Mastering EQ and balancing

[No_Use]

[spendthrift2]

I think the course at this link may be useful for you, depending on what type of music you produce. It's an EDM music course, but I think it discusses other genres; though it sounds like you've already got the songwriting process down to a science. It does mention both mixing and mastering as part of either the process or the curriculum. I can't remember which (process vs. curriculum) but here is the link https://www.edmprod.com/5-stages-electr ... -producer/

[SparkySpark]

I think the course at this link may be useful for you, depending on what type of music you produce. It's an EDM music course, but I think it discusses other genres; though it sounds like you've already got the songwriting process down to a science. It does mention both mixing and mastering as part of either the process or the curriculum. I can't remember which (process vs. curriculum) but here is the link https://www.edmprod.com/5-stages-electr ... -producer/

Hi, thanks for your tip on this course!

[martinjuenke]

Tonal Balance Control by Izotope combined with their Elements Suite (Ozone and/or Neutron) cost some money but is imo perfectly suited for your needs.

[SparkySpark]

Tonal Balance Control by Izotope combined with their Elements Suite (Ozone and/or Neutron) cost some money but is imo perfectly suited for your needs.

Thanks Martin. I know Izotope would be good for me.

However, I just finished a song which turned out pretty okay. I have really come a long way during the last couple of months.

By the way, I followed your link and listened to your ambient music. Great stuff! You must have grown up with Vangelis, like I did.

I also noticed you use Bandcamp rather than Soundcloud. Bandcamp seems a lot friendlier and more generous towards the artists as well actually (not only in terms of money but when it comes to what one can do on a free account). Any comments on them? (I do like Soundcloud for one thing though: their HTML player that can be seen all over KVR.)

[martinjuenke]

Tonal Balance Control by Izotope combined with their Elements Suite (Ozone and/or Neutron) cost some money but is imo perfectly suited for your needs.

Thanks Martin. I know Izotope would be good for me.

However, I just finished a song which turned out pretty okay. I have really come a long way during the last couple of months.

By the way, I followed your link and listened to your ambient music. Great stuff! You must have grown up with Vangelis, like I did.

I also noticed you use Bandcamp rather than Soundcloud. Bandcamp seems a lot friendlier and more generous towards the artists as well actually (not only in terms of money but when it comes to what one can do on a free account). Any comments on them? (I do like Soundcloud for one thing though: their HTML player that can be seen all over KVR.)

Thanks for your friendly words!

Yes, I switched from Soundcloud to Bandcamp because it offers a more album oriented presentation of my music. The whole process of creating an account, designing it, uploading your stuff and get paid via Paypal is well structured, transparent and easy to do. Additionally you have a well organised statistics area about how often your tracks are heard and buyed. All in all I‘m really satisfied with Bandcamp.

For those who just want to upload single demos or tracks without that album oriented manner, Soundcloud may be better suited.

But for artists who want to be found by a vivid community Bandcamp has its edge.

[SparkySpark]

But for artists who want to be found by a vivid community Bandcamp has its edge.

So you mean there is more chance people will listen to one's music on bandcamp? I don't care about revenue but it is of course nice if someone listens.

[martinjuenke]

But for artists who want to be found by a vivid community Bandcamp has its edge.

So you mean there is more chance people will listen to one's music on bandcamp? I don't care about revenue but it is of course nice if someone listens.

Yes, I think so because of their tagging system...

[simon.a.billington]

Tonal Balance Control by Izotope combined with their Elements Suite (Ozone and/or Neutron) cost some money but is imo perfectly suited for your needs.

This is what I was about to suggest myself. Actually it does come with Neutron 2 as well.
https://www.izotope.com/en/products/mix/neutron.html

Another trick you can do is use a type of "Match Eq" plugin. Well at least, that's what Logic calls it. Basically you capture the eq "curve" of one file, your reference, and play it against your mix and it will show you the difference. You can even apply the resulting eq and hear how it sounds across your mix. It's great tool/technique for learning more about your mix and addressing it's potential issues.

IK has one called Master Match
https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/trmastermatch/

I believe RX has one called EQ Match, but it's not available as a separate plugin.

[martinjuenke]

Tonal Balance Control by Izotope combined with their Elements Suite (Ozone and/or Neutron) cost some money but is imo perfectly suited for your needs.

This is what I was about to suggest myself. Actually it does come with Neutron 2 as well.
https://www.izotope.com/en/products/mix/neutron.html

Another trick you can do is use a type of "Match Eq" plugin. Well at least, that's what Logic calls it. Basically you capture the eq "curve" of one file, your reference, and play it against your mix and it will show you the difference. You can even apply the resulting eq and hear how it sounds across your mix. It's great tool/technique for learning more about your mix and addressing it's potential issues.

IK has one called Master Match
https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/trmastermatch/

I believe RX has one called EQ Match, but it's not available as a separate plugin.

This MatchEQ thing is really cool. Try matching your track to a Pink Noise curve. That leads to a quite good balance which then can be adjusted depending on your taste. Tokyo Dawn Labs Smart Master EQ does that trick very, very good (and just with one click)...

[simon.a.billington]

Tonal Balance Control by Izotope combined with their Elements Suite (Ozone and/or Neutron) cost some money but is imo perfectly suited for your needs.

This is what I was about to suggest myself. Actually it does come with Neutron 2 as well.
https://www.izotope.com/en/products/mix/neutron.html

Another trick you can do is use a type of "Match Eq" plugin. Well at least, that's what Logic calls it. Basically you capture the eq "curve" of one file, your reference, and play it against your mix and it will show you the difference. You can even apply the resulting eq and hear how it sounds across your mix. It's great tool/technique for learning more about your mix and addressing it's potential issues.

IK has one called Master Match
https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/trmastermatch/

I believe RX has one called EQ Match, but it's not available as a separate plugin.

This MatchEQ thing is really cool. Try matching your track to a Pink Noise curve. That leads to a quite good balance which then can be adjusted depending on your taste. Tokyo Dawn Labs Smart Master EQ does that trick very, very good (and just with one click)...

Yeah a pink noise curve is a good trick to get you started, especially if you haven't found any references to work with.

Speaking of mastering though, Brainworx have a new Public Beta out, bx_masterdesk. For anyone interested.

https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/prod ... rdesk.html?

[Aloysius]

Pick out a few professional songs you like the sound of and test to see if they are actually tonally balanced. Maybe tonal balance is not what you're striving for after all.

[SparkySpark]

Pick out a few professional songs you like the sound of and test to see if they are actually tonally balanced. Maybe tonal balance is not what you're striving for after all.

Now that was an interesting thought!

Actually I'm with you probably, as I don't really see the sense in using pink noise for this.

[SparkySpark]

BTW, don't miss out on the new Blackbox auto mastering effect!

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=509033

[russeault]

here's a course on EQ for $4, Until Aug 15:
https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... ndamentals