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Mastering Lab Studio Advice
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Mastering Your Music
If you are planning to
release your music commercially and be in any real competition with other commercial recordings coming out into the
market, you will definitely need to have your music mastered. In the mastering
procedure, final adjustments to volume level, equalization, compression, spatial enhancements, etc. can be made to your mix,
to give it that “polished” sound you by and large hear on most major label recordings, and also put the overall
tone of your music in good running with the other CDs being released commercially and played on radio.
Mastering your music is very important
and should not be in the slightest way taken for granted. The mastering process
is the last stage to “tweak” and technically improve the sound of the final mix before it is ready for release
and CD manufacturing. In my opinion, I firmly believe that you should always
get a professional mastering engineer and studio, or you may be asking for a lot of unneeded headache and grief. Also, take
a look at the credits of virtually any successful CD release, and you will see that major labels and production companies
normally use a very specialized professional for Mastering and not the same people doing the mix or the same guys who recorded
the song. Why? Because pro mastering services make what was recorded and then
finally mixed, sound better. So
when you hire a great mastering engineer and facility to put that final “magic” into your record, it’s normally
worth whatever the cost is. Know this: when you hire a mastering professional,
you are paying for not only a great room and gear, but you are also paying for intangible things like the experience, and
the “ears” of a mastering engineer; a guy that makes a living from “tweaking” records. Mastering is
also as much an art as it is knowledge and technique.
Now because of today’s world
of home recording, desktop studio programs and software plug-ins, many new producers and artists are led to believe that they
can simply take their mixes and run it through a few “pre-set” compressor and EQ plug-in settings in their computer
software and get the results that they hear on their favorite CDs that are mastered out of New York, Los Angeles, or Atlanta.
BUT - the truth is that Mastering begins with an experienced Mastering engineer, and then, the mastering suite or studio control room and then the equipment in that control room. In the professional mastering process, the engineer will optimize the level of your music, take out noise, clicks,
etc. and clean up starts and fades of songs, do equalization and compression and de-ess parts as needed, arrange the order,
and insert space between songs. He will also do other things like inserting PQ
codes for CD replication.
When you have reached that point where
you have worked your best to get the song and performance recorded and then mixed well, then please, don’t
skip the Mastering phase of the project. And even more important, don’t leave the mastering “process”
to the hands of someone without the experience, knowledge and gear to really
get the job done correctly. Just because
your buddy bought the latest mastering software for your computer, doesn’t mean he can actually do a good mastering
job on your final mixes. Actually, you may end up doing more harm to your tracks than good. And also know this boys
and girls: most real mastering engineers HATE the idea of someone bringing in a “half” mastered mess - to be fixed
up by them, and then (re) “mastered” correctly. Listen up people; Mastering is a very serious process.
If you are going to put a record out for “commercial” release, please seek a qualified Mastering Engineer &
Studio. If you can't afford professional mastering, you probably can't afford to put yourself into any real serious
or competitive arena – think about it. So I highly suggest taking the smartest road to sonic satisfaction;
HAVE YOUR MUSIC MASTERED PROFESSIONALLY!
HOW MUCH?
Pro mastering will cost anywhere from $50 to $350 per hour
(or more), depending on the mastering engineer and the mastering facility.
MIX DELIVERY
24 Bit DAT, 16 Bit DAT, CD-R, Data Files (WAV, AIFF, SDII,
etc.), Analog Reel (1/4”). There is also another mastering technique called Separation Mastering, where multiple “sub-mixes”
of sub-groups are used for the final stereo imaging of what is to be mastered. if you have questions, call the studio you
plan on using and ask “anything” that you may be concerned about.
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HOME TWEAKING
If you are just trying to hump up OR
“hype up” your tacks or songs a bit... just enough to test in clubs, demos or to get a little hype on the “sound”
of things before pro mastering, etc., you can easily go buy the following program for your computer, along with these
suggested plug-ins and do your "test" magic - click here to continue
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