Shall I start bother mastering? Any good guides?
Forum rules
Kick questions/feedback in these topics ONLY:
* Kick feedback (Get feedback on the kick you made and help others)
* General/how-to kick topic (How to create a certain kick, questions, troubleshooting, etc)
* How is this sound made (Questions, troubleshooting, etc about how to create a certain sound)
Kick questions/feedback in these topics ONLY:
* Kick feedback (Get feedback on the kick you made and help others)
* General/how-to kick topic (How to create a certain kick, questions, troubleshooting, etc)
* How is this sound made (Questions, troubleshooting, etc about how to create a certain sound)
Shall I start bother mastering? Any good guides?
Hi,
first af all, please no spamming and flaming, I know that whenever the word mastering comes up in a thread some guys start getting aggressive, but please try to be decent and give helpful advice.
Up to now I never bothered mastering and mastering plugins because i was told that mastering should just be applied to good mixdowns. The problem is that i don't know if my mixdowns are good enough for mastering or if not how to see when they are. The reason I think about mastering is that I think that my songs sound quite clean but just miss fattness and loudness, they sound a bit like plastic. here my two last songs:
Hardcore:
Hardstyle:
Do you think mastering could help me make those songs fatter? Or shall I keep working on the mixdown? If yes what needs to be improved mostly in the mixdown and how? Or does my sounddesign need more practise?
In the end what I think is just that when I compare my songs to professional ones the first thing that comed to my mind is that my songs sound a similat but a lot weaker..
If I should start mastering do you know any good guides where I can learn it? And if not, would you please just say no, give a reason and in ideal case tell anothet solution but always in a kind way?
Thank you a lot in afvance..I really feel that my biggest weakness is getting fattness into my songs.
first af all, please no spamming and flaming, I know that whenever the word mastering comes up in a thread some guys start getting aggressive, but please try to be decent and give helpful advice.
Up to now I never bothered mastering and mastering plugins because i was told that mastering should just be applied to good mixdowns. The problem is that i don't know if my mixdowns are good enough for mastering or if not how to see when they are. The reason I think about mastering is that I think that my songs sound quite clean but just miss fattness and loudness, they sound a bit like plastic. here my two last songs:
Hardcore:
Hardstyle:
Do you think mastering could help me make those songs fatter? Or shall I keep working on the mixdown? If yes what needs to be improved mostly in the mixdown and how? Or does my sounddesign need more practise?
In the end what I think is just that when I compare my songs to professional ones the first thing that comed to my mind is that my songs sound a similat but a lot weaker..
If I should start mastering do you know any good guides where I can learn it? And if not, would you please just say no, give a reason and in ideal case tell anothet solution but always in a kind way?
Thank you a lot in afvance..I really feel that my biggest weakness is getting fattness into my songs.
soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/djreaper-2
Please just leave mastering to the proffessionals.
The key to fatness and warmth has nothing to do with mastering imo. But good sounddesign and mixdown are.
Btw. mastering isn't something you learn by a couple of tutorials. Every track has different points of attention and need other types of proccesing.
The key to fatness and warmth has nothing to do with mastering imo. But good sounddesign and mixdown are.

Btw. mastering isn't something you learn by a couple of tutorials. Every track has different points of attention and need other types of proccesing.
Facebook Soundcloud
Gear: Macbook pro 13", Thunderbolt Display 27", Focusrite Saffire USB 6, Novation Impulse 49, Genelec 8040A's,Cubase 7,Logic pro 9


Gear: Macbook pro 13", Thunderbolt Display 27", Focusrite Saffire USB 6, Novation Impulse 49, Genelec 8040A's,Cubase 7,Logic pro 9


Ah and when do I know that a professonal master could make them better? In other words, how must the mixdown sound? like a professional track just on a lower volume? Hmm..For sound design I know that layering can help to make sounds fatter, for mixing i guess I'll just have to practise and than it will come from alone, right?
Of course if somebody has some rare to find advice for mixing it is much appreciated but I think in the end it's just listening and if something is missing, cut it from another sound where it is too much so that it sounds balanced..
Of course if somebody has some rare to find advice for mixing it is much appreciated but I think in the end it's just listening and if something is missing, cut it from another sound where it is too much so that it sounds balanced..
soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/djreaper-2
I agree for the most part, however the majority of bedroom producers self-master nowadays, with many achieving desirable results. I don't think you should leave it to engineers if you like the results you get when you do it yourself. That's not to say that sending a track out for mastering is bad by any means - it's done quite a lot and many people prefer it to mastering themselves - it's entirely up to the person. Personally, I'm a strong believer in having nothing but a limiter on the master as I feel everything else can be done in the mix. By doing this, it forces you to really polish up your mixes.Aftershoq wrote:Please just leave mastering to the proffessionals.
The key to fatness and warmth has nothing to do with mastering imo. But good sounddesign and mixdown are.
Btw. mastering isn't something you learn by a couple of tutorials. Every track has different points of attention and need other types of proccesing.
Also, OP, you've been making so many retarded topics recently, and there's a topic for this:
http://harderstate.com/general-sound-de ... 8-210.html
Your mixes are still lacking, as is your sound design. Try limiting your tracks and comparing them to some of your favourite tracks (by other producers). Comparing at equal levels really helps to identify where your tracks are lacking. Also, when limiting, if you can't get your tracks as loud as the tracks your comparing to (without distortion), it's indicating that your track most likely has a poorer mix-down.
My tip at mixing is reference. Load a pro track in your daw, lower the volume to your track and compare.
Then try to get as close as possible. Your mix has to be thight and clean. Otherwise mastering won't make any difference or even make it worse.
Another thing, you should always check your track in mono! And don't forget to keep your master clean when mixing.
Then try to get as close as possible. Your mix has to be thight and clean. Otherwise mastering won't make any difference or even make it worse.
Another thing, you should always check your track in mono! And don't forget to keep your master clean when mixing.
Facebook Soundcloud
Gear: Macbook pro 13", Thunderbolt Display 27", Focusrite Saffire USB 6, Novation Impulse 49, Genelec 8040A's,Cubase 7,Logic pro 9


Gear: Macbook pro 13", Thunderbolt Display 27", Focusrite Saffire USB 6, Novation Impulse 49, Genelec 8040A's,Cubase 7,Logic pro 9


Thank you both for the tips. I will start reference mixing when I make my next production 
I don't have anything on my masterchannel in all of my songs, not even a limiter, but maybe i will try now, when I think I got the best possible mixdown to make a copy of the file and than work with a limiter and compare the clean to the mastered track..and maybe also give a copy to a mastering engineer to see what it can sound with a professional master and than decide myself wether it's useful to master my tracks or not and than i can hear exactely how mastering affects the overall sound so I may also know later on when my tracks are ready for it.
And ljk32 I don't understand why you are always so rude if someone makes a mistake. It's ok here, I am wheter new to the forum now nor a real beginner/noob in producing but you also attack people who can't know certain things.
And I thought that this question doesn't fit the other thread as I read trough it some time ago and from what I remember such questions didn't come up. But at least you wrote a helpful answer and I thank you for that but it would just be nice if you could pack all that in a friendly language, like for example aftershock.

I don't have anything on my masterchannel in all of my songs, not even a limiter, but maybe i will try now, when I think I got the best possible mixdown to make a copy of the file and than work with a limiter and compare the clean to the mastered track..and maybe also give a copy to a mastering engineer to see what it can sound with a professional master and than decide myself wether it's useful to master my tracks or not and than i can hear exactely how mastering affects the overall sound so I may also know later on when my tracks are ready for it.
And ljk32 I don't understand why you are always so rude if someone makes a mistake. It's ok here, I am wheter new to the forum now nor a real beginner/noob in producing but you also attack people who can't know certain things.
And I thought that this question doesn't fit the other thread as I read trough it some time ago and from what I remember such questions didn't come up. But at least you wrote a helpful answer and I thank you for that but it would just be nice if you could pack all that in a friendly language, like for example aftershock.
soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/djreaper-2
Well, i've said it quite sometimes before, but here goes..
The mastering stage is the last CREATIVE part before the track will be released or whatnot..
So point is; you've pretty much done your own creative work with creating the track and mixing it down as clean as possible and everything, and now's the time to hand in your masterpiece to a professional Mastering Engineer. The thing with mastering is, is that the mastering engineer has got his own ideas and creative ways to master your track best as possible. Without a clean mixdown, you're basically screwed, and even the best mastering engineer in the world can't make your track sound good. But since the mastering process is still a creative form, you should let someone else do this job. When mastering your own track, you've got all this awesome ideas in your head to make it sound even better or louder or whatever. However, the problem is: you're 9 out of 10 times unsatisfied about how the master sounds like. Why? Because you know the track better than anyone else. A mastering engineer will look at your track objectively, and will start from point 0, where you'll begin at point 7 because you know your track too good. And believe me, the mastering stage is just a piece of art on itself, it's not like you'll learn how to master a track or something within a few weeks. There's more than just ''corrective eq-ing, compression, stereo imaging, distortion and limiting'' and so on... It's knowing for which platforms it should be released on, is it going to be vinyl? MP3? Will it be played a lot on phones? Headphones? Earbuds? Which dither should I use? All aspects you should think of when mastering. Not just: OOOH, I just want my track as loud as possible! Nothing more. That's just plain wrong. And with all the respect, but don't compare your track over a professional one with ''just a limiter'' on the master. That'll get you nowhere because the professional one isn't done with only one limiter, but a (large) chain of different plugins to shape the track to its final form. But the mixdown just needs to be good, almost perfect imo. In that way, you'll get your track loud, but very clean back from the mastering engineer. Also, one of the reasons why I prefer to let a professional master my track is that they've got high quality studios which are built for mastering purposes.
Long story short: It's kind of an unwritten rule that you never master your own tracks. But then again, who am I to stop one another?
The mastering stage is the last CREATIVE part before the track will be released or whatnot..
So point is; you've pretty much done your own creative work with creating the track and mixing it down as clean as possible and everything, and now's the time to hand in your masterpiece to a professional Mastering Engineer. The thing with mastering is, is that the mastering engineer has got his own ideas and creative ways to master your track best as possible. Without a clean mixdown, you're basically screwed, and even the best mastering engineer in the world can't make your track sound good. But since the mastering process is still a creative form, you should let someone else do this job. When mastering your own track, you've got all this awesome ideas in your head to make it sound even better or louder or whatever. However, the problem is: you're 9 out of 10 times unsatisfied about how the master sounds like. Why? Because you know the track better than anyone else. A mastering engineer will look at your track objectively, and will start from point 0, where you'll begin at point 7 because you know your track too good. And believe me, the mastering stage is just a piece of art on itself, it's not like you'll learn how to master a track or something within a few weeks. There's more than just ''corrective eq-ing, compression, stereo imaging, distortion and limiting'' and so on... It's knowing for which platforms it should be released on, is it going to be vinyl? MP3? Will it be played a lot on phones? Headphones? Earbuds? Which dither should I use? All aspects you should think of when mastering. Not just: OOOH, I just want my track as loud as possible! Nothing more. That's just plain wrong. And with all the respect, but don't compare your track over a professional one with ''just a limiter'' on the master. That'll get you nowhere because the professional one isn't done with only one limiter, but a (large) chain of different plugins to shape the track to its final form. But the mixdown just needs to be good, almost perfect imo. In that way, you'll get your track loud, but very clean back from the mastering engineer. Also, one of the reasons why I prefer to let a professional master my track is that they've got high quality studios which are built for mastering purposes.
Long story short: It's kind of an unwritten rule that you never master your own tracks. But then again, who am I to stop one another?


I disagree almost entirely with your post.
You're arguing that mastering is a creative process. In that case, it should be entirely up to the producer to make creative choices about how the master would be done. Nobody knows you as well as you do, which means nobody knows what you'd like from a master more than yourself. On top of that, your point about being dissatisfied with a master because you know the track too well is ridiculous - that's like saying that you should leave the mixing to someone else so they can objectively mix the track. The idea that you shouldn't master your own stuff has been dismissed for a long time - you'd be surprised at how many people self-master. Also, you misunderstood what I meant in regards to using a limiter when making comparisons. Firstly, you're making assumptions about the 'professional' tracks the person would compare to - how would you know if they used a large chain of plugins or not? Even if you were to find out that say, Wildsylez uses a bunch of plugins for mastering, that's one producer, and you have absolutely no idea about how others would approach it. Secondly, with the single limiter on the master, I suggested to use it in order to compare mix-downs. Whether the other track you're comparing to used 1 or 100 plugins for mastering, it doesn't change the fact that comparing with the use of a limiter can aid in judging your mix-downs. It seems as though you're putting too much emphasis on mastering whilst forgetting that a solid mix-down is what really matters.
You're arguing that mastering is a creative process. In that case, it should be entirely up to the producer to make creative choices about how the master would be done. Nobody knows you as well as you do, which means nobody knows what you'd like from a master more than yourself. On top of that, your point about being dissatisfied with a master because you know the track too well is ridiculous - that's like saying that you should leave the mixing to someone else so they can objectively mix the track. The idea that you shouldn't master your own stuff has been dismissed for a long time - you'd be surprised at how many people self-master. Also, you misunderstood what I meant in regards to using a limiter when making comparisons. Firstly, you're making assumptions about the 'professional' tracks the person would compare to - how would you know if they used a large chain of plugins or not? Even if you were to find out that say, Wildsylez uses a bunch of plugins for mastering, that's one producer, and you have absolutely no idea about how others would approach it. Secondly, with the single limiter on the master, I suggested to use it in order to compare mix-downs. Whether the other track you're comparing to used 1 or 100 plugins for mastering, it doesn't change the fact that comparing with the use of a limiter can aid in judging your mix-downs. It seems as though you're putting too much emphasis on mastering whilst forgetting that a solid mix-down is what really matters.
Better lower the volume of a pro track instead of putting a limiter on your own imo. Anything on your master will give you a wrong idea of how your mix sounds. Keep it clean, aswell as your mix and the mastering engineer will do a great job. 
Mastering is not a creative process, i have to disagree on that. Creative in my opinion is putting things together, shaping sounds, etc.

Mastering is not a creative process, i have to disagree on that. Creative in my opinion is putting things together, shaping sounds, etc.
Facebook Soundcloud
Gear: Macbook pro 13", Thunderbolt Display 27", Focusrite Saffire USB 6, Novation Impulse 49, Genelec 8040A's,Cubase 7,Logic pro 9


Gear: Macbook pro 13", Thunderbolt Display 27", Focusrite Saffire USB 6, Novation Impulse 49, Genelec 8040A's,Cubase 7,Logic pro 9


I can understand that to an extent, but you have to understand that the tracks you are comparing to are limited themselves, and so limiting your own track creates a more ideal comparison.Aftershoq wrote:Better lower the volume of a pro track instead of putting a limiter on your own imo.
And no. A limiter on the master can actually help to identify issues in the mix, and is a technique used by a lot of producers. I mention this above, but clearly it isn't being read. Madeon, for example likes to toggle on and off a limiter when working on his mixes, and whether you like his stuff or not, his mixes are beyond polished.Aftershoq wrote:Anything on your master will give you a wrong idea of how your mix sounds.
If you aren't aware of his tracks, here are some from him (this is only to illustrate my point about mix-downs):