General Music Chat

Hello, I hope this is the place for this topic , if not please to be excused by the moderators.
(Nhac chuong quang le)
Do we need Audio Engeneer or it is better to make the Mastering of the song ourselves? And does the electronic music need of mastering? How and what is the process for these who want to learn more?

to make it legible to the point where people understand what's going on musically.

No not really

but if you want it to sound perfect and crisp with every note.

maybe

There is a big learning curve when mastering songs.
Make sure that you can hear every track. it is usually better to cut down the volume of one or two tracks instead of boosting a couple. Cut volumes of tracks, and then boost the master volume.
Keep the echo/reverb to a minimum. More reverb = farther away.
You can place instruments/people in different apparent locations with reverb and balance.
Make sure the vocals are right up front, and legible. Go easy on the bass, with the vocals.
Get the songs on an album at all the same volume.
Try to keep the tones of the instruments at about the same sound, from song to song.
When you think you are done mixing, turn your back to the speakers, and listen to the song again. the new sounds to each ear will give you new insights.
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I've found this step the most important of all:
When you think you are done, then avoid hearing the song for 3 days, then listen again. You will invariably find one track too loud and one too soft.
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Best wishes.

Another thing we do when mastering is to use different speakers. We have a couple of different studio monitors, plus some average type speakers and even a boom box. We also take a test master and play it on a car system. If it sounds good on the cheap speakers it generally sounds very good on monitors.

that's the best procedure to do with you're at the final mixing stage. At mastering, the volume is taken up to commercial level and the overall levels (compression/limiting) and EQ are done.

Reverb = hit song. Think about that!

Actually Mike we use the multiple speaker method for both mixing and mastering. If you just use the studio monitors the results may not be ideal; it might sound great in the studio but crappy everywhere else. Most people don't have the highest quality speakers (or any speakers, they listen on their phones!).

Yeah, if you do the mastering yourself, that's the best thing to try. Good mastering houses have well-tuned listening rooms so that the final mastered mixes translate well to any system. The latest thing is mastering houses that are Apple iTunes-approved - they have the special algorithms so when iTunes compresses your full-res files, they still sound good, and they'll make two sets of masters - one for iTunes, one for everywhere else.

Hello, I hope this is the place for this topic , if not please to be excused by the moderators.
(Nhac chuong quang le)
Do we need Audio Engeneer or it is better to make the Mastering of the song ourselves? And does the electronic music need of mastering? How and what is the process for these who want to learn more?

If you're an amateur it doesn't matter


If you're serious about your music, and have any dreams of taking it higher....ABSOLUTELY!

It's not that much more to treat your music seriously. It sounds like you want to learn audio engineering more than be a musician? Maybe the way to go (for you) is to hire an expert who will let you sit in on the mastering session. However, most of it is voodoo so you'll have to ask a lot of questions and know the gear; which could make the rate higher.



Just do it.


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Actually Mike we use the multiple speaker method for both mixing and mastering. If you just use the studio monitors the results may not be ideal; it might sound great in the studio but crappy everywhere else. Most people don't have the highest quality speakers (or any speakers, they listen on their phones!).

Unfortunately, for my last 4 albums I've had to listen to them on my iPhone speaker (not speakers!?!)

...maybe synch that up and listen to a bluetooth speaker as I roll down the road in my loud van.

That's when you learn to trust the people doing the work, and luckily I have worked with some of the best in the business.