how you get on trying to put them into practise.
65 comments:
Great tips! thank you for sharing them.
great blog post - definately some things for me to take away and think about.
Thanks guys ! Feel free to Digg, Stumble etc :-)
Ian
Always good advice. I would be happy to let someone master my tracks...if I could afford it. So naturally I'm trying to learn all I can about it. Take your advice, along with all the other mastering engineers I have read and listened to. And try to do it the best way I can...forever learning.
Thanks for the blog. You are awesome bro.
Just wanted to say, this has become one of my primary stops on the Web to take notes from. Thank you.
Hi Ian. When you master do you usually need to widen the stereo field? How wide should the stereo image be? Btw, great blog I subscribe to the RSS and it's an valuable resource!
Thanks for the comments guys !
@chris, I don't usually mess with the stereo image, just as and when needed. However compression and eq often apparently enhances the image by making subtle details more apparent.
I guess I specifically use it on perhaps 1 in 4 projects ? Only new material with the artist's approval, though.
This is my first visit here and I’m fully satisfying to read the whole thing at one place. Sound Hunter
Thanks fellow your posts are really very good for me since it make good sense for me.
unblocked music sites
Your blog! What should I say in its praise… relevant, lastly something which surely helped me? Thanks
unblocked music websites
You’ve put enormous insights about the topic here, continue the good work! Beats For Sale
Its period of media and new developments has caught the human personality. For best shine drives you can see : CD Duplication services
Hi guys have u ever used this sample source?
https://www.lucidsamples.com
I am thinking about buying some loops from them
what do u think?
your blog is very interesting to read. Thank you for good job. Also I like album mastering
Hi everybody!
Ringtones for the phone. Want to add attractive music to your phone? Please visit our homepage: https://ringtonedownload.in/
You can see more of my ringtone here:
- Tere Bina Jina Saza Ho Gya ringtone
- Tera Yaar Hoon Main Arijit Singh ringtone
- Humnava Mere ringtone
- Majbooriyan ringtone
- Kamariya ringtone
In addition, there are many ring tones or our website. You can download the phone.
Hope you will love my collection!
Thanks for the post checkout the best surround sound equalizer app for android.
Thank you for your articles that you have shared with us. Hopefully you can give the article a good benefit to us. Song Mastering Services
Sound-Klingeltöne, MP3-Musik-Klingeltöne, WhatsApp-Klingeltöne, iPhone-Klingeltöne ... sind die beliebtesten Genres 2019, die ich von dieser Adresse kenne: https://klingeltonekostenlos.com/
Nice post. thank you for sharing. You can download Top ringtones at https://ring320kbps.com
This is an article about music that I really love, thank you very much for sharing it. Find out more Zil Sesi for free now.
Great article Thank you for sharing and have you downloaded the https://ringtonescloud.com/?
Los temas musicales se clasifican en tonos de llamada iphone
Thanks for your sharing, it helped me a lot, I am a music lover, I had a huge collection of ringtones I downloaded from the website https://toquedecelular.com/
これは素晴らしいアイデアです。https://japanringtones.com/の着信音のコレクションに適用します
Ohh My God Your Still missing this app Friday the 13th Mod Apk Bead Sort! Apk
if you want to broadcast good songs at spotifu premium Techbigs music store. You can download similar apps to spotify Techbigs at https://techbigs.com/10-best-music-players-for-android-in-2021.html
Thanks for your sharing, it has helped me a lot, I'm a music lover, I have a page: https://frsonnerie.com/fr/ specializes in providing free ringtones , with many good songs for iPhone, Sam Sung and many different genres.
Now the people got everything related to this topic so guy and people are loev to take care of the site at you creat so many time of teh site Ludo King Hack Apk
Please let me introduced with the same topic of the site that you make happy with us to do work now a time people are look here to you giev you same thing taht must be it Netflix Mod Apk
Now you and lookinf gor the some mod version which creat some link in the era of teh technology which means that you love ost of teh site Pokemon go Mod Apk all the thing u need to do
there much better mod version with do a same thing that matter most of teh time peroid of the site Minecraft Mods
Thanks a lot. Urgent Indian Visa
Thank you 😊 The international visitors should getting a visa for Turkey online. Online visa offers the fast secure visa services. the most convenient and quickest way to receive a travel authorization to visit Turkey for tourism or business purposes.
Your website is very beautiful or Articles. I love it thank you for sharing for everyone. Chicwish
Great work... Apply online for Azerbaijan online visa to travel Azerbaijan. Get visa online with 24/7 customer support.
This article is genuinely good and I have learned a lot of things from Ahmad Jamal Textile Mills Faisalabad
concerning blogging. thanks
Superb information article. Thank you . The travelers need to fill up the kenya online visa application form to get the Kenya visa. Therefor, if the apply online, will get the fastest visa services with 24 hours customer support.
8 exciting songs that are easy to listen to and attract a huge amount of listeners, if you want to download music as a ringtone, press Tutaj with many genres of music
Écoutez et téléchargez des sonneries entièrement gratuites sur https://msonneries.com/ , avec des sonneries de haute qualité adaptées à tous les téléphones du marché aujourd'hui.
Thank you for the wonderful things you are sharing with everyone. Download the free font with lots of cool and beautiful fonts right away on
japanese font english.
Very wonderful informative article. I appreciated looking at your article. Very wonderful reveal. I would like to twit this on my followers. Many thanks!
Acostarse Conjugation in Spanish
Dimensional Analysis Calculator
Electric Force
Gender Schema Theory
Combination Reaction
Selective Perception
Derivative of sec x, tan x
Reward Power in Leadership
Remainder Theorem
Pure Substance in Chemistry
That's great, but how can I change the font of my disc, I like the classic font with its own calligraphy at https://yofonts.com/styles/vintage
Implant Media is a leading CD Duplication or CD Replication services in Melbourne, Australia
Very impressed with your writing skills. Good job.Indian tourist visa, You can get an online tourist visa for India and visit the beautiful religious places of India etc.
I offer you to download games from https://apkworlds.com/
This information is very useful for us... Thanks for sharing... keep it up... All travelers who want to visit the US need a valid passport with a USA visa. And with just one click you can check the online USA visa cost, if you have any kind of doubts so find your answer.
To elevate your technique the best you can listen to free ringtones: https://tonurideapelgratuite.com/
Nice information for a new blogger…it is really helpful. Hello friends, are you interested in traveling to India, then you need a visa. And you know how to get emergency visa for India from usa? You can find this information on our Indian Visa website. We provide information about Indian visas. You can visit our website and read here....
Thank you for the useful information you shared, if you are passionate about watching free movies on netflix, press tại đây to download it for free with special features, to be able to watch all movies in theaters.
Watch Online Pinoy Tambayan Tv Shows For All Episode In HD Quality Pinoy Tv, Pinoy Teleserye, PinoyFlix Provide On Our site.
everything is wonderful . there are similar interesting things right at mod
Try it now and enjoy the extra features that WhatsApp Aero has to offer! Join now
To be able to download the best and hottest ringtones right now, you can visit https://ringchill.com/, where you can choose and download any song you want.
I'm truly impressed by your blog post! Your writing style is not only informative but also incredibly engaging. You have a knack for simplifying complex topics and presenting them in a way that's easy to understand and relate to. Reading your post felt like having a conversation with a knowledgeable friend—I couldn't get enough of your insights and perspective. It's clear that you're passionate about what you do, and that passion shines through in your writing. Thank you for sharing your expertise with the world—I'm already looking forward to your next post. Are you a Pakistani citizen looking to explore the vibrant culture and stunning landscapes of Azerbaijan? Look no further! Getting your Azerbaijanvisa for Pakistan is easier than you think. With its rich history, breathtaking architecture, and warm hospitality, Azerbaijan is a must-visit destination. Whether you're planning a leisurely vacation or a business trip, obtaining your Azerbaijan visa for Pakistan is a straightforward process.
Install many high quality free phone ringtones on the web: https://vyzvaneni123.com/
Upgrade your phone's audio experience with: 着信音 無料
See more cool ringtones for iPhone: Tonuri de apel iphone
Download Korean Ringtone sẽ là gợi ý tốt nhất của tôi cho bạn về nơi cung cấp nhạc chuông di động miễn phí
good sound will make a good song that's why i often listen to spotify music at apk mod app
Check out the latest updated safe, reputable, quality phone ringtones on the website system: https://songringtone.net/
You can download more samsung ringtones at: bruitage gratuit
After some research I found this amazing site klingeltöne iphone that offers an amazing variety of custom ringtones.
Thanks for sharing, please click here to download more great ringtones xperia 着信音 ダウンロード
Post a Comment