master?before or after vocals?

[DJ Increment]

i was wondering do you wait for the vocals until you master up a beat so that you could set the freq's of the beat around the vocals???or do ya have that in mind when making your beat?any thouhts on that!!!

 

[Equality 7-2521]

well "mastering" is the act of global processing. so you want all elements of your mix to atleast be present before you master.

your gonna have to be more specific with your question me thinks.

 

[DJ Increment]

oh ok! that would mean ya blend the frequencies of beat with vocals during the mixdown....^& then master!.......cause its all in the mixdown right....so that means ya wouldnt master up your beat before you handed it over to...say a rapper?......ya no like the mids on your song might clash with a certain vocalist ?.....but that wouldnt matter cause whoever??? could turn the freqs...down aye?? on your beat.........or.....yeup!!

 

[Donovan]

When I work by myself or other people, I produce, and mix while doing it.. Also mix the vocals while recording. Cuz 1, the person wants to hear what it'll sound like in comparison to the beat, and two, it shortens the post mixing process.

 

[Agility]

I think what he means is, do you mix the beat first and then add the vocals on top, or mix the vocals 'on top'... ?

Im also curious about this, I've just been making the beats then the guy comes and raps on it then i mix it.

 

[Shwaz]

1. When you are mixing your beat, you need to leave room for your vocals. Basic physics says that two things cant occupy the same space. So, no two similar sounds can be in the same place on the mix which is where panning and levels come in. So your hats and mid to high freq sounds can't be in the same place. Pan them around. You will often be able to make something louder in the mix by panning rather then raising the level.

2. When you are creating your mix, you need to leave a place in your mix for the vocals. Vocals (depending on the vocalist and whether we are talking about singing or rapping) land in the mid to high freq range, so you need a place in the mix that doesn't have other sounds with similar freq's panned and leveled to the same place. This is where your vocals will go, even if you don't have them yet.

3. If you are giving you beat to someone to listen to and possibly use, that demo needs to be mastered. Otherwise it will sound quite and flat, and they won't want to use it. However, when you add the vocals, you use the pre-mastered version of the beat, and master the beat and the vocals together when you are done mixing. Mastering on top of an already mastered beat will not sound clean and cohesive which is your goal.

 

[DJ Increment]

hey you guys!!thanx for getting back to us on that stuff!some real helpful shis!! im on to it!peace!!!

 

[famebound89]

1. When you are mixing your beat, you need to leave room for your vocals. Basic physics says that two things cant occupy the same space. So, no two similar sounds can be in the same place on the mix which is where panning and levels come in. So your hats and mid to high freq sounds can't be in the same place. Pan them around. You will often be able to make something louder in the mix by panning rather then raising the level.

2. When you are creating your mix, you need to leave a place in your mix for the vocals. Vocals (depending on the vocalist and whether we are talking about singing or rapping) land in the mid to high freq range, so you need a place in the mix that doesn't have other sounds with similar freq's panned and leveled to the same place. This is where your vocals will go, even if you don't have them yet.

3. If you are giving you beat to someone to listen to and possibly use, that demo needs to be mastered. Otherwise it will sound quite and flat, and they won't want to use it. However, when you add the vocals, you use the pre-mastered version of the beat, and master the beat and the vocals together when you are done mixing. Mastering on top of an already mastered beat will not sound clean and cohesive which is your goal.

Big help bro! Made so much sense to me. I've only been the artist my whole music life and this past year I have began recording my self and others. I didn't go to school for it. Just YouTube and natural music ability..but You can't use God given talent to escape theory lol

 

[2GooD Productions]

Personally when showcasing instrumentals, I master them beforehand to make sure it translates well to a streaming format. I used to just showcase the raw export, pre mixed and mastered. But now Im on youtube I take a bit more time and mix and master it for the channel before uploading. On soundcloud I have loads of unfinished beats.

If I was to put vocals on it, Id put the vocals into the project and mix and master it all again.

 

[thedreampolice]

I don't master anything at all until its final and going on a record. This is something that hip hop does a lot of that I totally disagree with.

You can't do a proper mix with a stereo instrumental and a few vocal tracks, you need to do a mix with everything together. Also I will only work with a real mastering engineer these days.