A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Electronic Music Production // Dark Arts
User avatar
Mattias
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 3413
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:19 pm
Location: Sweden
Contact:
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by Mattias »

dubdub wrote:Yeah, that makes sense, the issues seem a bit more obvious with a setting like this. Thanks!

Image
Here is my SPAN setting dubdub. They should serve you a lot better:

Image

It needs some explaining:

- First I use lines instead of filled displays since it takes too much energy from the brain to view (haha) and it's easier to read.
- Same reason as above, I don't need to view the second spectrum, when I do I enable it.
- The average time is set to 6k which is very slow and good when you need to get insight on the material.
- You can overlap it further if you wish for a smoother response but 75 works great for me.
- The slope is very important. I would advice to set it to 3 since it's roughly equal measure of change to a pink noise slope.
I use 3.7 when I work with Techno / Electronic music that is "naturally" bass heavy in itself.
- When you need closer inspection you just toggle to 1/3 Octave smoothing. When checking the full "body" have it over 1 octave.
Music Page: http://www.facebook.com/Mattias.Fridell.Music
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/fridell
Sample packs: http://mfsamples.bandcamp.com

Contention / 005

dubdub
Asphyxiwank
Posts: 2454
Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:49 pm
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by dubdub »

Thanks a lot Mattias! I'll give these settings a go.
Lost to the Void wrote: If you have identified the problem, go back to the mix and find the channels/parts causing the problem and fix it there, rather than shoving an EQ over the whole mix to try to deal with the problem, you will always get a less destructive result.
Cheers for the empathic EQ rundown. Obviously, fixing it in the mix is the best option but i've been trying out master EQing my tracks just as kind of a "test" and I feel like it's helping me hear problems in the mix that I wouldn't notice otherwise, especially with the lower mids. I can fix it in the mix after identifiying the problem, obviously someone with a trained ear doesn't need that approach but for me it's been helpful.

The_G
Artificial Hazard
Posts: 1135
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2016 9:14 pm
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by The_G »

Out of curiosity, is there a target LUFS value or LUFS range you guys go for in mastering?

User avatar
Lost to the Void
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 13518
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:31 pm
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by Lost to the Void »

Short answer no.
Well if I am mastering for broadcast media then I conform to ebuR128, which is a pain in the ass, I mastered a documentary recently and it is a very laborious process (reflected in the high price for the service).
Other than that no targets.
Every piece of music is different, I try to master to a competitive loudness but at the same time don't like to go too loud, I don't really like using limiters, and if I do I try to keep that limiting to a very small amount.
Most techno I can take to around - 6 to - 8 rms (roughly - 8 to - 10 lufs) without things getting too flat. But some minimal stuff with a lot of compression in the mix can go up to - 4 in rare cases and still sound fine.
It really depends on the music. Then of course with an ep it's a different case, I take the densest tune, the one that can take the least amount of dynamic reduction, and once that has a final level, the rest of the ep will be matched to that level.
Vinyl I generally go for around - 12rms which as a rule allows a decent hot cut at +4v.
Albums are different again.
Bare in mind this is all confirming to the new truepeak standard of --1dbtp

Most clients are happy with those levels. If a client wants me to go louder than I am comfortable with, I politely tell them to find another engineer.

So no, no targets. Targets were the problem that set the loudness war in motion.
These days things are becoming more natural. Mostly.

I suppose you could say the target final loudness is the happy meeting place between impact, loudness and fidelity for that particular piece of music.
Mastering Engineer @ Black Monolith Studio
New Shit
Techno is dead. Long live Techno.

The_G
Artificial Hazard
Posts: 1135
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2016 9:14 pm
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by The_G »

Thanks, man. I'm in the -13 to -10 range for LUFS on my "self masters" for demo purposes. Trying to figure out whether I should be on the lower or higher end of that range.

Frankly, I'd rather contract you to work on it, as ideally I don't think people should "self master." Just not sure I have the funds at hand right now. :(

User avatar
Lost to the Void
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 13518
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:31 pm
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by Lost to the Void »

I think that kind of range is find for sending out demos.
Mastering Engineer @ Black Monolith Studio
New Shit
Techno is dead. Long live Techno.

User avatar
Mattias
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 3413
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:19 pm
Location: Sweden
Contact:
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by Mattias »

Down to -10 is definitely demo worthy yeah
Music Page: http://www.facebook.com/Mattias.Fridell.Music
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/fridell
Sample packs: http://mfsamples.bandcamp.com

Contention / 005

The_G
Artificial Hazard
Posts: 1135
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2016 9:14 pm
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by The_G »

Mattias wrote:Down to -10 is definitely demo worthy yeah
Sorry...when you say "down to" do you mean, like, -8 to -10 or -10 to -12?

(Not those exact value ranges, but the direction)

User avatar
Mattias
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 3413
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:19 pm
Location: Sweden
Contact:
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by Mattias »

Yep -8 to -10
Music Page: http://www.facebook.com/Mattias.Fridell.Music
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/fridell
Sample packs: http://mfsamples.bandcamp.com

Contention / 005

The_G
Artificial Hazard
Posts: 1135
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2016 9:14 pm
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by The_G »

Mattias wrote:Yep -8 to -10
Thanks man. Right now everything's around -11

infusivemusic
tense
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2015 5:05 pm
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by infusivemusic »

Here is a question.

I use to have this one vst that did it well but it was PC only. I know this can be done with mid side but I want a plug or hardware tool to do this. I know this was only used for vinyl this theory but I swear and many other do that if you keep anything under 100-500 htz it just sounds better for one and also prevents a lot of phasing and some other issues. What plug in dose this ? I think bx had one. I think this is important with dance music when it comes to mastering. I try to do this in the mix on deep bass tracks but doing this on the master also just adds that bit more.

User avatar
Mattias
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 3413
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:19 pm
Location: Sweden
Contact:
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by Mattias »

Yes Bx have a tool for that and many others, there are several topics that addressed mono under certain frequencies before. Happy hunting!
Music Page: http://www.facebook.com/Mattias.Fridell.Music
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/fridell
Sample packs: http://mfsamples.bandcamp.com

Contention / 005

Orin
Exampleless
Posts: 38
Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2016 8:40 pm
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by Orin »

Found myself returning to this original post again after some falling out with my master engineer friend's schedule and having to master my own stuff... 'Realized my kick level was way too high (so fixed that), but I am ending up with about -6 rms now. I basically followed the entirety of the general DIY mastering guidelines that Lost to the Void posted, while adding one return (ableton) for slight parallel compression, and now it is sounding surprisingly good; not smashed. The track levels make a huge difference, but I cannot thank you and this thread enough! The guidelines could not be more on point.

User avatar
Lost to the Void
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 13518
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:31 pm
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by Lost to the Void »

Try to avoid parallel compression on the master buss. Either commit to your compression or not. Parallel comp can dick around with time alignement perception too much across full stereo material.
Mastering Engineer @ Black Monolith Studio
New Shit
Techno is dead. Long live Techno.

Orin
Exampleless
Posts: 38
Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2016 8:40 pm
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by Orin »

Lost to the Void wrote:Try to avoid parallel compression on the master buss. Either commit to your compression or not. Parallel comp can dick around with time alignement perception too much across full stereo material.
I didn't notice this other than a slight beefing to the lower end of the mix but it should be sounding off time or phased with the parallel master comp you're saying?

User avatar
Lost to the Void
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 13518
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:31 pm
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by Lost to the Void »

Phase can be one issue, you can compensate for it but it is ball ache. Some soft comps will adjust for phase, but obviously you will get a degree of transient smearing across the entire mix regardless. Also you'll want to sidechain with a high pass to change how the comp reacts, otherwise you possibly will end up with too much bass and low mid in the mix as the comp will mostly react to the bass, especially in techno.
It's fine to parallel compress for drums, for example, where you want really crushed and pumping drums, but you want to mix the transient back, but across a whole mix there is just too much information being dicked with to then mix it back with the dry.
It makes no sense really either, you are reducing the dynamic range and then putting it back in again by mixing in dry signal.
Just get a better handle on your mastering compressing and you will get a more cohesive result.
Back off the attack, lower the ratio, tune the release to move pleasingly and make sure the compressor is always acting. Maybe use 2 compressors, 1 to deal with fast transients and the other to deal with general programme levelling, if you really have to.
Parallel comp can be useful, but on the 2 buss I would say overall it causes as many problems as it addresses.
If you want to use dual comp to someone home mastering, you really can't go wrong with SKNote SDC
Mastering Engineer @ Black Monolith Studio
New Shit
Techno is dead. Long live Techno.

mathias
Interact. Don't Spam.
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Jun 20, 2017 1:04 am
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by mathias »

Hello guys, its my first post here, have been reading the forum Archives for a while and im very grateful for many stuff that i learned (Special thanks to Voidloss and Mattias), as a self-taught i studied a lot on internet since i started to produce in 2009 and my way to produce stuff wasn't perfectly right for techno, specially the frequency balance in general that was always dropping from bass to treble, and now after that post i read that straight line from 100hz to 5k have changed completely the way i maximize my tracks for the best, everything was too close in general and now things sounds clearer in many more sound systems...

U guys think would be a good way to seek for that flat line between 100hz to 5k in mixing? I found that sounds better when i seek that balance in mixing, than mixing whitout think about it and seeking for that frequency balance only on mastering.

User avatar
Lost to the Void
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 13518
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:31 pm
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by Lost to the Void »

Well, of course that kind of balance is great for production, an ideal curve is an ideal curve.
Don`t get too caught up with trying to hit it though ,every tune is different, and some elements are meant to pop out.
Mastering Engineer @ Black Monolith Studio
New Shit
Techno is dead. Long live Techno.

mathias
Interact. Don't Spam.
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Jun 20, 2017 1:04 am
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by mathias »

Ah nice then, im not really being obsessive in reaching this curve on every different tune, but having that point in mind have been helping me a lot, my maximized tracks are sounding better and more balanced now, btw im producing mostly on headphones (AKG K702) and cheap monitors with no room treatment (Event 20/20bas) so the headphone and the spectrum analyzer are my big friends haha.
Grateful for your tips man, all the best for you.

User avatar
ZenoSupreme
arsehole
Posts: 305
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 9:01 pm
Re: A guide to home "Mastering" of your own tunes

Post by ZenoSupreme »

First of all: TNX for the effort of putting this online Void!

I do have a question when reading this. I use a compressor on my master while working on a track. This is something simmilar to your mix bus compression guide. and when I try to home master it myself I use the Fruity Maximus (multiband compression). I don't master this fully (whitch means that I don't always know what i am doing, but I just follow my ears and this seems to be just fine most of the times).
My "problem" is that I do not seem to get higher than -12RMS. When I try to crank it up the sound starts to get distorted (in a very unplesant way). Is there something I can do different to achieve this without distorting the sound and still get it to around, lets say, -8RMS?

Whitin the chain I have the signal run through the Fruity Maximus first and afterward through the compressor. I would like to keep using the Maximus, because it gives me more control.

If you or annybody else has toughts on this, plz share :)


Post Reply