Mastering Your Music

[Kung-Fu Flavor]

Hey folks,
I would love some feedback on what some of you guys do about mastering some of your music.

1. Online?
2. Yourself
   
3. Rent studios and engineer.

Would love to know some success stories and some what not to do's any advice would help
Thanks

 

[Fade]

Do you mean mastering or mixing? For mastering I would imagine going to a professional would be the way to go. For mixing, well there's options, of course.

 

[Kung-Fu Flavor]

Yes @Fade mixing and mastering. I have good knowledge of digital but today it seems somewhat still overwhelming alll the options that are available. I was curious if anyone had any tried and true methods. I do agree hiring someone is best. Would love someone to share a good experience.

 

[Fade]

I believe that everyone should mix their own stuff because it's you that knows how you want it to sound. For mastering though, I mean true mastering, that should be done pro.

 

[DJWIDEBODY]

i use to send my mixes out for mastering , but now after i have acquired so many mastering plugins and learned how to use them i fi have time i usually master myself , reference mix for loudness and so on ,

 

[Perrotius]

I would say outsource for mastering, I've heard mixed opinions on onine services, to me they're not human so I can't imagine a process that would automatically do it perfect.
I think the two kinda merge at some point doing it yourself, or you're just so used to the beat from the jump.
It also can be costly to get an engineer to do it, but as long as whoever knows their stuff, the results i think would be better than the other two options.

Also most of the online services offer previews if you want to at least get an idea.

 

[DJWIDEBODY]

I would say outsource for mastering, I've heard mixed opinions on onine services, to me they're not human so I can't imagine a process that would automatically do it perfect.
I think the two kinda merge at some point doing it yourself, or you're just so used to the beat from the jump.
It also can be costly to get an engineer to do it, but as long as whoever knows their stuff, the results i think would be better than the other two options.

Also most of the online services offer previews if you want to at least get an idea.

yea ive tried the online stuff and compared them to my own , not a fan of the online stuff i think you can get better results if you know how to do it , also im a fan off letting other people listen to my mixes and mastering also , a all these plugins are bought to save you the time and money all we have to do is learn how to use them along with the fundamentals of mixing and mastering, i look foward to the challenge of mastering my own mixes and to also know how much money i saved as well never jeopardizing the quality ....

 

[OGBama]

@Kung-Fu Flavor #3 for me in my lifetime as I don't intend to be a Jack of all trades master of none.

 

[Kung-Fu Flavor]

I would say outsource for mastering, I've heard mixed opinions on onine services, to me they're not human so I can't imagine a process that would automatically do it perfect.
I think the two kinda merge at some point doing it yourself, or you're just so used to the beat from the jump.
It also can be costly to get an engineer to do it, but as long as whoever knows their stuff, the results i think would be better than the other two options.

Also most of the online services offer previews if you want to at least get an idea.

I would say outsource for mastering, I've heard mixed opinions on onine services, to me they're not human so I can't imagine a process that would automatically do it perfect.
I think the two kinda merge at some point doing it yourself, or you're just so used to the beat from the jump.
It also can be costly to get an engineer to do it, but as long as whoever knows their stuff, the results i think would be better than the other two options.

Also most of the online services offer previews if you want to at least get an idea.

 

[Kung-Fu Flavor]

Great advice helps me out a lot. My production space is not acoustically treated and I have no real monitors headphones only. I don't trust my ears at the moment lol. I think until I can create a good sound environment and build up a good plugin bank I will send out.

 

[DJWIDEBODY]

Great advice helps me out a lot. My production space is not acoustically treated and I have no real monitors headphones only. I don't trust my ears at the moment lol. I think until I can create a good sound environment and build up a good plugin bank I will send out.

Then i would def look for an outsourced option ...

 

[Perrotius]

I personally only have two akai rpm3's, not the greatest (I do love akai), but they're better than my computer speakers! A decent pair of headphones is great as opposed to just monitors, however if you do get to trying it on your own - Listen to your final results on every car stereo, computer, cell, home theater and so on that you have access to, prior to doing anything with it such as sales or online posting. I Only say this because it can give you a better idea of how versatile your track is going to be across different systems, as well as train your ears should you alter it further. You may already know to or actively do this, but I felt it worth mentioning.

I would say most people would agree with @OGBama however I kinda go for the jack of all, I understand I'll never completely comprehend some skills (although not entirely true just more than likely), but I'm more focused on learning whatever I can right now. Maybe a few years down the road I'll have more focus on producing commercially or want to take things to some other level.

@DJWIDEBODY and @Kung-Fu Flavor what plug-ins do you use and do you swear by or highly recommend any?

 

[DJWIDEBODY]

I personally only have two akai rpm3's, not the greatest (I do love akai), but they're better than my computer speakers! A decent pair of headphones is great as opposed to just monitors, however if you do get to trying it on your own - Listen to your final results on every car stereo, computer, cell, home theater and so on that you have access to, prior to doing anything with it such as sales or online posting. I Only say this because it can give you a better idea of how versatile your track is going to be across different systems, as well as train your ears should you alter it further. You may already know to or actively do this, but I felt it worth mentioning.

I would say most people would agree with @OGBama however I kinda go for the jack of all, I understand I'll never completely comprehend some skills (although not entirely true just more than likely), but I'm more focused on learning whatever I can right now. Maybe a few years down the road I'll have more focus on producing commercially or want to take things to some other level.

@DJWIDEBODY and @Kung-Fu Flavor what plug-ins do you use and do you swear by or highly recommend any?

i recimmend Ozone plugins for mastering and the fab filter bundle for mixing and some mastering , i use them all in studio one once i make my beat in either ableton or maschine

 

[DJWIDEBODY]

I personally only have two akai rpm3's, not the greatest (I do love akai), but they're better than my computer speakers! A decent pair of headphones is great as opposed to just monitors, however if you do get to trying it on your own - Listen to your final results on every car stereo, computer, cell, home theater and so on that you have access to, prior to doing anything with it such as sales or online posting. I Only say this because it can give you a better idea of how versatile your track is going to be across different systems, as well as train your ears should you alter it further. You may already know to or actively do this, but I felt it worth mentioning.

I would say most people would agree with @OGBama however I kinda go for the jack of all, I understand I'll never completely comprehend some skills (although not entirely true just more than likely), but I'm more focused on learning whatever I can right now. Maybe a few years down the road I'll have more focus on producing commercially or want to take things to some other level.

@DJWIDEBODY and @Kung-Fu Flavor what plug-ins do you use and do you swear by or highly recommend any?[/QUOTE
If u are on a budget the Melda Production plugins are free and surprisingly good , i still use the eq (great on vocals ) and the noise generator for the pink noise

 

[OGBama]

@Perrotius I encourage peeps to not be a Jack of all trades as time is limited in all of our lives and you want to spend it doing what you're passionate about most and leave the stuff you're least passionate about to someone else who has the skill(s).

 

[DJWIDEBODY]

@Perrotius I encourage peeps to not be a Jack of all trades as time is limited in all of our lives and you want to spend it doing what you're passionate about most and leave the stuff you're least passionate about to someone else who has the skill(s).

I actually am enjoying learning mixing and mastering and look at it as another trade in my arsenal of making music

 

[Kung-Fu Flavor]

Thanks for all the feedback I am moving in a much better direction now. Now I have been looking at online sites for mastering and found this to be interesting. https://www.sageaudio.com/samples.php#hip-hop
Here you will find some Hip Hop examples with before and afters and I almost feel like I could achieve this myself hope I am not fooling myself lol.
I do think if I study my old audio books from school back from 1996 and dive into some linda.com a little bit I will be good.
This site charges about $50 bucks a song and they let you upload one file for free. I will do that and from there I will at least have a good reference point.

 

[Perrotius]

Couldn't have said it better @OGBama time is limited and I feel that more and more the older I get. I would say at least attempting it and learning is a great idea though. You learn tons of stuff you wouldn't have otherwise as well as being able to get a better mix for mastering and knowing how to communicate with your engineer. I don't feel like I'm at the point where I personally need that kind of quality though as I said, yet.
I'll check out the fab filters, on first glance of screenshots and features it looks quite detailed. I already use some Izotope plugins Ozone included.
One last thing @Kung-Fu Flavor - thought you were talking about the automated sites like landr. The site you linked looks promising I look forward to hearing the results if you go thru with them.

 

[DJWIDEBODY]

Thanks for all the feedback I am moving in a much better direction now. Now I have been looking at online sites for mastering and found this to be interesting. https://www.sageaudio.com/samples.php#hip-hop
Here you will find some Hip Hop examples with before and afters and I almost feel like I could achieve this myself hope I am not fooling myself lol.
I do think if I study my old audio books from school back from 1996 and dive into some linda.com a little bit I will be good.
This site charges about $50 bucks a song and they let you upload one file for free. I will do that and from there I will at least have a good reference point.

i do mastering ill charge u less

 

[Kung-Fu Flavor]

I would just like to update some findings on mixing and mastering. I found this https://www.izotope.com/en/products/master-and-deliver/ozone.html to be very interesting have been playing with it for about a week now and I am very impressed with the ease of use. Its called Ozone 8 and Neutron 2. Any experienced users with any of these programs?