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to master or not for TV?


kerochan

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Hi

I just finished writing/recording a theme tune for a TV show, I have took note of gain staging along the way and the Stereo out is showing -6db peaks. Its not crazyly loud in the end

 

Sounds seems fine though, using 2 mics on a guitar cab, bass guitar di and Logic's Drummer triggering EZ Drummer sounds.

 

I have bounced a wav file and I am very happy with it, though as I said its not ear piercingly loud! so I imported that version into a new project and added MultiPressor and Adaptive limiter, to get louder, but I when I play this the louder version on various devices its a bit distorted.

 

Which would be best to send the TV Company?

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Hi

I just finished writing/recording a theme tune for a TV show, I have took note of gain staging along the way and the Stereo out is showing -6db peaks. Its not crazyly loud in the end

 

Sounds seems fine though, using 2 mics on a guitar cab, bass guitar di and Logic's Drummer triggering EZ Drummer sounds.

 

I have bounced a wav file and I am very happy with it, though as I said its not ear piercingly loud! so I imported that version into a new project and added MultiPressor and Adaptive limiter, to get louder, but I when I play this the louder version on various devices its a bit distorted.

 

Which would be best to send the TV Company?

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Ask them if they want the distorted version or the clean one.

 

But seriously, if you can't master yourself, get it done elsewhere, but make sure it's mastered. Mastering does not mean "Make it obnoxiously loud with a random Ozone preset", mastering means "Make sure no frequencies that couldn't be heard properly due to the mixing room's acoustics stick out, make sure the frequency- and dynamic-ranges are well balanced. And make absolutely sure its volume meets the client's loudness specifications, in case it gets aired unaltered."

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Ask them if they want the distorted version or the clean one.

 

But seriously, if you can't master yourself, get it done elsewhere, but make sure it's mastered. Mastering does not mean "Make it obnoxiously loud with a random Ozone preset", mastering means "Make sure no frequencies that couldn't be heard properly due to the mixing room's acoustics stick out, make sure the frequency- and dynamic-ranges are well balanced. And make absolutely sure its volume meets the client's loudness specifications, in case it gets aired unaltered."

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Having written/produced for Film, TV and commercials for 30+ years, I've never had to "Master" anything. Nor been asked to. The only caveat is if you are mixing a final that will go directly to broadcast outlets. Then, you gotta be careful.

 

Hi DanRad

This is reassuring thank you

In the past I have always recorded at a pro studio and delivered the product to the TV people, I have also never had to master anything.

 

In this instance I done everything at home for the first time, I followed all the gain staging procedures, I tried to get everything perfect at the recording stage too, so there was very little processing to do, and did try to mix as best I could.

 

Everything sounds fine, the problem I have with it is it doesn't have the volume compared with other stuff I have done where I haven't cared about the gain staging or the stereo output being in the red, because I was just writing songs and didn't have the time to worry about levels etc.

 

But with this project I did take care and although the mix is fine, its not loud like other stuff.

 

Having said that, it was recorded in 24 bit 48khz and the TV people are delighted with it, they didn't even mention anything about the volume!

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