Sweet blog with a lot of nice info on mastering

[acid2]

http://kimlajoie.wordpress.com

Just stumbled across it from rekkerd.org - looks like some quality material!

[Sharmaji]

focuses more on mixing than mastering, really (very little on mastering tbh) but great points in there nonetheless.

tho i disagree w/ point #2 about compression-- using a compressor to extremely squeeze something that's already a snickers bar can give you great sounds. or it can suck-- but it's no reason to rule itout.

[Okota]

#5 would be true if you were silly enough to have such drastically clashing parts !
#2 disagree, compressing a bassline with not very much dynamic range results in a punchier more dynamic sound, unless the threshold is too low.

This is my understanding, quite possibly flawed. ???

[Kim Lajoie]

focuses more on mixing than mastering, really (very little on mastering tbh) but great points in there nonetheless.

Posts on mastering are here (there are two pages worth so far):

http://kimlajoie.wordpress.com/tag/mastering/
http://kimlajoie.wordpress.com/tag/mastering/page/2/

Also, take a look at this:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3305233

Let me know if you still think there's very little on mastering.

tho i disagree w/ point #2 about compression-- using a compressor to extremely squeeze something that's already a snickers bar can give you great sounds. or it can suck-- but it's no reason to rule itout.

If it sounds great (or changes the sound at all), any of these three things may be happening:

1) The bassline is actually more dynamic than you think - dynamic enough to bring out the behaviour of a compressor. Wild basslines with extreme filter manipulation can do this.

2) The compressor has a slow attack and is responding to the flat waveform by adding an attack transient. If this is what you want, perhaps it would be more appropriate to add the attack at the synth/sample level, rather than in the mix.

3) The compressor has some non-linear behaviour - it is also saturating or distorting the sound, and it might even be changing the frequency response slightly. If this is what you want, then there are dedicated saturation tools that will give you more control. If you particularly like the sound of that specific compressor being overdriven, then there's nothing wrong with that. Keep doing it - it's your sound. Just understand that it's not the gain reduction that's giving you the sound - it's the saturation.



-Kim.

[setvice]

Great Blog. Very useful tips.
Especially this one...

How to be more productive in the studio:
Get off the internet and make more music.

[Sharmaji]

focuses more on mixing than mastering, really (very little on mastering tbh) but great points in there nonetheless.

Posts on mastering are here (there are two pages worth so far):

http://kimlajoie.wordpress.com/tag/mastering/
http://kimlajoie.wordpress.com/tag/mastering/page/2/

Also, take a look at this:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3305233

Let me know if you still think there's very little on mastering.

tho i disagree w/ point #2 about compression-- using a compressor to extremely squeeze something that's already a snickers bar can give you great sounds. or it can suck-- but it's no reason to rule itout.

If it sounds great (or changes the sound at all), any of these three things may be happening:

1) The bassline is actually more dynamic than you think - dynamic enough to bring out the behaviour of a compressor. Wild basslines with extreme filter manipulation can do this.

2) The compressor has a slow attack and is responding to the flat waveform by adding an attack transient. If this is what you want, perhaps it would be more appropriate to add the attack at the synth/sample level, rather than in the mix.

3) The compressor has some non-linear behaviour - it is also saturating or distorting the sound, and it might even be changing the frequency response slightly. If this is what you want, then there are dedicated saturation tools that will give you more control. If you particularly like the sound of that specific compressor being overdriven, then there's nothing wrong with that. Keep doing it - it's your sound. Just understand that it's not the gain reduction that's giving you the sound - it's the saturation.



-Kim.

Aaaah, there we go. great stuff. thx for sharing.

yup i'm all for non-linearity. used to love my joemeek compressors not as gain reduction tools, but for saturation. Point #2 is that same situation that will get people that clicky-compressor from hell sound-- also known as the "my friend recorded my metal band" kick drum sound.

[narcissus]

hmmm.... i think i'll use a compressor however i damn well want to

[naja ninja]

i found these sites helpful. i'm new to production, so any tips and pointers help. however i agree with setvice...

How to be more productive in the studio:
Get off the internet and make more music.

big up lol

[yellowhighlighter]

don't really like the internet slagging tbh...