The sound engineer scam, the online recording studio ripoff, whatever you want to call it. I hear about it 3-4 times a month from my clients, since 1999. It never changes!
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In order to produce a good master, a mix needs proper headroom and dynamic range.
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Would you like to know how to master a song or how to master your own music? So many people think just making the volumes the same level for every song is "mastering" their CD. Well, mastering is a lot more than just that!
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If you've mixed songs in the past, you more than likely can use that same software for audio mastering. As long as you can add effects to the stereo/main out bus, you're good to go.
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Correctly setting your mixing levels before mastering is essential for great mastering results. Having the best DB levels for mixing is critical. Here's how to properly do it!
Read more ...In this video I do a quick A/B comparison of a few songs. In my audio mastering secrets video series, I get a lot more in-depth into exactly what you are trying to achieve sonically for your genre/style of music.
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How to set mixing levels for each instrument is a question I see all over the Internet. I'm going to explain exactly how to set mixing levels in this article.
Read more ...Since the begining of his solo career in 2008, I mastered over 80 songs with the top French recording artist NYLS. Great pop dance music with a lot of remixes. During his entire career (as of now), I mastered most of if not all the song he released. It was a great pleasure working with NYLS and Nico at Icon Records!
Read more ...In this article, we'll show you how to prepare your mixes for mastering.
Read more ...This article discusses what is the reverb effect in music and how to use it? The reverb effect is used to simulate space. When reverb is applied to a dry vocal or instrument track, it will sound like it was recorded live in the space size that was selected on the processor. Common space size options include a small room, vocal plate, large hall, etc.
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Here's another popular question I see online, always with the wrong answer! "There's no such thing as radio ready mastering!" REALLY?
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I started my career using the old analog stuff, since that was the only option. I incorporated digital software plugins as soon as they became available, but it took many years before computers were fast enough to run them in realtime. And also before they started making very high quality plugins.
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Here's the monitor speaker setup I use for my DAW, and the setup I recommend for your home recording studio.
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Note - This section is basically a tip for those of you working with clients or if you plan on submitting your mixes to a mastering engineer.
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I would say YES, most people can become a great mastering engineer. I say this because most of the mixes I receive from clients are pretty good and I know the audio engineer (the band member with a computer) has only minimal training. He could easily be great if he put a little more study and practice time into it. And if he had this book to teach him what took me over 17 years to learn! Ha!
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Millions of people suffer from tinnitus. A new study shows around 10% of the U.S. population suffers from it in some form, but many have never even heard of it until they get it! Unfortunately, I was one of those people. It can happen quickly and it lasts a lifetime...
Read more ...Yes, burning your own redbook master CDs is very easy! Here's how to make your own redbook CD masters for free!
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What does mastering do to a song? Your main goal in audio mastering is to replicate the sonic qualities of a well professionally mastered commercial song, in the same genre and style as the song mix you are working on.
Read more ...How long does is take to master a song? There are several extra song mastering procedures I offer that other mastering engineers will not do.
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Why do songs need to be mastered? I've seen this question on the Internet many times. The answer I always see is "Because all songs on the radio have been professionally mastered, yours should be too." This is a true fact, but not an answer.
Read more ...Here are a few great stereo widening techniques and how to use them in music. When you listen to music on a car radio, you want that wide stereo sound that extends from the left door to the right. Not just two feet wide right above the stereo!
Read more ...A lot of mastering engineers are afraid to make drastic changes to a mix they are working on. That, or they're stuck in the familiarity of always making only small changes.
In this video I show how you can turn a weak mix (definitely wouldn't call it bad) into a great sounding master, simply by pushing your levels a little more than you might be used to.
Read more ...This article discusses what is the chorus effect in music and how to use it? The chorus effect makes a single audio track sound like a group. It achieves this by taking a single instrument or vocal track, multiplying it, and then slightly detunes each newly created track. The result is a fuller lush sounding audio track.
Read more ...Here's the first music video I directed, Mahalin Muli by JAI, released on July 10th, 2018. I also wrote more than half of the script.
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What is audio mastering? I've seen a lot of different answers on the Internet to this simple question. Some were pretty technical and confusing.
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