Mastering

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Mastering
Posted on: 04.12.2013 by Alecia Soulliere
So I finished the arrangement of my first song in ableton and I feel pretty good about the outcome . I did the track on my headphones mostly as I produce on the go (train, lunch breaks, etc.) and it sounded awesome in the phones, but when I exported the audio out of ableton, it sounds flat and quiet when I play it on my car speakers and even in the same headphones I produced it with. Now I never mastered a track before so what can I do to make it sound like it did when I was working on it in Ableton?

Also any tips on matering for the first time would be very helpful.

Thanks in advance!
Jeannine Drobney
28.01.2014		One of the most useful compression how to's was reading the ableton manual on the compressors. It goes without saying, RTFM, but I said it because thats what I had to do, read the f*****ng manual.
Jacinto Wildstein
29.12.2013
Originally Posted by lemeiux1
Ok I finally figured it out. I basically had a spike that was causing the rest of the mix to be a lot lower when compressed during the mix down. I fixed that, did a little EQing on the master and lightly compressed it and voila. The reference track helped a lot, thanks a lot R01, you saved me quite the headache!
Cool.
Just a point from previous threads, I am not sure you really need to be pushing maximum loudness all the time. As long as the whole album matches in terms of loudness and sheen and it sounds like one final product. The making things louder has only really happened in the last 20 years. Besides we do not have 200K's worth of studio gear or 20 years mastering experience, so trying to replicate Abbey Roads production values is always going to be difficult.

The process I follow is eq and pan when making the track and get everything to sit correctly - this will include compressors and the like on each element. Export at 24/ 96 for mastering. Analyse for clashing frequencies - go and rectify these in the sequencer. EQ, Multiband compressor - do not over do the compressor or it will all sound flat as a pancake, limiter to pump it up a bit, maybe enhance the stereo spread, normalise, bounce back to 44.1, play on as many systems as possible - go back and go through the whole process again until it sounds perfect on all systems.

It's all a learning process, enjoy it.
Alecia Soulliere
14.12.2013
Originally Posted by R01
Alright that sounds good. If you're still stuck PM me, 'cause it's a little hard for us to help you without "hearing" what you're doing.
Ok I finally figured it out. I basically had a spike that was causing the rest of the mix to be a lot lower when compressed during the mix down. I fixed that, did a little EQing on the master and lightly compressed it and voila. The reference track helped a lot, thanks a lot R01, you saved me quite the headache!
Trey Brune
13.12.2013
Originally Posted by Nas525
Not to be a total noob here but im having the same probelm. What do you guys mean by mix down again?
Gonna need some more info, because we've been discussing mastering here primarily. The mix down is the initial blending of all your tracks to achieve an overall balance that forms your song.
Alecia Soulliere
10.12.2013
Originally Posted by R01
You're problem might be monitoring then. Headphones can mask a lot of what's happening, so speakers are preferable. You should always use a reference track while mixing and mastering (or at least until you have reference stuck in your head, which only happens after hundreds of hours of working).

Import a similar track into your DAW and lower it's volume so it matches your tracks volume, press play, switch solo's and compare. This will help you immensely in finding problems with your mix, the top three being: dynamics, energy and clarity.

If you're new to pushing out songs, it's unlikely you'll get that same sense of volume vs. professionally mastered songs. It's normal, and nothing to be worried about. You can either have it mastered, or do some light mastering yourself. Doesn't hurt to try.

I'm not familiar with the Ableton Live 9 stock export settings, but I would recommend bouncing at least at 44.1kHz/16bit.

If you're still having trouble with all of this then I wouldn't mind having a look at the track.
Actually, those are the exact settings im using. I'm gonna give that reference track a go when I get home, maybe that can shed some light on the weak areas. I appreciate the advice as im pretty new to this stuff, and I might just take you up on taking a look at the file if all else fails
Alecia Soulliere
10.12.2013
Originally Posted by R01
Yeah, it'll depend on your export settings as well as how close your mix is pushing 0dB.

Getting a mix to be CD quality loud isn't just one simple step. It takes a while before all pieces fall into place to make that happen. With practice one can get better at mixing close to 0dB from the start. After that a good mastering will provide that peaks hit 0dB and the song sounds full in volume while retaining dynamics.

A good place to start is by gently using a maximizer to raise the peak volumes of your song to 0db. From there some soft compression might help even out the song a bit more. After that slight EQ is usually preferable. In the mastering stage you want to do the least amount of adjusting as possible. Don't throw your mix through a limiter and call it day!

None of this is easy to do, and takes time, patience and practice to get right.
Yeah I'm starting to get that this is quite a process. I have been reading up on mixdown and master tutorials (Thanks a lot Tarekith!) and have followed all the advice I've been given. I changed the volumes of all my tracks so that the master is peaking at roughly -6.0db as that is what has been suggested to me to leave "headroom". Then I raised the volume and put a limiter on the master (ableton's stock) and set that ceiling to -0.2db. Now when I play back the master hits the -0.2db without any clipping or anything and is much louder on my headphones (can only turn it up half way before its too loud on my computer, where before I could turn it up all the way). I'm believeing the problem lies in the fact that the intro to my song is softer before the bass hits. So basically when played back in my car system you can barely hear the intro but when you get to the drop its nice and loud and punchy (though the whole thing is still just slightly lower than other tracks I own). Is there a good way to deal with differeing volumes?

I used the stock settings Live 9 has during export and I left normalize off. I still dont understand though why it sounds so good while im working on it and so bad once exported.
Jacinto Wildstein
29.12.2013
Originally Posted by lemeiux1
Ok I finally figured it out. I basically had a spike that was causing the rest of the mix to be a lot lower when compressed during the mix down. I fixed that, did a little EQing on the master and lightly compressed it and voila. The reference track helped a lot, thanks a lot R01, you saved me quite the headache!
Cool.
Just a point from previous threads, I am not sure you really need to be pushing maximum loudness all the time. As long as the whole album matches in terms of loudness and sheen and it sounds like one final product. The making things louder has only really happened in the last 20 years. Besides we do not have 200K's worth of studio gear or 20 years mastering experience, so trying to replicate Abbey Roads production values is always going to be difficult.

The process I follow is eq and pan when making the track and get everything to sit correctly - this will include compressors and the like on each element. Export at 24/ 96 for mastering. Analyse for clashing frequencies - go and rectify these in the sequencer. EQ, Multiband compressor - do not over do the compressor or it will all sound flat as a pancake, limiter to pump it up a bit, maybe enhance the stereo spread, normalise, bounce back to 44.1, play on as many systems as possible - go back and go through the whole process again until it sounds perfect on all systems.

It's all a learning process, enjoy it.
Alecia Soulliere
14.12.2013
Originally Posted by R01
Alright that sounds good. If you're still stuck PM me, 'cause it's a little hard for us to help you without "hearing" what you're doing.
Ok I finally figured it out. I basically had a spike that was causing the rest of the mix to be a lot lower when compressed during the mix down. I fixed that, did a little EQing on the master and lightly compressed it and voila. The reference track helped a lot, thanks a lot R01, you saved me quite the headache!
Berry Mcclincy
14.12.2013		Never master with headphones. Most headphones will mask all of the issues. I wouldn't even mix with headphones either, but definitely never master with them. If you do mix with your headphones, just focus on tracking out your instruments and arranging. Then get some speakers for the final mixdown and master. The speakers don't even have to be that great.. just great enough to tell you were the problems are in your mix.
Trey Brune
13.12.2013
Originally Posted by Nas525
Not to be a total noob here but im having the same probelm. What do you guys mean by mix down again?
Gonna need some more info, because we've been discussing mastering here primarily. The mix down is the initial blending of all your tracks to achieve an overall balance that forms your song.
Arla Padierna
13.12.2013		Not to be a total noob here but im having the same probelm. What do you guys mean by mix down again?
Trey Brune
13.12.2013		Alright that sounds good. If you're still stuck PM me, 'cause it's a little hard for us to help you without "hearing" what you're doing.
Argentina Cicione
12.12.2013		Honestly, the best tip i can give is to use a maximizer plugin to raise the overall db
level of the mix. It makes a HUGE difference and i promise you will be generally satisfied.
Just make sure you dont raise it too high so that it starts clipping. But generally a maximizer wont cause
the mix to clip. Also, use an eq on the master to raise the bass and treble just slightly on the whole mix.
This will make it sound brighter and bassier than the original.
Good luck!
Alecia Soulliere
10.12.2013
Originally Posted by R01
You're problem might be monitoring then. Headphones can mask a lot of what's happening, so speakers are preferable. You should always use a reference track while mixing and mastering (or at least until you have reference stuck in your head, which only happens after hundreds of hours of working).

Import a similar track into your DAW and lower it's volume so it matches your tracks volume, press play, switch solo's and compare. This will help you immensely in finding problems with your mix, the top three being: dynamics, energy and clarity.

If you're new to pushing out songs, it's unlikely you'll get that same sense of volume vs. professionally mastered songs. It's normal, and nothing to be worried about. You can either have it mastered, or do some light mastering yourself. Doesn't hurt to try.

I'm not familiar with the Ableton Live 9 stock export settings, but I would recommend bouncing at least at 44.1kHz/16bit.

If you're still having trouble with all of this then I wouldn't mind having a look at the track.
Actually, those are the exact settings im using. I'm gonna give that reference track a go when I get home, maybe that can shed some light on the weak areas. I appreciate the advice as im pretty new to this stuff, and I might just take you up on taking a look at the file if all else fails
Trey Brune
10.12.2013		You're problem might be monitoring then. Headphones can mask a lot of what's happening, so speakers are preferable. You should always use a reference track while mixing and mastering (or at least until you have reference stuck in your head, which only happens after hundreds of hours of working).

Import a similar track into your DAW and lower it's volume so it matches your tracks volume, press play, switch solo's and compare. This will help you immensely in finding problems with your mix, the top three being: dynamics, energy and clarity.

If you're new to pushing out songs, it's unlikely you'll get that same sense of volume vs. professionally mastered songs. It's normal, and nothing to be worried about. You can either have it mastered, or do some light mastering yourself. Doesn't hurt to try.

I'm not familiar with the Ableton Live 9 stock export settings, but I would recommend bouncing at least at 44.1kHz/16bit.

If you're still having trouble with all of this then I wouldn't mind having a look at the track.
Alecia Soulliere
10.12.2013
Originally Posted by R01
Yeah, it'll depend on your export settings as well as how close your mix is pushing 0dB.

Getting a mix to be CD quality loud isn't just one simple step. It takes a while before all pieces fall into place to make that happen. With practice one can get better at mixing close to 0dB from the start. After that a good mastering will provide that peaks hit 0dB and the song sounds full in volume while retaining dynamics.

A good place to start is by gently using a maximizer to raise the peak volumes of your song to 0db. From there some soft compression might help even out the song a bit more. After that slight EQ is usually preferable. In the mastering stage you want to do the least amount of adjusting as possible. Don't throw your mix through a limiter and call it day!

None of this is easy to do, and takes time, patience and practice to get right.
Yeah I'm starting to get that this is quite a process. I have been reading up on mixdown and master tutorials (Thanks a lot Tarekith!) and have followed all the advice I've been given. I changed the volumes of all my tracks so that the master is peaking at roughly -6.0db as that is what has been suggested to me to leave "headroom". Then I raised the volume and put a limiter on the master (ableton's stock) and set that ceiling to -0.2db. Now when I play back the master hits the -0.2db without any clipping or anything and is much louder on my headphones (can only turn it up half way before its too loud on my computer, where before I could turn it up all the way). I'm believeing the problem lies in the fact that the intro to my song is softer before the bass hits. So basically when played back in my car system you can barely hear the intro but when you get to the drop its nice and loud and punchy (though the whole thing is still just slightly lower than other tracks I own). Is there a good way to deal with differeing volumes?

I used the stock settings Live 9 has during export and I left normalize off. I still dont understand though why it sounds so good while im working on it and so bad once exported.
Trey Brune
10.12.2013		Yeah, it'll depend on your export settings as well as how close your mix is pushing 0dB.

Getting a mix to be CD quality loud isn't just one simple step. It takes a while before all pieces fall into place to make that happen. With practice one can get better at mixing close to 0dB from the start. After that a good mastering will provide that peaks hit 0dB and the song sounds full in volume while retaining dynamics.

A good place to start is by gently using a maximizer to raise the peak volumes of your song to 0db. From there some soft compression might help even out the song a bit more. After that slight EQ is usually preferable. In the mastering stage you want to do the least amount of adjusting as possible. Don't throw your mix through a limiter and call it day!

None of this is easy to do, and takes time, patience and practice to get right.
Monserrate Rupnow
05.12.2013		What settings are you using to export?
Alecia Soulliere
05.12.2013		I appreciate all of the help guys. I have gone back through teh EQing on every track and its exactly as I want it to be. Basically the more I listen to the exported song, the more im finding that the entire thing just needs to be a bit louder when I compare it to a similar professionally produced track. Also, can anyone explain the reason why it sounds perfect on my headphones in ableton, but much lower after export? I'll give tarekith's tutorial a read toevening , I appreciate the link.
Jacinto Wildstein
05.12.2013		I'm no master - pun intended.

I found that you need to give space to each element in your track.

1) Remove those unneeded frequencies that you cannot hear in the mix - so the subs below 20hertz with some nice eq ing.
2) use panning to give each element its own space in the mix, this is really hard to do with headphones and I always have the same problem as you - thumping in your phones but flat in your car.
3) ensure frequencies do not clash in the mix - if you have a low part in your lead line and high part in your mid bass - which one is the most important? eq one of the parts.
4) Use a sidechain to allow the bass to breath a little and prevent the kik muddying up the bass
5) Gentle compression - don't over do it
6) limiter

I found panning to be a good send when giving the mix and elements space to breath. But again this is just a hobby for me, so why listen to me I also don't have live. But i did find the izotope mastering stuff brings things to life.
Augustina Zulu
05.12.2013		Also Mad Zach on "Shmastering"

http://www.djranking s.com/2013/09/1...with-mad-zach/
Of course you want to get the mix tight as possible before messing with the stereo out but IMHO there are some things other than straight limiting that can really improve a track at the master bus/mastering phase of a track - gentle eq/bus compression/dithering. None of these will make a badly mixed track sound good but the added "glue" can make a good track sound great.
Monserrate Rupnow
05.12.2013
Originally Posted by grazz16
In before Tarekith

http://tarekith.com/assets/mastering.html
Newer version:

http://tarekith.com/assets/pdfs/Mastering.pdf

Berta Baie
05.12.2013		Everyone in this thread is right about the mix down. In a perfect world you should be doing nothing else to the track at the mastering stage but making it louder. Obviously that rarely happens, but the EQ issues and such should be very minor tweaks as opposed to large scale fixes at that point.
Lawana Mileto
05.12.2013		To get a good master, you need a really good mix down.

Generally speaking the better your mixdown the less that will need to be done at mastering stage.

To give yourself more headroom on the master, On kick Bass etc remove all mid to high freq's
On all other instruments/drums remove the low freq's
Obviously there is a lot more to it than just that, but this will give ou just that bit extra to work with

Personally I avoind putting anything on the master channel

There is a very good article on levels/eq'ing on attack magazine
Keitha Prichard
05.12.2013		i have not tried it anything similar like that but once have got the idea now looking forward to it to form my own version as well
Berta Baie
04.12.2013		In before Tarekith

http://tarekith.com/assets/mastering.html
Hellen Mindrup
04.12.2013		Mastering will only be a success if the mixdown of the track is decent... Sounds like you need to work on the mixdown first... If you feel it's alright.... If you use the stock vst's, then I'd throw the Gentle Limiter onto the master... Make sure to select the soft clip feature and then play around with the limiter, it should boost you a bit. You can also try the Make It Louder stock vst that falls under the glue compressor for an extra boost... I can't promise this will be a success if your track is mixed down poorly though...

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