Mastering

[EAT]

Dup folks,

1. How necessary is it to bring your shit into a studio to be mastered? I mix all my shit at home so I don't need homeboy to mix it. Only thing I can think of is if I need to adjust track levels so they're consistent and possibly to ad compression on some intestine-disentigrating frequencies I may have missed on my monitors. Would it be sufficient to just play my shit through various devices (car stereo/walkman, etc.) to check that shit by myself?

2. What's the deal with "redbook" cd's. Is this merely a 16 bit cd with all your finalized cuts on it?

Thanks for your help.
-Eats

 

[HERESY]

1. What do you intend to do with this project? Start by asking yourself that question first. If you plan on doing a commercial release get it mastered. If you don't plan on a commercial release why bother.


MASTERING=more than running the tracks in sound forge or applying L2/L1 or using C4 on the tracks. Fades, song order, frequency range, dynamics etc etc etc etc. A bit of advice for ya. If you decide to get it mastered take it to a MASTERING ENGINEER or MASTERING HOUSE/PLANT. Basically you want a person or place that does mastering only but you may find good results with studios who offer mastering services (the ones I've been to actually have a REAL mastering plant/room on site)









2.You are correct.

 

[22sleepy415]

^^Good advice^^

I'd never recommend DIY mastering either.

 

[MOESES SOULRIGHT THE 2nd]

well since most studios i know of around here don't have mastering tools, besides plug-ins and compressors...
i say, if you know how to mix, what the hell, get yourself a UAD-Studio Pack get yourseves a decent ad//da box like the new Rosetta 2000 which has a soft limiter on there...
and give it a try...