Step by step guide to mastering a completed 28 track song

[jbnumerouno]

Step by step guide to mastering a completed 28 track song in logic on mac

 

I have recently started producing dance music using logic 7.2 on a mac. The manuals that come with logic seem to be near enough useless in providing step by step instructions for many processes in logic. I have recently finished my first song of 28 tracks including 4 audio tracks. I want to find out how to master tracks using logic, preferably step by step guide. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated or any useful literature / websites / tutorials

 

Any takers Thanks in advance

[fader8]

Ok, I'll bite.

 

Here's a good place to start:

 

http://www.berkleemusic.com/school/certificates/certificate?area_item_id=1827493&program_id=3948642

 

Programs like these are well rounded and give you a good foundation in how to produce something of decent quality. You could probably finish the Berklee program above in about 18-24 months, comfortably.

 

After that, or even during, try to work with some people who are already doing this stuff well. Nothing beats a few years of that kind of good, solid osmosis learning.

 

Once you're through all that, you're probably at a point where you can confidently produce a song that's just acceptable. By about the 20th or 30th song later, you may get something, one thing, that sounds like it just might produce some WOW response.

 

Inevitably, that's about the time you'll hit that downer period where everything you do just sounds like dog. It might last a year, maybe 2, 3. At this point you may give it all up and become an accountant, or a hospital administrator, or, you may stick with it. Eventually your bound to have some kind of epiphany and suddenly, like the drop of a coin, everything you've learned will fall into the right place in your brain and you'll sit down and produce an amazing sounding song.

 

So make sure you archive that 28 track'r well. Because when the time comes buddy, you'll be ready.

[fader8]

Oh, yes, . . . welcome to the forum!

[tatem]

And aside from that terribly accurate description, if you think you track is ready for mastering it might be worth it to get it done. This is a guy whom ive used and hes not bad on the price either.

http://www.saffmastering.com/main.html

good luck.

[ski]

Step by step guide to mastering a completed 28 track song in logic on mac

 

I have recently started producing dance music using logic 7.2 on a mac. The manuals that come with logic seem to be near enough useless in providing step by step instructions for many processes in logic. I have recently finished my first song of 28 tracks including 4 audio tracks. I want to find out how to master tracks using logic, preferably step by step guide. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated or any useful literature / websites / tutorials

 

Any takers Thanks in advance

 

The Logic Plugin Reference manual has some surprisingly good tutorials, but mainly for synths and Sculpture, to name two. There's less tutorial emphasis offered for many of the "engineering" plugs.

 

The number of tracks you have doesn't really influence mastering, but it will influence the sound of your mix. 28 tracks could be quite the handful when it comes to balancing them all if they all have sound that plays simultaneously. But if some parts only play sporadically, or only in certain sections, then it's potentially less of a challenge to get them to work together. And while you may have 28 tracks, should you break down the mix to, say, just kick and hat in one section, you're really only dealing with one or two tracks at that point. My aim here is to make the distinctions between track count, the mix of those tracks, and then the mastering the final 2-mix.

 

There are several approaches/levels to mastering. The first question you might want to ask is "what am I looking for from mastering?" If you don't know the answer, then you might want to do some research to find out what mastering is all about, and learn about the different things that can be achieved in mastering.

 

Mastering can be as simple as raising the overall level of a track while ensuring that it doesn't clip. Other more involved mastering techniques can help shape the overall sound of a mix by emphasizing missing frequencies (provided there's something in the track to grab a hold of and raise!), lowering troublesome ones, compressing the mix and making it sound more even dynamically, and that's just the short list.

 

So I'd suggest you ask yourself what it is you want from the process and from there, experiment with the appropriate plugins to try to achieve some of these mastering effects.

 

Having said that, mastering is an art unto itself, and isn't necessarily quickly learned. You have to know how to hear what a track needs or doesn't need. The reason that professional mastering studios exist is because they have not only the right equipment for the job but trained engineers who know how to listen to a track and apply the right mojo to put that finishing touch on a mix. That's not to say that you shouldn't learn about some of these techniques yourself, just something to keep in mind.

 

Finally, I'm not convinced that it's a good idea to attempt to fully master a track on the same speakers that you mixed the track on. Part of the mastering process is to make a mix translate well almost anywhere, and whatever coloration your speakers may add to the sound is not necessarily something that you want to be listening to when mastering. In other words, mastering should take place in a neutral sonic environment, as mastering houses provide.

 

So again, I'm not trying to discourage you from attempting to master something yourself. The more you know about the process the better. Hope I've provided an overall and helpful perspective for you.

 

-=sKi=-

[teamworkmammal]

now im curious....if i showed up to a studio owner saying, "Hey! I have a Masters Certificate in Music Production from Berklee's school of music online. Gimme a job!" Would i get laughed out the door? I mean, that course is 13,000$ so you think it would be worth something but for some reason, that just doesnt ring right to me...

[fader8]

now im curious....if i showed up to a studio owner saying, "Hey! I have a Masters Certificate in Music Production from Berklee's school of music online. Gimme a job!" Would i get laughed out the door?

 

Depends on your figure.

 

Seriously, I wrote my previous post rather tongue in cheek. The product of a rammy mood from dealing with a client yesterday that keeps changing EVERYTHING because she doesn't know what she wants.

 

In the end it all boils down to talent. The original poster may well be one of those people that, with minimal guidance, bags a grammy for that 28 track tune. Education can only teach you the tools. How you use them is an entirely different thing.

 

Some time after I landed my first good production job, I asked my boss if he would have hired me if I hadn't studied production at Eastman. He said, "Probably not." He said that an education doesn't prove a commitment to your craft, but commitment, with talent, backed up by an education, goes a long way.

 

I used to work with people that didn't believe in postproduction of any kind. The whole idea being that if it's played well and recorded well, you shouldn't have to touch it at all. There's a lot of really great records out there that were done this way. There was a time when the mastering engineers role was only to make sure the 2-track master didn't overdrive the cutting heads and that the grooves didn't overlap. There was more to it, but you see my point.

 

Music production shouldn't be all about polishing a turd.

[shivermetimbers]

now im curious....if i showed up to a studio owner saying, "Hey! I have a Masters Certificate in Music Production from Berklee's school of music online. Gimme a job!" Would i get laughed out the door? I mean, that course is 13,000$ so you think it would be worth something but for some reason, that just doesnt ring right to me...

 

I guess the old saying of "Don't call us, we'll call you" rings true.

 

You prove yourself by producing quality and sales, they will come after you. You gotta find a way to get noticed on your own time.

[David Nahmani]

if i showed up to a studio owner saying, "Hey! I have a Masters Certificate in Music Production from Berklee's school of music online. Gimme a job!" Would i get laughed out the door? I mean, that course is 13,000$ so you think it would be worth something

You know what? If I'm the studio owner, my next question is "So how did you come up with the $13,000?"

 

In my opinion, if someone is motivated enough to save up over the years and spend $13,000 into music production education, that shows commitment. Of course, if mum and dad are rich and paid for it like they would have paid for a summer camp, that's a different story.

 

Doesn't mean that if mum and dad are rich and paid for it, you're not committed! But if you don't have that kind of money lying around in your house and you had to work summer jobs for the past 8 years, saving up to pay for it yourself, that sure does show commitment. Independently of whether or not you've learned anything during the training.

[dinorion]

if u can bounce the tracks to a 2 track audio (stereo) then u strap in a multiprocessor = compressor+limiter (on the master output) and make sure the master output signal doesnt clip then bounce it again to a (.wav) file..u should have a digitally mastered track on logic pro in your pocket..

 

-DINoRION-

[davidrice]

I suspect the original poster meant to ask for guidance on how to mix his piece, not master it.

[shivermetimbers]

I suspect the original poster meant to ask for guidance on how to mix his piece, not master it.

 

Master was mentioned several times. If he doesn't know the difference, no one will be able to help.

 

Secondly, to call a reference manual 'useless' is a clear indication this person will be frustrated with Logic.

 

Definitions of Reference manual on the Web:

 

a document, often organized alphabetically, designed as a quick reference for experienced users.

[jbnumerouno]

Thanks guys for the responses. Some very helpful stuff

 

To the last post, i was asking about mastering not mixing. I do know the difference between mixing and mastering and cant really see how one would get these confused???

 

. The logic manual is not helpful in giving step by step instructions on how to achieve what you want to. There is no frustration here at all, the manual serves its purpose in defining WHAT is achieveable... it simply does not tell you HOW to achieve it

[djals]

As is the way with many manuals.

 

The people writing the manuals are probably not mastering experts...OR, don't get the fees to include all kinds of cool tricks. Gotta think about keeping gaps in the market - to fill with more, expensive, books for us to buy!

 

There's a whole heap of info on the net, it takes some research but there are some good articles on mastering and many other techniques out there.

[gsilbers]

lets see if I just go to the point.

 

in logic you can master like in any program. there are several ways. you can import your mix to a track, add EQ and compression where its needed , an ad limiter at the end and little reverb.

 

you con bounce that and do another song or you can import a second track and EQ and compress whats needed so at the end all the tracks have a similar sound. (which is one of the jobs in mastering)

 

the settings for mastering are extremely lighter than in a mix. a ratio of 2 when compressing is extreme sometimes. or 3 db+/- or more of EQ gain means u should go back to the mix to fix things. rememebr that 3db is twice as loud. if you have a violin player and add another one playing the same thing, itll be 3db louder. so if u add 3db to a final mix theres something wrong on the mix itself. could be fix on mastering but better do it in the mix.

 

you can also split up parts so the chorus has difret settings than the verses or you can do automation of the settings.

 

mastering, as the word sugests, deals with the final masters that will go to reproduction. so you should think things like fade in and fade outs, constant levels on all the songs, space between track in an album and most importantly , that the songs will sound the same (good) in any speaker. so check on crappy speakers, in big ass speakers, you car etc. to get levels right, mastering engineers have very expensive and clear speakers to be able to asses difrent EQ and Comp settings.

 

I do master my own techno music and for that i sometimes do this trick which helps on venues that usually only have mono or left in the dance floor and right on the bar/outside etc.

 

i add 2 compies of the same song in 2 tracks both playing at the same time.

one track ill turn into mono while the other i widen the stereo mix to the max and both add EQ and compression to suite their needs

. ill mix the mono track loud so all i can hear is a nowrrow signal. ill add little more copression to it and then slowly turn up the widen stereo track until I hear a complete and wide picture of the song. you can add a little reverb but really little. in the master bus ill ad the ad limiter and if it still needs to, a multipressor or compressor. (BTW, u cant do this is PT LE:)

 

that trick sometimes rocks, but other times one track with proper EQ and comp will sound better. the trick is to use your ears before judging (Y)

 

it takes time to master mastering. try out making a bounce of a track using more extreme compression and slaming the ad limiter. commpare that to a semi compres and EQ affected and then copare to the original mix. and always have a band that sound similar on another track or on the CD player for fast coparison.

 

hope that helps.

Edited July 27, 2007 by gsilbers

[shivermetimbers]

It's like being a baby in a candy store. Too many methods to choose from.

[Andy M.]

if u can bounce the tracks to a 2 track audio (stereo) then u strap in a multiprocessor = compressor+limiter (on the master output) and make sure the master output signal doesnt clip then bounce it again to a (.wav) file..u should have a digitally mastered track on logic pro in your pocket..

 

-DINoRION-

 

There you have it.

[RolandFan]

This is a step by step mastering guide published by the guys from Izotope. It's meant to be used in conjunction with their Ozone product, but it would be useful to anyone.

 

http://izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/OzoneMasteringGuide.PDF

[dx2motif]

Thank you for that, Mr. Fan! =o)