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  #1  
Old 05-13-2006, 12:28 PM
floridajohn floridajohn is offline
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Posts: 23
Default MASTERING?

Hello all,

I have 10 tracks that I've bounced down into .wav files and am ready to put them on a CD.
Before this, I'd like to master them so that they are normalized, have extra "punch", are louder and sound better.

What do ya'll use for this? I have Waves and Sound Forge, are they good for this?
Do you bring them back into Pro tools and use plug-ins there? If so, which ones?


-John
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  #2  
Old 05-13-2006, 01:12 PM
cave cave is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2006
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Default Re: MASTERING?

Hello

If you have Waves then the L1 or L2 will work well as a broadband limiter.
Depending on your mixes you may also need an EQ (Renaissance EQ), broadband compressor (Renaissance compressor) and a multi-band compressor (C4). The name of the game is to increase the perceived volume of your mix with out killing the dynamics.

In a simple setup you can import your songs into a session and line them up with the spacing you want.
a good line up might be Ren Comp, Ren EQ, C4 multi band comp, and then the L1 or L2.

the next steps depend on what material you have to work with but here are some ideas:

For the Ren Comp a slow attack and release setting can help even out the over all dynamic range of the song. Watch out for pumping / breathing though. Gain reduction in the area of 3 db is a mild but helpful area.

Often an EQ cut in the lower mids, and a raise in the 5k area to boost the vocals and a high freak shelf boost at around 15k-18k to add some air to the sound. Any boost beyond 3db may be too much. Also wider bandwidth setting are often more musical.

The C4 can be used for dessing, bass control (or expansion) and other dynamic/tonal control. There are a lot of possibilities here and it can often be used in place of an eq to only affect a specific freq area at problematic levels instead of at all dynamic levels. using the C4, it may be possible to get another couple of db out of the program level.

Next, a basic set up for the L1 or L2: Set a .01 ceiling and a threshold low enough to get a total of about 3db limiting out of the total program. be careful not to kill your snare sound.

Also, various tape / tube / saturation emulators can add warmth and punch. Punch is also achieved from tweaking the attack and release setting of your dynamics. You will have to listen and tweak to find your specific settings.

A good meter with an average VU display against your peaks will help. Elemental audio has a good RTAS meter. I believe waves also has a somewhat usable analyzer plug-in. look at how other masters that you want to sound like look like in one of these meters to see where you should try to set your peak and average level.

You can write your automation (for all the plug-ins being used) for each individual song. Try to get the song to song level consistent.

Once you have all your setting for each song automated bounce each song down to a 16bit 44.1 stereo interleaved aiff file. Make your bounce selection from the beginning of each song to the very beginning of the next song. Give a fraction of a second before the attack of each song so different CD players don't cut them off.

Open your favorite CD burring application (Sound Forge i guess) and add your songs in order with a zero time gap between songs. Add a 2 second gap before the first track only. Burn your CD in disc at once mode.

There you go, a basic CD Mastering process using ProTools.

Cave
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  #3  
Old 05-13-2006, 05:25 PM
ChaplainPC ChaplainPC is offline
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Location: Tampa/St.Pete, Fl
Posts: 857
Default Re: MASTERING?

Hey John.
Where in Fl are you? Maybe we are neighbors!
Check out my web site and email me .
Pete web site
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  #4  
Old 05-14-2006, 01:24 AM
Wolfgang Eller Wolfgang Eller is offline
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Location: Germany
Posts: 1,149
Default Re: MASTERING?

Hi John

Do yourself (and your Songs) a favour and let the mastering be done by a pro mastering engineer in a pro mastering environment.

Sorry but what would YOU want to make better which YOU wouldn´t have done in YOUR mix?
How can YOU compensate the problems of YOUR monitors and room if you do the mastering with and in the same?

Spend a little money and get a way better result than done by yourself.

I always get a reply like this: Wow I tried it by myself but now it sounds really better.

Cheers Wolfgang
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www.srs-mastering.de
Mac Pro 6.1-8core, OS 12.6, PT2023, HDX2, Sonnet Echo Express III-R, Madi Interface.
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  #5  
Old 05-14-2006, 10:52 AM
cave cave is offline
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Default Re: MASTERING?

John

If you are looking for a good idea of a mastering process so you can do it your self and learn about it too then I hope my previous post helps. If you are looking for the best advice on how to proceed with your project then this is absoultly true. Listening in a calabrated environment other than where you mixed will be very benificial. You can get a good results though by listening in many different systems and taking your time throughout the entire process. Listen and compare to other CDs that you would like to have your music sit well against. It all depends on your budget though. Going to a new pair of ears will also help greatly and give a new perspective on your balance.

If I may suggest, I would be happy to give you an example of what I may be able to do for you if you would like to ftp me a song, I can send back a snipit for you to check out. I have over 10 years experience and I run a small boutique studio that focuses on mastering. I know there are better setup from houses with major label credits and I am sure you will get a great sound from them as well. But I am very happy the caliber of gear and the resulting sound I am able to get. My rates are certainly not in the $300/hr or even $150/hr area either. I could master your 10 song album for around $500 flat.

I have the following gear in a calibrated and great sounding control room:
• Protools HD5 with Apogee conversion.
• Monitors: Dunlavy SC-IVs with Mark Levinson amplification, Meyer HD1s, B&W 802 series IIIs, Genelec 1030s, and a Surround set of B&W DM6s (not that you care about thoes).
• Outboard Compression and EQ: Manley vari-Mu, Avalon vt-747
• Various plug-ins and software for multiband compresion, limiting, tape emulation, high resolution metering etc.

Once again, I normaly don't solicit work on the forum and I hope my original advice helps as I thought that is what you were looking for. If you would like though, drop me an email. [email protected].

Thanks

Cave
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  #6  
Old 05-16-2006, 05:35 PM
floridajohn floridajohn is offline
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Posts: 23
Default Re: MASTERING?

Thanks ALOT Cave for the great tips. I have most of those Plug-ins you were talking about and they made a big difference. I was just getting some stuff together for the Florida Music Conference in Orlando...www.fmf2006.com...check it out.

In the future, I may be referring some clients to you for mastering.


For the other guy that was wondering where I'm located....in West Palm Beach...looks like your in the St Pete area, about 3 hours away. cool website.

thanks again Cave.

-John
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  #7  
Old 05-19-2006, 05:15 AM
songman songman is offline
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Default Re: MASTERING?

Quote:
Hello, If you have Waves then ...
Cave
Are we to understand that if you don't have Waves you can forget it?
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  #8  
Old 05-19-2006, 08:37 AM
hectoru67 hectoru67 is offline
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Posts: 34
Default Re: MASTERING?

John,

Try t-racks,there awsome.I would master in pt hd-apogee uv22hr with soft limit and a manley vari-mu if you can.vari-mu is a secret weapon,will get you one step closer.De-essing on a mix will blend the highs better,too.Use uv22hr last in chain to cd.
Theres a lot of mud in the 300-400hz range ,try cutting just a little,will give you a little more room.
get you a boom box with an aux input and use that in conjunction with your monitors.
don`t give up,
HEC.
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  #9  
Old 05-20-2006, 04:23 PM
cave cave is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 18
Default Re: MASTERING?

Quote:
Hello all,

I have 10 tracks that I've bounced down into .wav files and am ready to put them on a CD.
Before this, I'd like to master them so that they are normalized, have extra "punch", are louder and sound better.

What do ya'll use for this? I have Waves and Sound Forge, are they good for this?
Do you bring them back into Pro tools and use plug-ins there? If so, which ones?


-John
Songman.... if you look at the original question, you may have seen that the original poster mentioned that they had Waves. So I posted with a solution that involves Waves. If you don't have Waves, there are plenty of other plug-in that will get you there. In fact, I guess all you really need is a compressor and an eq. running through the compressor several times with more more extreme setting will get you close the the brick wall limiting if you don't have a limiter like the L1, T-Racks, Sony, DUY Max, Finalizer, MasterX, etc, etc, etc. There are a ton of options. It is more about the process, taking your time and listening compared to what gear you use. Some plug-ins, outboard gear and monitors work better for different people and often certain pieces turn out to be real winners. The Manly Vari-mu is one of those; and even then there are people who would say that there is better.

Cave
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  #10  
Old 05-21-2006, 11:42 AM
songman songman is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2001
Posts: 694
Default Re: MASTERING?

Quote:

Songman.... if you look at the original question, you may have seen that the original poster mentioned that they had Waves. So I posted with a solution that involves Waves. If you don't have Waves, there are plenty of other plug-in that will get you there. In fact, I guess all you really need is a compressor and an eq. running through the compressor several times with more more extreme setting will get you close the the brick wall limiting if you don't have a limiter like the L1, T-Racks, Sony, DUY Max, Finalizer, MasterX, etc, etc, etc. There are a ton of options. It is more about the process, taking your time and listening compared to what gear you use. Some plug-ins, outboard gear and monitors work better for different people and often certain pieces turn out to be real winners. The Manly Vari-mu is one of those; and even then there are people who would say that there is better.

Cave
Cave, so sorry, I didn't see it in the original question. My mistake. I too have Waves but the whole WUP thing has got me thinking about other solutions than the masters which I have been using so far. I do use the Sony Limiter not L2. With masters it was easy, I didn't even think about trying something else because they were made for that job. But if I have to look elsewhere then the choice is so overwhelming: some 20 different compressors and 20 different EQs!!

Cheers, Bob.
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