Best way to master using Mixbus

[mrskytown11]

Has anyone heard of izotopes tonal balance control which helps us master music by allowing us to see a meter where are mixes should be based on thousands of records, now I’m still learning to mix my own music etc and I’m wondering of cheaper alternatives to be able to do this. I was thinking about a spectrum meter but I do not have full confidence in my ability to mix and master without some assistance nor do I have the best room or speakers in the world.


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[bapu]

The cheapest and best way to master is do it about a thousand times and then do it again a thousand times.

Then you'll be ready to learn how to do it.

[Frank]

How to master/Mix properly

You need absoluutly two tools : Your ears.

1/ Stop looking at all the adds which promise something magical: thay take loads of your time.
2/ Stop looking at all the magic courses teaching you to mix, they make those courses to make money out of your insecurity

3/ Listen to real instruments, Vocal, anything, and record it.
Listen back : and make sure it sounds like the original : not almost, but exactly.
4/ Learn how your tools function. What do they do exactly. statically, dynamically.
What does it do with the sound of an instrument.
start with the EQ : test it on every instrument you imagine to use.
Record the effects : and listen back on a later stage.
Do not use any plugin, unless you exactly know what it does.
Write down in words: hat each plugin does exactly to your sound.
Update that.

Calibration:
Calibrate your speakers. Make sure a good recording sounds like it was intended. Use instruments which you can compare.
Listen to a recording of a grand piano. Listen to a grand piano. Does it sound the same?
Good . Take real instruments which you can hear and compare.

Calibrate your ears: make sure your condition is like that, that a critical recording sounds good.
If not do you have a cold?

3/ Determine how you you want your music to sound. Keep that in mind.

4/ Now you know your tools see point 4 above. So now you know what to do when you have to little or too much of anything.

Make a mix: put it aside, take a rest : and listen again.
Try different speakers: still sounds good ?

adapt : Look back.


=-=-

A fews ks ago i met an old acquaintance of me : he is a record producer.
He asled how i master. On ears i said.
Good was his remark. He has worked with mastering engineers who used an automated process.
garbage garanteed. Always use the guy with ears , who compares on different media, was his advice

regards

Frank

take this as a incomplete basic..

[Klaus]

May I ad that setting up A / B instant comparison of the current mix and a reference mix help to judge instantly

Best
Klaus

[Frank]

Yes indeed : Compare with other material.
a reference tune which comes close to the intended idiom .

regards

[mrskytown11]

Thanks, this is great.


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[Frank]

Your welcome


regards

[jonetsu]

2/ Stop looking at all the magic courses teaching you to mix, they make those courses to make money out of your insecurity

While I agree with the rest, that one above is a tall one. Is it possible to generalize more than that ? I don't think so.

There are some excellent lessons and books out there on mixing and mastering. And there are crappy ones. Like with everything, to be able to discern is a faculty and a quality that's more than worthwhile to develop. When it is developed, or in development if you wish since it is dynamic, you are then no more a victim of your insecurity.

What is freedom about, after all ?

This said, Michael White (mix/master engineer Whitney Houston, David Bowie, James Taylor, David Byrne, Jimi Hendrix remixes, etc...) is excellent at teaching. But, one must have a [l]desire to learn.[/i]

After all, why take 10 years to re-discover things when you can get help along while doing all the points already mentioned in this thread ?

Cheers.

[Boydbob]

I agree with jonetsu that there are some excellent books and teachers out there. Personally, I recommend Graham Cochrane's Recording Revolution.
He has some inexpensive video courses (frequently on sale), but he also has some helpful things on YouTube.

I own several thousand dollars worth of FX plug-ins that I almost never use now, because MixBus sounds great all by itself.
If you add a few of the very inexpensive Harrison plug-ins, you won't need much else.

I'm starting to use more of the Harrison plug-ins than anything else.
Don't be too anxious to buy expensive FX tools, until you learn some of the basic things about the EQ, Panning, Tape Saturation, and Compression built-in to MixBus.
Also, some of those expensive programs use a lot of computer horsepower.

The one recent purchase I've made with no regrets is Sonarworks Reference 4.
I have decent monitors, good headphones, and some room treatment, but this one program has made a bigger difference than any of that.

[jonetsu]

I agree with jonetsu that there are some excellent books and teachers out there. Personally, I recommend Graham Cochrane's Recording Revolution.

Well, this is where I would draw the line. Last time I checked at the Revolution web site, maybe 1-2 months ago, a large popup sprung forth saying something like BUY NOW IT'S THE BEST DEAL EVER - ONLY 15 MINUTES LEFT.

All right. I closed the browser, went on doing something else, went back [i]half an hour later[/l], the popup sprung forth again with BUY NOW IT'S THE BEST DEAL EVER - ONLY 15 MINUTES LEFT.

Someone who does this gets on my black list no matter what. The person is running a business. Also, I used to get emails from him supposedly saying things about mixing and in one he wrote do not trust the pros because they do not relate to what you are doing.

Michael White IS NOT like that AT ALL. In fact, you have to search very hard to see a single video of him when you actually see his face (a Presonus speaker ad). He was a teacher for 10 years at SAE institute, worked on several Whitney Houston albums, Talking heads, Al Jarreau, etc, etc The guy is all about mixing and mastering and that's the passion he communicates. But one has to be willing to learn and understand. Not easy. Not hints and tricks and tips and magic and secrets and all that.

Just saying, so that people will not think that Michael White is one like the Cochrane Revolution. Since basically Frank was right regarding many, many 'business' people out there going for money in offering 'courses' and 'lessons' and 'packages' and this is why I mentioned Michael. To offset.

Cheers.