Mastering - What's your approach?

You make a great point and one I had not really thought of since I have never done an album. I have a few songs I have put together and even made CD of them a while back. They ranged all over the place in some cases due to just what your saying. I agree, if one is going to produce and album it would be far simpler to do it in batch mode so to speak and process them all in a consistent manor.

Thanks,
LB

Yeah, this is what sold me. My ears have never been as sensitive as, say, Tom Zartler or Mark Petruzzi, so even though this is not the preferable way in general to do this, I have no choice but to also rely on graphical feedback.

Well, not only the fact that they are free, but they are quite good too. The plug-ins are constantly getting great reviews by not only users but also by the recording websites (KVR, Gearslutz, etc.). FerricTDS (Tape Simulation) does a great job, and I really prefer SlickHDR over an aural exciter any day of the week. I use the stock presets that come with each.

This isn’t as big of an issue as you’d think. See Bob Katz’ “K spec” on perceived loudness. Stick to K-14, keep the RMS (as defined by the K spec) in the yellow area, slightly higher for louder passages, and a lot of this problem goes away.

EQ is different, of course, but if you’re really concerned about this then generate all of the 44.1 kHz / 24-bit WAV files and create a single project with each song imported on a separate track. You can apply the mastering inserts to each track and, combined with the K-14 spec, not only ensure that EQ is consistent but also that loudness is too. At the end of it, you can generate one huge WAV file that you can print to CD along with track markers or export each track separately for digital distribution.

FabFilter’s Pro-L (Limiter) will display the various K scales, but if you only need this and not the limiting functionality, see Blue Cat Audio’s PeakMeterPro. It’s very good and considerably cheaper.

Hi Larry,
Yeah I have to admit my ears are not the greatest either and this is a sport that really requires that. Probably in my case it has to do with 20 years or so in the machine shop. That was a bit rough on the ears. I have double hearing aids now and they sure help with voice. Just the other day I was experimenting having them in and working with both headphones and speakers while doing a mix. Jury is still out on this one.

I think I can get the educational discount for the Fab plugs. So at half the cost it will help with getting some of them. Thanks for the scoop on the free and other plugs you mentioned. I really appreciate the time you took to help me and others out.

Agreed on the final level of a song, the meters do not lie and it sounds like in our cases are a must. If one is consistent in their final levels it really helps when putting together a group of songs. I know on that CD I spoke about earlier it was one song in particular that was clipping and too loud. I had even less experience then and had pushed it up too high. I recall listening to the CD in the car and the offending song was in the middle of the pack. Gosh when it came up you had to be Johnny on the spot with the volume or risk blowing out the speakers. I chalk it up to a learning experience!

Take care and thanks again for you insight,
LB

First, Larry, thanks for the link to Saher Galt’s video. It was a clear explanation of the goals of mastering, and it helped me to understand what’s going on with M/S equalization.

I am sure I’ve posted it before, but I have always found this PDF from Ozone to be very useful and explanatory, whether you are using Ozone or not. Many of the concepts that Saher Galt is covering are also covered in the Ozone guide.

There have also been a couple of other threads on this topic. Here’s one with a lot of information:

I am using Ozone, and I do explain how I approach mastering (as an amateur) within that thread.

I also think that most if not all of what you need is already in Cubase.

you can get the k-meter here for free http://www.mzuther.de/en/software/kmeter/

2 really good links and for them I thank you very much. The Ozone guide to mastering looks really good and was bigger than I expected. I will also have a look at the thread you linked to. All good stuff!

LB

This looks good and possibly is more versatile than what comes with Cubase. I have only glanced at the K meter functions in Cubase so I cannot comment much on it. Maybe I am wrong but it seems a shame Steiny did not make their K meter available for tracks as well. That is where this meter you posted the link to will come in handy.

Thanks,
LB

Anyone read this book: Audio Mastering - Essential Practices
It can be found at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Mastering-Essential-Jonathan-Wyner/dp/0876390947/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401854162&sr=8-1&keywords=Audio+Mastering%3A+Essential+Practices

If you have read the book, please let us know what you think of it. I put the book on order and it should be here by the weekend.

LB

to start with ive found that the room where you mix is the most important along with good monitors .the room i have is a bit naff so i cant take it that serious , i think if you can get the mix as good as possible then there will be less headache later when trying to finish it off ,one thing you can do, which for me helps me with the limitations of my room is using a spectrum analyzer and take an average measurement for the whole track and making sure there is a good equal tonal balance ,you can take the measurment of a similar(in style)professionally recorded track and match it with your s visually and listening and see how close you are .
heres a good film about mixing ,its a bit long and ironically some of the audio is a bit muffled at times but it is old , never the less it`s a good watchand good tips. The Art Of Mixing (A Arte da Mixagem) - David Gibson - YouTube

Wait until you come acrosss EBU-R128. :laughing:

I was being somewhat humorous actually. EBU-R128, as I understand it, is really most applicable for visual soundtracks (movies, etc.). K-14 is still my scale of choice for strictly audio music.

Hi Larry,
I did a little reading on EBU-R128 since you mentioned it. Interesting but as you say I have run into much more that promotes the use of K-14 in the kind of work we are interested in. Do you use the K meter plug? I downloaded it but have not had a chance to use it yet.

LB

sorry Larry must have been an english /american, you say tomato i say tomato,lets call the whole thing off moment. im a bit behind with cubase at the moment im still on 6.5 , i didn`t realise 7 had the EBU-R128 .

In looking at the EBU-R128 meter in Cubase and reading the manual it seems limited to the control room only. I do not at present use the control room much so that is new ground for me. Anyone know if that is for sure in that the EBU-R128 meter is a control room only feature?

Thanks,
LB

No worries! And I’m on 6.5.2 so I didn’t get it with Cubase either. :smiley:

I use BlueCat’s Peak Meter Pro and FabFilter Pro-L, both of which have the entire set of K- scales in them.

No pun intended, I presume

:laughing: :mrgreen: