Hey everyone,
I'm a newbie producer and I've been working on some tracks lately that I'm really proud of. However, when it comes to mastering, I'm not quite sure where to start. I want to make sure that my tracks sound as professional as possible, but I don't have a lot of experience with mastering.
I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a newbie producer like myself who wants to master their music. What are some good plugins or software that I should look into? I'm on a tight budget, so something affordable would be ideal.
I've done some research and found that there are many plugins manufacturer out there (Tonebooster, Hornet, Waves….. ) that can help with mastering, but I'm not sure which ones are the best for a newbie like me. Are there any plugins that you've found to be particularly helpful?
Best
Ethan
Suggestions for a newbie producer to master his music
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- KVRAF
- 44060 posts since 11 Aug, 2008 from clown world
I know nothing but ...
1) Get a plugin like Direct Approach - SpecTrend. As a rule of thumb spectrally balanced mixes sound the best. You can't go wrong with this approach. You might want to deviate later on but this is a firm grounding.
SpecTrend™ 2.0 Spectral Trend Analyzer – 1/3 Octave Pink-Noise Weighted Spectrum Analyzer – New Features!
Obviously, make sure it will work on your system and that you are happy with the copy protection etc.
https://www.directap.com/detail/SpecTrend
SpecTrend™ provides a pink-noise weighted view of the audio spectrum of your track. With pink-noise weighting, all frequency bands will be at the same level when your mix is spectrally balanced. This allows you to see the balance and make EQ decisions to create the perfect balanced mixed! You view each 1/3 octave bar to be at the same level with the pink noise weighting. So, you can tell if your lows are not strong enough, or there is too much mid-range. And not just the level, the color coding of the bars, green being your target range, makes it is easy to see when your mix is balanced. And the +3db low end compensation allows for more low end in modern mixes.
2) Don't spend any money yet. I have purchased so many ''mastering'' plugins over the years that are just collecting dust. Every week there seems to be another truckload of new plugins on the market. You don't need them.
3) Step 1, is the best place to start. Learn to balance your mix first.
4) Later on you might want to get into groove compression on the master bus, saturation, specialized eq, limiting and clipping etc.
5) Try to define what 'professional sounding' means to you. Check your mix against professional recordings that you think sound great. Be sure that your tune and the professional tune are level matched. Otherwise your ears will deceive you.
This reply is too long already ...
1) Get a plugin like Direct Approach - SpecTrend. As a rule of thumb spectrally balanced mixes sound the best. You can't go wrong with this approach. You might want to deviate later on but this is a firm grounding.
SpecTrend™ 2.0 Spectral Trend Analyzer – 1/3 Octave Pink-Noise Weighted Spectrum Analyzer – New Features!
Obviously, make sure it will work on your system and that you are happy with the copy protection etc.
https://www.directap.com/detail/SpecTrend
SpecTrend™ provides a pink-noise weighted view of the audio spectrum of your track. With pink-noise weighting, all frequency bands will be at the same level when your mix is spectrally balanced. This allows you to see the balance and make EQ decisions to create the perfect balanced mixed! You view each 1/3 octave bar to be at the same level with the pink noise weighting. So, you can tell if your lows are not strong enough, or there is too much mid-range. And not just the level, the color coding of the bars, green being your target range, makes it is easy to see when your mix is balanced. And the +3db low end compensation allows for more low end in modern mixes.
2) Don't spend any money yet. I have purchased so many ''mastering'' plugins over the years that are just collecting dust. Every week there seems to be another truckload of new plugins on the market. You don't need them.
3) Step 1, is the best place to start. Learn to balance your mix first.
4) Later on you might want to get into groove compression on the master bus, saturation, specialized eq, limiting and clipping etc.
5) Try to define what 'professional sounding' means to you. Check your mix against professional recordings that you think sound great. Be sure that your tune and the professional tune are level matched. Otherwise your ears will deceive you.
This reply is too long already ...
This is the same method MJ used when he was working on Anthony Marinelli's Thriller.
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- KVRian
- 909 posts since 12 Sep, 2007
Izotope Ozone, very useful tool.
The assistant option provides a great starting point.
I used to have a very useful/successful manual mastering process, compared my process on the same song, Izotope was definitely better sounding output.
To me this is what AI excels at this point in time.
Your ears should guide you to a solution.
Good luck,
Dirk
The assistant option provides a great starting point.
I used to have a very useful/successful manual mastering process, compared my process on the same song, Izotope was definitely better sounding output.
To me this is what AI excels at this point in time.
Your ears should guide you to a solution.
Good luck,
Dirk
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 2 posts since 5 May, 2023
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Thank you for your helpful suggestions, it's really appreciated! I have been doing some research and looking into different mastering plugins, and one that caught my eye is the Direct Approach - SpecTrend that you recommended.At the same time, I also came across ThirtyOneMK2 by Hornet Plugins (https://www.hornetplugins.com/plugins/hornet-thirtyone-mk2/), which seems to have some similar features to the Direct Approach plugin. I'm currently trying out the demo version of ThirtyOneMK2, and I'm impressed with its ability to fine-tune the stereo image and balance the frequency spectrum.
In any case, I completely agree with your advice to focus on balancing the mix first before jumping into mastering. I'm taking that to heart and spending time on making sure my mixes are as balanced as possible.
Thank you again for your advice and input!
Aloysius wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 11:52 am I know nothing but ...
1) Get a plugin like Direct Approach - SpecTrend. As a rule of thumb spectrally balanced mixes sound the best. You can't go wrong with this approach. You might want to deviate later on but this is a firm grounding.
SpecTrend™ 2.0 Spectral Trend Analyzer – 1/3 Octave Pink-Noise Weighted Spectrum Analyzer – New Features!
Obviously, make sure it will work on your system and that you are happy with the copy protection etc.
https://www.directap.com/detail/SpecTrend (https://www.directap.com/detail/SpecTrend)
SpecTrend™ provides a pink-noise weighted view of the audio spectrum of your track. With pink-noise weighting, all frequency bands will be at the same level when your mix is spectrally balanced. This allows you to see the balance and make EQ decisions to create the perfect balanced mixed! You view each 1/3 octave bar to be at the same level with the pink noise weighting. So, you can tell if your lows are not strong enough, or there is too much mid-range. And not just the level, the color coding of the bars, green being your target range, makes it is easy to see when your mix is balanced. And the +3db low end compensation allows for more low end in modern mixes.
2) Don't spend any money yet. I have purchased so many ''mastering'' plugins over the years that are just collecting dust. Every week there seems to be another truckload of new plugins on the market. You don't need them.
3) Step 1, is the best place to start. Learn to balance your mix first.
4) Later on you might want to get into groove compression on the master bus, saturation, specialized eq, limiting and clipping etc.
5) Try to define what 'professional sounding' means to you. Check your mix against professional recordings that you think sound great. Be sure that your tune and the professional tune are level matched. Otherwise your ears will deceive you.
This reply is too long already ...
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- KVRist
- 239 posts since 9 Feb, 2013
