tune mastering nightmare!

D

Darth Sidious

bloody ear abuse
Joined
May 19, 2005
Location
Leeds
Hi, Im fairly new to music production, just made my first few dnb tunes. I started off using FL studio which I thought was wicked and am now using Reason just because I wanna try different software out to see which is for me.I also have used cubase a bit. Im loving Reason but am having a bit of a nightmare mastering my tune. was thinking of maybe rewiring it into fruity loops or cubase or maybe doing it in adobe Audition. does anyone have any suggestions?

cheers
 
maybe I do mean mixdown then, basically Ive got my track constructed but cant get it sounding the way I want. When I was using fruity loops I managed to get the end song sounding alot better.perhaps its just my inexperience with reason.
 
T:M said:
I think you have mastering confused with mixdown.
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maybe I do mean mixdown then, basically Ive got my track constructed but cant get it sounding the way I want. When I was using fruity loops I managed to get the end song sounding alot better.perhaps its just my inexperience with reason.
 
You're talking about mixdown more than anything, by the sounds of things.

Best thing to do is just make more tracks and you'll gain more experience in mixing.
Another idea is to get a batch (of say 5) tunes 'complete' and spend a weekend mixing them down. By the end of it you should have a pretty good idea of how to approach things in the future (y)

I wouldn't really try to master my own tunes to a professional standard as such. Mastering engineers have spent years gaining knowledge (and the right equipment) more than anything to do a better job than you could ever hope to achieve in your bedroom, no offence intended.
 
riisu said:
You're talking about mixdown more than anything, by the sounds of things.

Best thing to do is just make more tracks and you'll gain more experience in mixing.
Another idea is to get a batch (of say 5) tunes 'complete' and spend a weekend mixing them down. By the end of it you should have a pretty good idea of how to approach things in the future (y)

I wouldn't really try to master my own tunes to a professional standard as such. Mastering engineers have spent years gaining knowledge (and the right equipment) more than anything to do a better job than you could ever hope to achieve in your bedroom, no offence intended.
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okay thanks alot.
 
you shouldnt expect to have a tune, then mix it down, and it be awesome, make it sound to your liking and be happy with it without putting any fxs on the master bar a limiter. imo.


oh and mixing down should really take place constantly and be in your mind as you are making a tune, you dont want tonnes of shit to work out at the very end.
 
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dexter said:
oh and mixing down should really take place constantly and be in your mind as you are making a tune, you dont want tonnes of shit to work out at the very end.
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I wouldn't necessarily agree with this. I think your perception of a tune becomes jaded when you're working on it and mixing it at the same time and you start to hear things that aren't really there, and miss certain elements.
Of course, you should roughly mix a tune as you go along to get some idea of levels and the vibe you're after.
But once you've gone through the creative process, I'd personally shelve it for a day or so and then some back with fresh ears and start the mix from scratch, i.e - faders at 0dB with all creative effects off and get a nice balance first between instruments then work from there.

I think people are too hesitant to 'undo' their hard work at the end of the creative process. End of the day, you've always got the chance to save your 'finished tune' and then reset everything and start from scratch on a new mixdown.
You can always reference back to your first attempt and should be referring to previous mixdowns of the same track to see which one works the best.
 
riisu said:
I wouldn't necessarily agree with this. I think your perception of a tune becomes jaded when you're working on it and mixing it at the same time and you start to hear things that aren't really there, and miss certain elements.
Of course, you should roughly mix a tune as you go along to get some idea of levels and the vibe you're after.
But once you've gone through the creative process, I'd personally shelve it for a day or so and then some back with fresh ears and start the mix from scratch, i.e - faders at 0dB with all creative effects off and get a nice balance first between instruments then work from there.

I think people are too hesitant to 'undo' their hard work at the end of the creative process. End of the day, you've always got the chance to save your 'finished tune' and then reset everything and start from scratch on a new mixdown.
You can always reference back to your first attempt and should be referring to previous mixdowns of the same track to see which one works the best.
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sound advice! i agree that you should be keeping shit tidy as you work, but coming back with fresh ears is excellent advice!
 
True say, I guess you can have a go at a bit of self mastering. I've dabbled with some tutorials and it did make a lot of difference. But at the end of the day if you're looking at getting tracks released a label should take care of all that sorta stuff for you.
And what's the point in sending an already mastered tune out (that you've spent ?? hours doing) when you could be workin on other stuff.

I always tend to save Riisu_Song_v1 / Riisu_Song_v2 / Riisu_Song_v3 throughout a day so I've always got something to go back to, incase I've made changes I don't like to something - as I relentlessly CMD+S the shit out of Logic.

Just food for thought I guess :)
 
riisu said:
I wouldn't necessarily agree with this. I think your perception of a tune becomes jaded when you're working on it and mixing it at the same time and you start to hear things that aren't really there, and miss certain elements.
Of course, you should roughly mix a tune as you go along to get some idea of levels and the vibe you're after.
But once you've gone through the creative process, I'd personally shelve it for a day or so and then some back with fresh ears and start the mix from scratch, i.e - faders at 0dB with all creative effects off and get a nice balance first between instruments then work from there.

I think people are too hesitant to 'undo' their hard work at the end of the creative process. End of the day, you've always got the chance to save your 'finished tune' and then reset everything and start from scratch on a new mixdown.
You can always reference back to your first attempt and should be referring to previous mixdowns of the same track to see which one works the best.
Click to expand...

this is very true but im usually to impatient to wait a day. maybe an hour an ill give it another mix.lol
 
there are lots and lots of points with sending out a mastered tune, make it as good as possible of course, cant hurt your chances. plus there is nothing to say your own mastering should in any way interfere with that of an engineer, it depends on what you do.
 
riisu said:
True say, I guess you can have a go at a bit of self mastering. I've dabbled with some tutorials and it did make a lot of difference. But at the end of the day if you're looking at getting tracks released a label should take care of all that sorta stuff for you.
And what's the point in sending an already mastered tune out (that you've spent ?? hours doing) when you could be workin on other stuff.

I always tend to save Riisu_Song_v1 / Riisu_Song_v2 / Riisu_Song_v3 throughout a day so I've always got something to go back to, incase I've made changes I don't like to something - as I relentlessly CMD+S the shit out of Logic.

Just food for thought I guess :)
Click to expand...

same with me breadbin! always save a back up before a big sesh, CTRL + S like a mo fo! amount of time i have learnt the hardway!
 
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