Looking for mastering guys and info

[guyB]

Hi,

I'm looking for information for mastering. My name is Guy Bacos, I do demos for VSL, I have 23 demos, all remixed for professional usage, I don't want to spend a fortune on the lot though.

2nd question is: A mastering software under $1000., will it be worth it and good enough. Any recommendation or links?

Thanks!

gbacos@sympatico.ca


Guy

http://www.guybacos.com/index.html

[AlexDavis]

Hey Guy,

First of all- I'm always very impressed with the quality of your work. Surely you've come up with a system of mastering, since your tracks always sound so great! I especially liked your "Evening with Guy Bacos".

My system of mastering used to be pretty clunky. I'd export my rough mix, and bring it into a program called Adobe Audition for finishing. This would involve limiting the audio so that it didn't spike above a certain point, and then adding varying levels of compression (based on the type of music). If you're a PC user, I'd highly suggest Adobe Audition, which comes built in with a REALLY great Multiband Compressor, set of Noise Reduction tools, and all of the other basic plugins one uses when mastering (EQ, Channel Mixing, Reverb, etc.). I use for my mastering gigs.

Lately, I've been discovering ways to master WHILE I work, from my sequencer. I apply EQ on separate tracks that seem a bit thick in certain frequencies, and make sure that the balance and overall sound is JUST as I want it.

One important thing that has vastly improved my sound, especially in my pop music, is my assigning tracks to separate busses. Busses have changed my life! For my orchestral stuff, each instrument goes to a separate bus, so that I can put a custom EQ/Reverb compression on, say, the violas. Each of these busses then goes out to a main Reverb bus, which also has a compressor/limiter so that I can achieve maximum volume and not have to worry about peaking/distorting my final result.

Lately, this method has allowed me to stay out of Audition, and get all my work done from one program. It saves so much time!

PM if you're interested in any other specific advice, I'm more than happy to help!

-Alex

[guyB]

Thanks Alex,

I use Mac. I do uses busses constantly and I agree it's the best way. My demos are actually quite good sounding, the originals were pretty good but the remixes are MUCH better, experience is everything! this is why I want to go a step further.

http://www.guybacos.com/index.html

[AlexDavis]

It's true that experience is everything- I'm curious to know, did you do the remixes yourself? What techniques did you apply in order to achieve the improved sound?

Many friends of mine use a program called Sonic Solutions for the finishing stage. I'm not sure about the price, but I know it is (or at least used to be) an industry standard.


-Alex

[guyB]

Alex,

I think I used the most reliable and cheapest technique of all, my ears. It's amazing how we hear things differently as we cultivate our ear on a daily basis. Of course some finishing touches is a nice way to top it all off with some softwares. Sonic Solutions hey? Thanks, I'll go check that out.

Cheers,

Guy

[linwood]

Hi Guy,
You might try over on the mastering forum@ recording.org. Tell them you have a budget of 1k -2k, it's not backed by a major label, yada yada yada, and see if you have any takers. I'll bet someone there who's done some pro records and has a pro room and all the stuff will help you. I've done this before. Now for getting such a pro and for a third of what he's worth, I made no changes, paid him up front, and told him to do what he felt the tracks needed, everything was his call, he'd hear no complaints from me. I was willing to trust and it worked out perfectly. I figure those guys are like us.I'll work much cheaper if I know the client will just take what I give them and go away. When I do my own mastering, I use the MD3 mastering plugin from tc electronic. It really sounds great and easy to use. Of course it's only as good as I am and I'm "just not that good."

[Ted Vanya]

AkexDavis:
I am at the point of having a larger work rough-mixed. Your reply came as a godsend. Could you tell us please:
What is your sequencer,
and elaborate a little more on how you set up your buses in your sequencer.
Thanks a lot

Ted


P4,3mHz,2g RAM,GS3 Orchestra, Sonar 6 SE, AP2496, GVI, KH Emerald

[daw32965]

WaveLab 6 is the best PC mastering software I have ever used. Been an avid user since WaveLab3.

http://www.steinberg.net/128_1.html

[guyB]

linwood,

Thanks for that advice and info, that recording forum sounds like a good source, and I'm sure these guys knows what they're doing.

daw32956,

Wavelab looks like a good solution for me, too bad they don't have it for Mac!:(

[Aaron Dirk]

Guy,

Mac users have an even better choice - Bias Peak
http://www.bias-inc.com/

nice demos BTW:)

[guyB]

Guy,

Mac users have an even better choice - Bias Peak
http://www.bias-inc.com/

nice demos BTW:)

Lovely! Thanks!:)

[AlexDavis]

AkexDavis:
I am at the point of having a larger work rough-mixed. Your reply came as a godsend. Could you tell us please:
What is your sequencer,
and elaborate a little more on how you set up your buses in your sequencer.
Thanks a lot

Ted



Hey Ted,

I use Sonar on the PC, although have been looking to switch to Mac for a long time. Have been waiting for a program called FX Teleport to be ported to Mac, but I'm not sure if that will ever happen...

The busses are simple- I route separate instrument groups (guitars, vocals, strings, etc.) to separate busses. This separation allows me to tweak the individual instrument groups however I want, for instance if I want to move the woodwinds slightly to the left, add a bit more reverb to the strings, or even add an extra level of compression to the drums.

Each of these busses then go to a final bus, which includes the overall reverb and a final compressor that will limit any sound that might be peaking. Thats pretty much it.

If you have any specific questions, send me a PM! I'm happy to help,

Alex

[nicolasroy]

Hi everybody,
This forum is extremely interesting since I am a beginner midi orchestrator who is acutally trying to create a decent mastering for a specific rendering...

Here is what I am done so far. It would be very appreciated if someone could tell me if I am on the right path...

1-Sequencer (Cubase) sends all midi info to GS3.
2-All channells (instruments) in GS3 are routed to a separated bus were I can mix each instruments, according to their sections in the orchestra....
3-Then, still in GS3, all theses busses are then sent to a unique Group where I apply Altiverb reverberation.
4-The resulting sound is then sent back to Cubase for Audio Recording, generally one audio track per orcherstra section.
5-I will apply compression/limiting and maybe EQ on these audio tracks if needed.
6-I will mix again the audio tracks if needed.

With that method, I got decent results but nothing convincing....

Any tips on the entire creation/mastering process would be grealty appreciated....

Regards

[skyy38]

You might want to check this out also:

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Lot/9045/starwars.pdf


:)

[J. Whaley]

Guy check out Eric Wolf. www.wolfmastering.com. Erc worked with Bernie out in LA for many years and now he's here in Nashville. I've used him many times. He's much more interested in make the music feel good and breath than he is making it overly loud. He's got an awesome set of ears and I'm always stunned at his ability to EQ a mix and make stuff come to life. Tell him I sent you.


Also - you can always do the Waves L3 kind of thing and other software stuff - I do it for cheap clients but for stuff that you want a real mastering done on just bite the bullet and get a pro to do it who knows what real mastering is. I bet if you told Eric (or similar guys) that you've got a lot of stuff and it's demos for this and that and you're not making any money yadda yadda - and that you have a bunch of them and you expect to keep having more AND make sure to tell him he doesn't have to do a rush job - I bet he'll probably cut you some slack. Certainly if it's just extra pickup work. Most guys will do that. It's better to have something when it's slow than nothing.

That's my 2¢
J-

[J. Whaley]

Guy check out Eric Wolf. www.wolfmastering.com. Erc worked with Bernie out in LA for many years and now he's here in Nashville. I've used him many times. He's much more interested in make the music feel good and breath than he is making it overly loud. He's got an awesome set of ears and I'm always stunned at his ability to EQ a mix and make stuff come to life. Tell him I sent you.


Also - you can always do the Waves L3 kind of thing and other software stuff - I do it for cheap clients but for stuff that you want a real mastering done on just bite the bullet and get a pro to do it who knows what real mastering is. I bet if you told Eric (or similar guys) that you've got a lot of stuff and it's demos for this and that and you're not making any money yadda yadda - and that you have a bunch of them and you expect to keep having more AND make sure to tell him he doesn't have to do a rush job - I bet he'll probably cut you some slack. Certainly if it's just extra pickup work. Most guys will do that. It's better to have something when it's slow than nothing.

That's my 2¢
J-

[Larry Seyer]

There is so much more to mastering than putting it through software... even if that software does cost $1000.

I highly recommend hiring a mastering engineer and having it done in a professional mastering facility.

Granted, there is some great sounding software available... but it's not the whole story. It's only part of the story.

And that story has already been told over and over during the production phase (you DID record this digitally right?).

So adding analog 'stink' to a project tends to add perspectives that are usually overlooked in digital only productions.

There are great mastering engineers located in most larger cities and I would suggest calling on them for help.

It also never hurts to have fresh new ears to help take the project to the next level.

Just my 2 cents.

Best to all!

Larry Seyer

[Steve_Karl]

3-Then, still in GS3, all theses busses are then sent to a unique Group where I apply Altiverb reverberation.

Regards

I don't apply reverb or any FX before rendering to audio.
The reason is that I want the freedom and control at the very end of the process.
I always render to audio dry, with no FX, then reverb sits on it's own bus, mixable at the final stage, and also, re mixable in a different way, at an other time, if necessary.

Also, if you're going to be sending to a mastering house they'd most likely prefer is dry and uncompressed.

That's an other good reason to have your FX "un committed" and sitting at the end of the chain.

As for mastering ... when I have to really fix something I'll do it in Sound Forge,
but for my midi / digital / orchestral work I'm just mastering it in Sonar using busses for sections, envelopes on the busses when necessary ...

...all busses routed to a "conductor" buss ( used for more radical dynamics for the whole orchestra ) and then the conductor and FX busses
( always 2 reverbs ) are summed at the final master buss ...
...that sometimes ( only sometimes depending on the piece ) has a very slight bit of EQ on it ... usually a little .1 to .4 dB bump in the warm fundamentals, 400 to 480 ... somewhere in there.

With envelopes on the conductors bus and the master bus I can always hit .01 dB a few times in the piece, at the places where I want it to peak. This keeps it all relatively hot enough but also allows for real nice dynamics.

I haven't used a compressor on any of my midi orchestral work. I just prefer to let the short term dynamics and touch of the performance in the individual instruments show through.

[guyB]

There is so much more to mastering than putting it through software... even if that software does cost $1000.

I highly recommend hiring a mastering engineer and having it done in a professional mastering facility.

Granted, there is some great sounding software available... but it's not the whole story. It's only part of the story.

And that story has already been told over and over during the production phase (you DID record this digitally right?).

So adding analog 'stink' to a project tends to add perspectives that are usually overlooked in digital only productions.

There are great mastering engineers located in most larger cities and I would suggest calling on them for help.

It also never hurts to have fresh new ears to help take the project to the next level.

Just my 2 cents.

Best to all!

Larry Seyer

Well that was the conclusion I came to at the end. Mind you I have a pretty good ear and with the mastering guy I found and presently working with I'm telling him exactly what orchestral sound I want because the first takes were not satisfactory for me, so the conclusion is that their is much team work involved here. But eventually I will want to do my one mastering, but not right away, I agree that a software of $1000.00 is not the answer.