Preparing Tracks for Mastering

[Trep]

Im going to do a project soon which i want to send to Mastering (first time)

The Mastering Studio requests that the Mix doesnt peak -1dBFS and does not drop Below -6dBFS

Probably a Really noob question, but, does this mean the mix can not ever drop below -6dBFS or that the mix should average between these values.

Also is it as simple as just keeping an eye on the meters or is there a way i can see the dynamic range over time or a tool which is the "reverse" of a clip indicator telling me if it drops below -6dBFS

haha, i knowz nothing!!

 

[Force666]

I'm pretty sure they mean keep the highest peak of the track inbetween -6/-1dbfs

 

[Trevoire520]

When you've bounced your mix normalize it so that the highest peak is inbetween -6 and -1 dbfs.

Done.

 

[preachers]

When you've bounced your mix normalize it so that the highest peak is inbetween -6 and -1 dbfs.

Done.

i agree with this........

and a question:
is there a plugin can do nomalizaion by insert it on the master bus? or anyway easy to do this?

 

[Force666]

Not to cause a huge controversy or anything. But why would you recommend normalizing? Why not just mix to the proper levels to begin with? I think that makes a far better recommendation. No need to add extra processing when it's not necessary.

 

[Trep]

yeah normalizing post bouncing could cause some problems if im mixing out stems to make up the master mix aswell

 

[Force666]

i agree with this........

and a question:
is there a plugin can do nomalizaion by insert it on the master bus? or anyway easy to do this?

Most any DAW has a Normalizing function. Though in this era it's a almost useless function.

With just a little extra work and a lot less processing you can link your channel faders and/or group faders, fx buses, etc (All of them if needed) and just manually move them up or down to the desired peak level.

 

[preachers]

yeah normalizing post bouncing could cause some problems if im mixing out stems to make up the master mix aswell

what's the problem?

 

[Trep]

Well, you Make your Master Mix then solo and mute certain parts of your mix to create stems. The Idea of those stems is that if you were to put all of those groups at 0db on seperate tracks in your DAW they would give you the Identical Master Mix

By Normalising the stems after bouncing they would not be at the same level.

 

[preachers]

Most any DAW has a Normalizing function. Though in this era it's a almost useless function.

With just a little extra work and a lot less processing you can link your channel faders and/or group faders, fx buses, etc (All of them if needed) and just manually move them up or down to the desired peak level.

i'm using pro tools, the big problem is automation info, if i made a volume automation, i can't make all the fader to move together by only one press anymore.

 

[Ermz]

They've got to mean keeping your peaks between those levels, because asking you to limit your dynamic range to 5dB would be ludicrous. Don't worry though, the world won't collapse on itself if one of your peaks hits -7dB

 

[AudioGeekZine]

sorry, but a mastering engineer that can't normalize the files himself or apply a compressor to the final mix??? As long as it's not clipping it shouldn't matter as long as it sounds good

Last time I normalized a mix file was for a reference so the client could hear it at a higher volume without altering the dynamics. When that is approved, take the NON normalized mix and send it to mastering.

How to find the peak?
Audiosuite>Other>Gain>Find level

 

[jinxtigr]

Yeah, that can't be right. Who on earth would demand that the hottest peak be up to a certain point? I've done some mastering and believe me usually it's the opposite problem, you get stuff that's clipping every time anything happens. If they have an open mix without buss limiting and it's peaking at -18 they should be GRATEFUL it's not the opposite.

Are they figuring on getting mixes in at 44.1/16 bit? Maybe they think you are giving them 16 bit.

...and if they are specifying that you should normalize to a certain point, I wouldn't trust 'em with stems anyhow...

 

[AudioGeekZine]

and fuck stems
It's either mixed or its not

 

[Ermz]

That's a bit hard line.

There is nothing wrong with stems as long as both parties agree to them. The ME can start off treating them all summed, as a stereo file, and if by chance during their process they find one element is limiting them in a way where its remedy impacts the rest of the elements negatively, they can simply jump to the source and tweak there.

I almost always either provide the guitars or bass guitar as a separate stem to the rest of the mix. I want to make sure the low-end is just right, and the ME didn't need to butcher half the instruments to get there.

 

[Trep]

Studios 301 Mastering Check this out. This is where i want to get it done.

Stems is a Great Option. I will be taking with me, master mix, master mix no vocals, vocals only, guitars only, bass only, drums only, drums no kick, kick only.

Imagine how pissed off you would be if you brought home your master only to hear that the vocals sat below your mix or your guitars had now dominated the mix. only because there was nothing the mastering engineer could do with a stereo file to alter a mix after processing.

 

[Trep]

Yeah, that can't be right. Who on earth would demand that the hottest peak be up to a certain point?

...and if they are specifying that you should normalize to a certain point, I wouldn't trust 'em with stems anyhow...

Yeah check the Link above.

This Isnt a small studio or a dude in a bedroom. This is probably the biggest and most renowned studio here in Australia.

Not to say that their Size is the reason why Im using them. I heard a few projects done Pre and Post Mastered by one of the Engineers there, Steve Smart.

If they are happy to work with stems in Contigency, I am Happy to provide them and Trust them with the Work.

 

[TheWinterSnow]

If you mixed the tracks correctly you won't need stemming and the Master Tech won't to do any massive surgical work in the first place to try to fix the flaws from poor mixing. That's not his job. Get the mix right, then normalize the final peak to where the mastering techs want it to be, there is NOTHING wrong with normalizing if that means you are bumping up the volume a db or two to make sure that the peaks are at the absolute highest without clipping (usually between -3db and 0db). In the digital world, normalizing does the same to add noise as does rising the faders above unity or using make up gain after a process such as compression, it will amplify the noise at the same ratio that the source sound is being amplified, so it won't matter too much, however in the analog world with transistors and especially opamps going over unity will introduce more noise. As I said, small amounts of final normalizing to get the highest peak is fine, get the mix as good as possible, send one stereo master track to get mastered, if you mixed it right well, of course, the track will come back sounding better without giving the tech an absolute headache.

 

[Trep]

If you mixed the tracks correctly you won't need stemming and the Master Tech won't to do any massive surgical work in the first place to try to fix the flaws from poor mixing. That's not his job. Get the mix right, then normalize the final peak to where the mastering techs want it to be, there is NOTHING wrong with normalizing if that means you are bumping up the volume a db or two to make sure that the peaks are at the absolute highest without clipping (usually between -3db and 0db). In the digital world, normalizing does the same to add noise as does rising the faders above unity or using make up gain after a process such as compression, it will amplify the noise at the same ratio that the source sound is being amplified, so it won't matter too much, however in the analog world with transistors and especially opamps going over unity will introduce more noise. As I said, small amounts of final normalizing to get the highest peak is fine, get the mix as good as possible, send one stereo master track to get mastered, if you mixed it right well, of course, the track will come back sounding better without giving the tech an absolute headache.

In an Ideal world, the tracks would be mixed 'correctly' and would be perfect to everyones ears, we would not have to edit drums for sloppy drummers, auto tune vocals for poorly performed vocal parts and we would not re-amp guitars if the correct sound wasn't achieved upon tracking.

Of Course I will Take a Master mix of what i think is the best possible mix i can do, and the assumption will be to use that mix. However if something comes up and there is an issue with the mix, i will have a safety net to rely on from bringing those stems.

I dont see what i have to lose with taking Stems

 

[Force666]

there is NOTHING wrong with normalizing if that means you are bumping up the volume a db or two to make sure that the peaks are at the absolute highest without clipping (usually between -3db and 0db).

That's incorrect. Normalizing re-quantizes the audio, and sets you up for quantization errors and distortion. That coupled with the fact that it's totally unnecessary process is a fail for me.