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Old 08-26-2020, 09:10 AM
GJmoulder GJmoulder is offline
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Default Pre Mastering process

HI, i am struggling to find an idiots ,step-by-step guide to proceed to the mastering stage after i get my mix ready. I have scoured YouTube for something a relative novice can follow but no luck. As far as i am aware, i bounce my mix to disk and then insert the WAV file into a new session with the bounce inserted on a stereo audio track and from there it gets a bit complicated. I would really appreciate it if anyone has a link to a tutorial that might help me out, Cheers, GJM
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Old 08-26-2020, 03:51 PM
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Default Re: Pre Mastering process

Let's consider a few things:
1-are you attempting to master your own stuff, or is this to be able to give the "best" to a mastering engineer so they can do their thing?

If you are going for it yourself, bounce your mix out at the same sample rate and bit depth as the session(what that is will affect what follows).

I work mostly at 42 bit/48KHz so I would bounce with those settings. While you CAN import to a 44.1K session for mastering, I stay at 48K as long as possible(and only go to 44.1 if I need to burn audio CD's). Remember, if you are at 24 bit and are going to 16 bit for CD's, use a dither plugin as the very last process and bounce the mastered version to 16bit/44.1K. If you are not doing audio CD's, there's no real reason to change either sample rate or bit depth.

In any case, make sure your Master(on your mix bounce) is never hitting red. If you need to pull the master down more than 5-6db, I would prefer to lower the mix before it hits the master. If you set the TRIM plugin to -6 and make that the default setting, then adding TRIM in the last insert slot of all AUDIO and INSTRUMENT tracks should lower the mix, but maintain balance(IOW, it should sound the same, but lower in volume). Trim should not be needed on AUX tracks or the Master. I would also leave any Master track plugins off(except maybe for a simple hi-pass around 25-32Hz). Some will insist that turning the Master down will give the same result, but I just prefer to do it my way.

Much of the time, I master as part of the mix(but I've been at this a long time), but I still see benefit to doing it as a separate process. One big advantage is if you are mastering several tunes for the same project. You can import all the bounced mixes into a single "mastering" session and process them so they all match

If you are going to send the files to a mastering house, try to leave 5-6db of headroom(lower your volume level as before), Keep the same sample rate and bit depth and leave at least a little dead air at the head and tail of the bounce(let the ME trim if needed). Your call on printing a fadeout, or having the ME add when needed
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Last edited by albee1952; 08-27-2020 at 10:20 AM.
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Old 08-26-2020, 03:55 PM
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Default Re: Pre Mastering process

Hi maybe not the answer you wanna hear but the mastering process is not a thing you can learn from youtube or other online places. You can get a "start " or an idea on what to to do in a specefic song. Saying that, the mastering process depends on the song
itself and what an experienced engineer can do with it fixing frequency balance problem and enhancing the goods on it. Also you can find online mastering services for free or cheap but is a no human process. I don't recommend them but is better than nothing if dont want to pay a mastering engineer or doesnt know the art of mastering yet. Good luck !
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Old 08-27-2020, 09:26 AM
GJmoulder GJmoulder is offline
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Default Re: Pre Mastering process

HI , my problem is that after setting up the mastering chain Ie. the wav track on one stereo audio track, linked to a stereo aux track, Master fader in the middle, stereo aux track and finally and armed stereo audio track. I get signal but no sound on 1,2 and 4 but nothing on the master fader or the armed audio track. It is probably something simple that i am missing but i cant find the solution. I have attempted to attach a photo of the screen but i dont know if it has worked. Anyway, thanks to you people who have replied, it is appreciated, Cheers, GJM
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Old 08-27-2020, 09:34 AM
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Default Re: Pre Mastering process

Hi at least i can't understand the routing. Why 2 auxs etc. Can you elaborate ?
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Old 08-27-2020, 10:54 AM
GJmoulder GJmoulder is offline
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Default Re: Pre Mastering process

I saw a couple of Youtube clips which reckoned that this was the way to go. I had originally inserted the plugins on the master channel before i did some research and found that using aux and audio channels was apparently a better way
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Old 08-27-2020, 10:59 AM
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Default Re: Pre Mastering process

Ok i have to see the video, but doesn't make any sense at least to me. You can if you want, make an aux and route the audio track outs to it, thats it. But 2 auxs and then to the Master Fader ? Maybe another engineer can chime on this but i would never do that.
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Old 08-27-2020, 11:10 AM
GJmoulder GJmoulder is offline
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Default Re: Pre Mastering process

Hi, thanks for your advice. I just tried adding two aux tracks and using them for the Eq, Compression and the Pro tools Maxim .It seems to be ok. I am under no illusions about the quality of this method over getting things mastered properly but i wanted to get to a point where the quality is as good as i can make it before going into the studio to finish the project. Thanks again
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Old 08-27-2020, 11:13 AM
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Default Re: Pre Mastering process

No problem your welcome and more important than that is the headroom, you might want to leave a fair headroom in the mix to work with the master ! Good luck
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Old 08-27-2020, 11:46 AM
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Default Re: Pre Mastering process

OK, I promised myself I wouldn't, but I will try to get some basic stuff in to a thread like this. They are too many, threads like this.

A lot of young amateurs are getting the wrong ideas about this "mix and master" stuff. You don't mix your stuff, then master it, you just don't. If you need to change something with EQ and dynamics in "mastering", why didn't you do it in the mix? Much better place to do it than on a stereo bounce!

Also, proper mastering should be done on a system that is not your own, designed for the job, and with other set of ears, the pro's.

If you can't get the sound you want with your mix, bouncing and setting up a "mastering" session isn't going to help. No matter if you use aux's, masters or whatever.

This mastering misunderstanding IMO comes from the transition into digital, and the so-called "volume wars", where people saw that it was possible to make mixes sound louder and punchier with digital and its new absolute DB ceiling.

If you want loudness, put a compressor and limiter on the mix master, no need for a "mastering" session.

The concept of mastering comes from the days of vinyl, where serious men in white coats did the job of transferring music from tape to groves on a metal "master" to be used for the vinyl pressing. Yes, they did use EQ and dynamics processors, but in a very scientific sense to control the physical grooves, distance between them and such.

There are nuances to this whole thing, like Albee touched on, but I stand by this.
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