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It takes years IMHO to become a Mastering engineer....in fact I dont think Ive enough lifetime left to get good !
Ozone is cool for pumping it etc...but its not the full monty...
Or...post it and lets have listen ;-)
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https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/bx_masterdesk.html
Regarding Ozone, I usually put a tilt EQ and Monoiser in front of it.
PS I didn't buy Masterdesk, and I am still looking for a mastering chain that works. I have a sneaky feeling that hardware, a treated room, decent speakers, and a good set of ears are unbeatable.
a) what the goal is (in technical terms).
b) what tools are needed for a particular job
c) how to use the plugins
d) in a room without treatment and on prosumer monitors
is a total waste of time.
It would be like a non guitarist buying an out of tune guitar, taking it home and then playing it with a chocolate digestive, rather than a pick before announcing ‘see, I’m playing a guitar’.
Well, technically you are, but I don’t want to listen to it and no, I do not want the biscuit afterwards.
That doesn’t mean you cannot learn things from the process, but abandon all hope of turning out a product that is release quality, you will probably make it worse.
Mastering is essentially about 3 things:
1) level/loudness
2) musical balance
3) taste
It is also about having another set of ears in another room.
I don’t master my own mixes for this reason.
I do sometimes finalise the works of others, but I don’t call what I do mastering because I don’t think I’m entirely qualified (yet).
It takes quite a lot of time to understand how compression works on entire mixes and multi band compression is more complicated.
My advice is engage someone with a better room, better gear and ‘ears that are not yours’ to finish off the tracks. they don’t have to be a mastering engineer per se, but that would be good.
You’ll learn a lot more than stumbling about in the dark on this.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Since someone asked for it, and I think it would help give context to the discussion, here is the track I'm working on that has been put through my ham-fisted attempt at mastering. Would appreciate any comments on what can be done and where mastering can take the track..
https://soundcloud.com/brandon-shen-shi-han/jessie-lim-georgia-on-my-mind-master-2/s-7odA2
Band Stuff: https://navigationofficial.bandcamp.com/album/silhouette-ep
@stuckfast thanks for the sage and practical advice.
@octatonic point taken regarding blindly running audio through plugins, the ozone elements plugin that I have is a simple one, EQ + compression, which I have a reasonable understanding of, so hopefully I haven't mangled my mix. What I truly have no idea about is how the software decides what EQ changes to make and whether they are good at all.. But as you've said, it's a taste thing as well, so there is no one fixed correct answer.
Band Stuff: https://navigationofficial.bandcamp.com/album/silhouette-ep
It gives you a bit more information on how Ozone works and some tips on how to use it.
FWIW, I have Ozone but I tend to not use it very often.
It has a sound of its own, which is fine, but I tend to go for separate EQ and Compression/Limiting tools, some hardware, some software.
If you have access to UAD plugins then the Mastering Manley Massive Passive is very good.
So is Softube's Weiss DS1.
My master bus (so this is a mix technique, not mastering) usually looks something like this:
Slot 1: Tape Emulation, usually Empirical Labs Fatso Jnr.
Slot 2: EQ: API 5500, Chandler Curve Bender or Manely Massive Passive, Fabfilter Pro-Q, Massenburg MDWEQ5
Slot 3: Compression: SSL G-Bus, Crane Song STC8 or Chandler Zener
Slot 4: Limiter: Waves L3-LL, Eventide/Newfangled Elevate, Fabfilter ProL, Weiss DS1
Slot 5: Metering, usually Nugen VisLM or Izotope Insight.
It is important to ensure you don't have phase issues or digital clipping.
I usually lightly limit- threshold about -3db and out ceiling -0.3db.
Lowering the threshold makes the song very exciting but fatiguing to listen to.
Sometimes I'll verse the EQ compression order.
Having the EQ before compression usually = warmer, EQ after compression = clearer.
So if my track is getting congested I'll switch them around but I tend to start a mix with EQ before compression.
I also mix into all these tools, I don't turn them on after the mix is done.
When I send the tracks come back from the mastering engineer they will sound a bit louder but usually the balance of the music isn't massively changed, maybe some lower end might have changed (because my room isn't flat below 80hz).
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Band Stuff: https://navigationofficial.bandcamp.com/album/silhouette-ep
Good mastering will do two things to each individual track. It'll make your mix a loudness that is suitable for the genre, and it'll make your mix sound the way you already thought it sounded.
And it'll do one thing to the entire project; it'll make the mixes sound like they belong with each other.
Bandcamp
Spotify, Apple et al
Band Stuff: https://navigationofficial.bandcamp.com/album/silhouette-ep
Have you been watching the Mike Kalajian URM Fast Track?