Getting Started - Part 6. Basics of information and mastering.
Here, with a sin in half, we got to the final article. She will be about mixing and mastering. First of all, let me explain how mixing differs from mastering, I’ll tell you a little about such a thing as SideChain and a couple more tricks. In the end - a small table, which still helps me with equalization.
This is taken from Wikipedia .
Some believe that mastering and mixing are one and the same; others believe that they are two different things. Immediately I want to clarify how I think - mixing, this is the process of creating the final recording from individual tracks, which focuses on such aspects as volume balance, panning, sound density and effects arrangement, and mastering - equalization and compression, bringing the mix sound to the required level. So, mixing.
The mixing process sets us two tasks - firstly, you need to combine into a single whole set of audio tracks, and secondly, try to get rid of the "computer" sound, that would play the most dynamic and beautiful.
')
Here are some tips before we begin to reduce:
So, the first stage - we combine the tracks into a single whole. If we did not record any tools from the outside and everything we wrote was made in one program, this paragraph can be skipped, otherwise we read further. Suppose from the external tracks we have a guitar recorded live. First I want to note that it’s better to write such things in an audio editor, since in most cases, you will have to remove the “left” noises, if they exist (it is better to do it in the audio editor), and adjust the volume, everything else can be done later in the sequencer, having other tracks on hand, or connect the sequencer and editor via ReWire, if PC power allows the load on the processor and memory will be rather big. Or you can whip up a beat and bass section (in the case of guitars), export to wav and add it as a separate track to an audio editor. At worst, there is a metronome almost everywhere.
Stage Two. I just want to note that what I am writing here now is not an instruction, it is only a description of the process “in my opinion” and not a fact that it will be more convenient for you to combine this way. The first question is where to start, with effects, volume or panorama? I prefer to start with the arrangement of effects, primarily with reverb. The fact is that in most cases, after applying this effect, the volume of the instrument drops noticeably, and if before that we indulged with the volume, we will have to redo everything. By the way, reverb helps you achieve a more “live” sound of the instrument, the main thing is not to overdo it. Also for these purposes, you can use chorus (again, very carefully) and Stereo-Enhancer to expand the stereo signal. At the same stage, we add the delay where it is necessary, by the way, it can also reduce the volume of the instrument. To add "density" you can add a little compression. After adding all the necessary effects go to ... panorama. Yes, it is to the panorama, and not to the volume. The fact is that if we first adjust the volume, and then the panorama, there is a possibility that instruments with the same (or vice versa too different) loudness will appear on one channel, in the end it will be nonsense and everything will have to be redone. Therefore, we first make a general panorama, and then correct the volume of the instruments. At first glance, everything seems to be like, the mix sounds more or less decent. Many, by the way, use sidechain at the stage of mixing, for vocals or drums, I advise you to do this at the stage of mastering, because There is a possibility that after equalization the need for a sidechain will disappear. For example, I also like to play around with a panorama somewhere in the middle of a track, such an artistic device, when the sound of an instrument smoothly flows from one channel to another, you can also play with volume. In general, when mixing, you can pretty well diversify your track and make it sound truly beautiful, so do not ignore this process.
Tools used for information:
The description of the effects is in my previous post about terminology .
This is taken from Wikipedia .
For a start, a little excursion into history. Once upon a time, when vinyl was on the musical Olympus, mastering was the process of recording tracks on records. The process is rather complicated and expensive; a special machine was used for “cutting”, which not all recording studios could afford. Then audio cassettes and compact discs appeared, but the meaning of mastering did not change, only the quality requirements imposed by the specifics of the carrier changed.
After many, many years mastering was called the process of preparing the final mix. Today we will talk about the "modern" mastering.
Hmm, maybe not the most successful title, but oh well. Now I will tell you how the mastering process takes place in me, it will be much clearer than to stuff the minds of beginning musicians with meaningless terms and numbers (although then I’m still stuffed, rest assured).
So, the mix is ​​already ready, all the instruments are recorded, the volume levels and the panorama are adjusted, in general the “mix” stage has been successfully completed, the mastering begins. At this stage, the mix still consists of a pile of tracks and sounds like it was intended. First of all, we save each track into a separate file and shove it into our favorite editor. Next, with the help of the equalizer, the sound of the main instrument and the beat (if there is one) are sharpened; if there is vocals in the track, then we work with it. Then the sound of the bass is adjusted, if there is a need (for example, the bass interferes with the barrel in the drums) use the sidechain. We listen several times a piece of the track in which all the tools (or the majority) are involved, we think of how good we are and correct the jambs that were found. Listening again. We listen on good headphones, then on bad ones, on monitors and ordinary speakers, in general we listen to everything that is at hand. Now the saddest and most difficult thing is that if we want our creation to sound approximately the same for everyone, we need to cut the frequency range to such a level that the average speakers / headphones normally play our track, so that all the instruments could be heard the others would hear the mix as you planned. As soon as this stage is over, once again we check everything one hundred rows and, if successful, “render” the track. Everything.
In fact, this is a very short description, the mastering process may take a very long time, you will redo everything several times (especially at the last stage), look at the graphs of the spectral analysis for hours and tear down the quality of the mix.
In general, special people are engaged in mastering - sound engineers, it seems. But it is useful for us musicians to know about what it is and what to do with it.
Basic tools for mastering:
SideChain is a peculiar sound effect. Instruments are added (such as a kick and bass) to a circuit that is controlled by a compressor. And at the moment of sounding the barrel, the bass goes into the background, freeing up the space for the barrel, or vice versa. This effect, by the way, is closely associated with club music, house. There is even a whole genre built on this effect - pumping house .
Multiband stereo delay - it is known that in order for the sound to go on the right, it is necessary to strengthen the right channel. But there is another factor - the delay. The sound on the right reaches the right ear faster than the left. If you create this delay artificially, you can more accurately arrange the sound in space.
General tips for equalization:
Compression:
General tips:
UPDATED 03/17/09 22:47
Thank you, comrade cyberbobs for these typos. Everything is fixed.
Information
The reduction is the process of creating the final recording from the individual recorded tracks, the next step after the arrangement of the creation of a sound recording. Mixing is not a purely technical process of combining various tracks into a single whole, it is rather a creative activity, on which the characteristics of the result sounding depend.
This is taken from Wikipedia .
Some believe that mastering and mixing are one and the same; others believe that they are two different things. Immediately I want to clarify how I think - mixing, this is the process of creating the final recording from individual tracks, which focuses on such aspects as volume balance, panning, sound density and effects arrangement, and mastering - equalization and compression, bringing the mix sound to the required level. So, mixing.
The mixing process sets us two tasks - firstly, you need to combine into a single whole set of audio tracks, and secondly, try to get rid of the "computer" sound, that would play the most dynamic and beautiful.
')
Here are some tips before we begin to reduce:
- It is not necessary to hang tracks with effects like delay, reverb and, all the more, a compressor before the stage of mixing. In 90% of cases, you will redo them. Of the effects, it is worthwhile to add only those that emphasize or change the sound of the instrument, such as the flanger, chorus, any kind of distortion (although this should be done more carefully), etc.
- Do not change the panorama to the stage of information. In 90% of cases you will have to redo it.
- Do not change the volume to the stage of information. In 90% of cases you will have to redo it.
- You should not needlessly export the tracks from the sequencer to an audio editor. Modern sequencers allow data to be kept at a high level, and it’s not too late to change anything. By “special need” I mean the use of “heavy” plug-ins and sound banks in a sequencer that does not support “freezing” tracks, or it’s just more convenient for you to mix in an audio editor.
- Consider that different genres require different information techniques and before starting to reduce, it is advisable to read / listen to how others reduce, otherwise there is a risk of getting absolute nonsense at the exit. Checked on yourself.
- Making music like any other kind of creative activity is subject to a terrible scourge, better known as “chasing the ideal,” which is especially noticeable at the information stage. Set a goal, a kind of "bar of quality" to which you can get and stop reducing after it has been achieved. Otherwise, there is a risk to spoil everything and get absolute nonsense at the output or reduce to the end of life. Checked on yourself.
So, the first stage - we combine the tracks into a single whole. If we did not record any tools from the outside and everything we wrote was made in one program, this paragraph can be skipped, otherwise we read further. Suppose from the external tracks we have a guitar recorded live. First I want to note that it’s better to write such things in an audio editor, since in most cases, you will have to remove the “left” noises, if they exist (it is better to do it in the audio editor), and adjust the volume, everything else can be done later in the sequencer, having other tracks on hand, or connect the sequencer and editor via ReWire, if PC power allows the load on the processor and memory will be rather big. Or you can whip up a beat and bass section (in the case of guitars), export to wav and add it as a separate track to an audio editor. At worst, there is a metronome almost everywhere.
Stage Two. I just want to note that what I am writing here now is not an instruction, it is only a description of the process “in my opinion” and not a fact that it will be more convenient for you to combine this way. The first question is where to start, with effects, volume or panorama? I prefer to start with the arrangement of effects, primarily with reverb. The fact is that in most cases, after applying this effect, the volume of the instrument drops noticeably, and if before that we indulged with the volume, we will have to redo everything. By the way, reverb helps you achieve a more “live” sound of the instrument, the main thing is not to overdo it. Also for these purposes, you can use chorus (again, very carefully) and Stereo-Enhancer to expand the stereo signal. At the same stage, we add the delay where it is necessary, by the way, it can also reduce the volume of the instrument. To add "density" you can add a little compression. After adding all the necessary effects go to ... panorama. Yes, it is to the panorama, and not to the volume. The fact is that if we first adjust the volume, and then the panorama, there is a possibility that instruments with the same (or vice versa too different) loudness will appear on one channel, in the end it will be nonsense and everything will have to be redone. Therefore, we first make a general panorama, and then correct the volume of the instruments. At first glance, everything seems to be like, the mix sounds more or less decent. Many, by the way, use sidechain at the stage of mixing, for vocals or drums, I advise you to do this at the stage of mastering, because There is a possibility that after equalization the need for a sidechain will disappear. For example, I also like to play around with a panorama somewhere in the middle of a track, such an artistic device, when the sound of an instrument smoothly flows from one channel to another, you can also play with volume. In general, when mixing, you can pretty well diversify your track and make it sound truly beautiful, so do not ignore this process.
Tools used for information:
- Reverb.
- Chorus
- Diley.
The description of the effects is in my previous post about terminology .
Mastering.
Mastering (English master) - the original production of the reference media, a copy of which is a consumer audio media (CD, vinyl record, tape cassette). Subsequently, the process of preparing the final mix was called mastering.
This is taken from Wikipedia .
For a start, a little excursion into history. Once upon a time, when vinyl was on the musical Olympus, mastering was the process of recording tracks on records. The process is rather complicated and expensive; a special machine was used for “cutting”, which not all recording studios could afford. Then audio cassettes and compact discs appeared, but the meaning of mastering did not change, only the quality requirements imposed by the specifics of the carrier changed.
After many, many years mastering was called the process of preparing the final mix. Today we will talk about the "modern" mastering.
The mastering process "in my opinion."
Hmm, maybe not the most successful title, but oh well. Now I will tell you how the mastering process takes place in me, it will be much clearer than to stuff the minds of beginning musicians with meaningless terms and numbers (although then I’m still stuffed, rest assured).
So, the mix is ​​already ready, all the instruments are recorded, the volume levels and the panorama are adjusted, in general the “mix” stage has been successfully completed, the mastering begins. At this stage, the mix still consists of a pile of tracks and sounds like it was intended. First of all, we save each track into a separate file and shove it into our favorite editor. Next, with the help of the equalizer, the sound of the main instrument and the beat (if there is one) are sharpened; if there is vocals in the track, then we work with it. Then the sound of the bass is adjusted, if there is a need (for example, the bass interferes with the barrel in the drums) use the sidechain. We listen several times a piece of the track in which all the tools (or the majority) are involved, we think of how good we are and correct the jambs that were found. Listening again. We listen on good headphones, then on bad ones, on monitors and ordinary speakers, in general we listen to everything that is at hand. Now the saddest and most difficult thing is that if we want our creation to sound approximately the same for everyone, we need to cut the frequency range to such a level that the average speakers / headphones normally play our track, so that all the instruments could be heard the others would hear the mix as you planned. As soon as this stage is over, once again we check everything one hundred rows and, if successful, “render” the track. Everything.
In fact, this is a very short description, the mastering process may take a very long time, you will redo everything several times (especially at the last stage), look at the graphs of the spectral analysis for hours and tear down the quality of the mix.
In general, special people are engaged in mastering - sound engineers, it seems. But it is useful for us musicians to know about what it is and what to do with it.
Basic tools for mastering:
Tricks and tips.
SideChain is a peculiar sound effect. Instruments are added (such as a kick and bass) to a circuit that is controlled by a compressor. And at the moment of sounding the barrel, the bass goes into the background, freeing up the space for the barrel, or vice versa. This effect, by the way, is closely associated with club music, house. There is even a whole genre built on this effect - pumping house .
Multiband stereo delay - it is known that in order for the sound to go on the right, it is necessary to strengthen the right channel. But there is another factor - the delay. The sound on the right reaches the right ear faster than the left. If you create this delay artificially, you can more accurately arrange the sound in space.
General tips for equalization:
- Try to "tidy up" the frequency, but not to bully.
- Use the minimum number of bands in the equalizer.
- Cut frequencies below 30Hz to avoid hum and noise.
Compression:
- Experiment with attack (Attack) and recession (Release) - there are no general rules here.
- Air and respiration are at frequencies above 10kHz, the compressor can be used to suppress noise and hissing
General tips:
- Stereo base is best expanded at high frequencies.
- The main problem of “homemade” music - insufficient volume - can be easily solved with the help of a maximizer. Thanks to him, we will not only increase the volume of the mix, but also add density to the sound.
Equalization table.
UPDATED 03/17/09 22:47
Thank you, comrade cyberbobs for these typos. Everything is fixed.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/54101/
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