JackGenius Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I have been producing for about 5 months now. While I feel I am making steady progress with my production and mixing, whenever the time comes to bounce and/or master everything goes wrong. Through my headphones my beat sounds great, but once it goes to itunes (I have researched this problem, it has nothing to do with my itunes settings) its so low which takes away so much. I have practiced many different mastering techniques (my recent attempt on the beat in this post, I read how it can be better to bounce to mp3, then throw the mastering plugins on the mp3, so thats what happened here..), I have tried to search the internet, but can't seem to come across anything helpful. I am desperate guys. Nothing feels worse then making progress beat to beat, only for the mp3 to sound low and horrible. This is my latest beat attached in the post. If it will help someone help me, I will gladly put the logic file up so maybe someone can open it in theres and try to help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackGenius Posted January 30, 2013 Author Share Posted January 30, 2013 Just read a thread about a member named Lagerfeldt. For a beginner like myself, is it as wise as I think it may be to pay for a mastered track just to hear the difference and get specific feedback? I feel the "specific feedback" part is becoming important to me, too many similar threads with answers i've already tried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lagerfeldt Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 That'll be me Sending your to track to a mastering engineer is a good idea, and at this stage it's a learning process for you as well. The mix feedback will probably be useful, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev. Juda Sleaze Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Mastering an mp3 is a horrible idea. Where did you hear that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Mastering an mp3 is a horrible idea. Definitely a horrible idea. You want to keep the highest possible quality until mastering (when the mastering engineer can deliver the final distribution formats). An mp3 is a compressed format so the quality is lesser than the original PCM file (Aiff or wav). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackGenius Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 Mastering an mp3 is a horrible idea. Where did you hear that? http://audio.tutsplus.com/tutorials/mixing-mastering/how-to-master-a-track-in-15-minutes-or-less/ Guess I read that wrong. What exactly are they asking me to export it as in that first step? Everything was going so smoothly until mastering. I'm just having a hard time for some reason grasping some of this stuff and relating it to my work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackGenius Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 That'll be me Sending your to track to a mastering engineer is a good idea, and at this stage it's a learning process for you as well. The mix feedback will probably be useful, too. I will be in touch within the next two weeks, already favorited your site. Having one of my tracks mastered along with the feedback on how to do better is becoming essential to my progress. Months of reading and exploring general pointers has become a pain when I keep seeing minimal progress in this area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lagerfeldt Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Taking a real course in mixing, preferably some one-to-one training is a good idea as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev. Juda Sleaze Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Mastering an mp3 is a horrible idea. Where did you hear that? http://audio.tutsplus.com/tutorials/mixing-mastering/how-to-master-a-track-in-15-minutes-or-less/ Guess I read that wrong. What exactly are they asking me to export it as in that first step? Everything was going so smoothly until mastering. I'm just having a hard time for some reason grasping some of this stuff and relating it to my work Bounce your mix as 24bit PCM (aif or wav, which are uncompressed), leave some headroom on your stereo-out when bouncing it (anywhere between -3 and -12 dB FS). One thing I disagree with is the use of Stereo Spread plug-in on your master; it pans different frequencies left and right, rather than being a true stereo widening effect. You by no means have to use all the effects they suggest, just the compressor and adaptive limiter might be enough if your mix is sounding good. I think it's better to be minimal when you're starting out, so that you can clearly hear what your processing is doing. If your track is bass-heavy it might be an idea to low-cut BEFORE compressing too. You're not going to master this in a few months (no pun intended!), be prepared for a lifetime of study and improvement. Getting to know your tools is the most important part IMO. Quick tutorials are ok for general pointers, but you have to put the time in to find out what these processing tools are doing, so that you can make informed decisions about when and why you use them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackGenius Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 Taking a real course in mixing, preferably some one-to-one training is a good idea as well. Great idea. Whats funny is when I first started I tried finding production classes and came up with nothing, but a search for mixing and mastering lessons returned something promising in my area. Hoping it works out, i've always felt the best way to learn would be to become friends with someone who is just as passionate but preferably more knowledgeable lol. No idea where to start as far as that goes though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackGenius Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 Bounce your mix as 24bit PCM (aif or wav, which are uncompressed), leave some headroom on your stereo-out when bouncing it (anywhere between -3 and -12 dB FS). (...) Quick tutorials are ok for general pointers, but you have to put the time in to find out what these processing tools are doing, so that you can make informed decisions about when and why you use them. Thank you man the explanation was great. Luckily I got that cleared up before I kept making that mistake lol i'm excited to try again later now that you've helped out. I knew when I started this mastering was going to be the most difficult part for me and it would take much longer than the 5 months i've been doing this to get it to sound good. This is just the first time i've really felt stuck in one spot. No doubt about it mastering (no pun intended here either) the plug ins is still a bit away, but as far as mixing goes I continue to hear improvements (at least through my headphones) and feel better with what i'm working with with every new project. Whether its the spot that gives lessons I just found nearby, paying Lagerfeldt, or practicing nothing but mastering til I go insane i'm at the point I HAVE!! to get better at this, its eating at me lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev. Juda Sleaze Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 It's a good sign that your mixes are getting better I'd recommended concentrating on mixing for now. If you've got a good mix, a compressor, adaptive limiter and possibly low-cut (though I do most of my sub-taming on an instrument-by-instrument basis during mixing) should be enough to get it up to a listenable level in iTunes. Once you've got your head around that, start trying out other processing. Sound on Sound is a good resource for learning about production. Here's a good intro to compressors: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep09/articles/compressionmadeeasy.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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