A good thing would be if this thread didn't get too pissy - many helpful, friendly users here and imo macousticboy, you would be adding to the community.
Gonna try going back to the original concept, mastering with Reaper's included effects. There's no tutorial because no one - willing to bet, not one single person - uses Reaper's included effects for mastering. Mastering engineers are very particular about their tools and workflow, and their tools of choice are rarely (almost never) included with their DAW.
Now, as far as all those JS effects (and, poorly documented VSTs), couldn't agree more. Documentation, vids, in use examples are badly needed.
Complete with an instructor from Berklee. ETA: And for FREE!
...
Except for this one, whose forums are populated by guys who charge $50 an hour
you dont get it? ok, then its your problem. people try to elaborate to you where you are wrong or derailed in your thinking, but you dont get it.
if the price isnt right for you: leave it out!
and that Berkelee free course isnt doing it for you obviously ... as we all could hear.
what I dont understand is your whole approach: you dont get it right, come here, ask for advice and opinions, and tell us that you think you did it right.
let alone that bass-eq ... sorry, but thats hilarious. "another guy uses that ..." ... ok, use it, cant you hear the results? and yet you keep being blockheaded.
no one - willing to bet, not one single person - uses Reaper's included effects for mastering. Mastering engineers are very particular about their tools and workflow, and their tools of choice are rarely (almost never) included with their DAW
Oh, okay. So then those making the statement "Reaper is a mastering platform" are actually spouting a bullshit concept, when it's no more so than Audacity, you just need the $$$ for the right tools. Thanks for clearing that up
Quote:
Now, as far as all those JS effects (and, poorly documented VSTs), couldn't agree more. Documentation, vids, in use examples are badly needed.
Well, it is those particular items that people on this particular forum have told me they use for (ta-ta-ta-ta - taDAHHHH!) m-a-s-t-e-r-i-n-g:
And that doesn't even count stuff that's been recommended to me since I started this whole mastering convo that apparently is like poking grizzly bears with a stick in late January.
So should I assume that in the future, well see no more threads like the above, and that the admins will call them out when they do?
and that Berkelee free course isnt doing it for you obviously ... as we all could hear
Nice try, Pumpkin. That "Berkelee free course" (you mean "Berklee") )is only in it's 4th week, and I'm way behind on the lectures & quizzes. I've been browsing through trying to catch anything I might have missed that I could apply. So far there isn't much although I haven't given up all hope. I'll probably concur with tgraph that it's about worth it's price, if the trend holds like it has been.
Not that I know much about mixing but I'll have to agree with Fergler and others... not ready for mastering.
The bass doesn't have the tight low end needed and gets a bit lost at times. Assuming you want it to pump along with kick, it doesn't really do that. Maybe the sidechain compression need to be looked at... but definately the bass eq.... however I'm not a fan of this style of music so perhaps I'm wrong.
The vocals though, didn't do it for me either- like they were too separated from the rest of mix when they really, really needed to be mixed in. I guess the 'masterer' received whatever he got so it'd be the recording stage gone awry.... then it needs mixing correctly.
At this point, I'd like to have my 48.8mb back. A Soundcloud upload would have been much better
Location: United States of Europe, Germany, Mönchengladbach
Posts: 2,047
Quote:
Originally Posted by macousticboy
Oh, okay. So then those making the statement "Reaper is a mastering platform" are actually spouting a bullshit concept, when it's no more so than Audacity, you just need the $$$ for the right tools. Thanks for clearing that up
Well, it is those particular items that people on this particular forum have told me they use for (ta-ta-ta-ta - taDAHHHH!) m-a-s-t-e-r-i-n-g:
And that doesn't even count stuff that's been recommended to me since I started this whole mastering convo that apparently is like poking grizzly bears with a stick in late January.
So should I assume that in the future, well see no more threads like the above, and that the admins will call them out when they do?
sorry, facepalm over facepalm here ...
if you know whats right, why are you discussing. do it! you dont because you cant. so, please, what is your wisdom (blahblahing from other people) worth?
you are always searching for the one little straw that you can throw into the discussion you feel maybe could make you look right. doesnt help. your results are not good, anyway what you throw in.
It's too bad that things need to get personal. It is understandable that individuals can be passionate about their music and opinions and forget that we are all here to share our experiences and become better at our craft. Our community will be a much better place if we refrain from personal attacks.
Has someone written a mastering guide for Reaper? No.
Can music be mastered in Reaper? Yes.
Will most people that want to master at a high level use the tools in Reaper? Probably not.
Is it possible to learn how to master in a home studio environment? Of course it is.
When should a track be considered ready for mastering? When all of the elements have been conceived, performed, arranged, recorded and mixed to a state that satisfies the creator.
Should the creator expect that mastering will dramatically change the original? No.
Location: United States of Europe, Germany, Mönchengladbach
Posts: 2,047
Quote:
Originally Posted by ronmac
...
Has someone written a mastering guide for Reaper? No.
Can music be mastered in Reaper? Yes.
...
all you wrote is right (nearly all, because I dont know why the tools that come with Reaper wouldnt be ok for mastering.) imo.
but that is what bugs me: the process of mastering isnt related to a special DAW or audio editor. its what you do with the tools. there are fantastillions of mastering tutorials out there. there is no need nor is it a wise idea to claim a mastering tutorial for Reaper. mastering tutorial is ok, but that need not to be for Reaper.
this is what the OP doesnt understand, but constantly he is blaming his not-so-good-results to the lack of not having that tutorial.
would he have gotten a better mix in the first place with that tutorial? no.
would he have been able to make a better sounding mastering in Reaper with that tutorial? no.
so where is the point? my opinion is, that he wants to blame anyone or anything for his track not sounding good. he has proven that more than ten times now. so what is he really asking for? he schould ask for something that makes his tracks sounding better. but he doesnt. he gets advice on this and he claims that someone has an eq for the bass regardless if that eq is bs or not. he sticks to it and blames other persons and doesnt get his tracks sounding better by that.
"my tracks dont sound as good as they can because they people who really know how to do it dont give out their secrets and put me always on the track." thats what I read 1 or 2 years ago in a that nearly literally words. (you dont need to ask where I read this, you all know where that was ...)
and that is what someone with that approach keeps away from doing it right in the first place. there is not the willing to learn but there is claiming to get prepared solutions.
Let me explain in simple terms the points of contention here.
1. You asked a bunch of questions in reply to my rough mastering 'template' and suggested questions, which SaulT answered (which is perfectly fine, this is a public forum, he's allowed to do that.. and FWIW, he said what I woulda said and probably in less words).
So to elaborate: I mentioned Kanaka because M/S is a very common approach to fixing issues in a stereo mix. Let's say that once you have all your albums songs together you decide that song #4 isn't as bright in the far left and right (cymbals and guitars, for e.g.) than your other material. With a regular EQ this is difficult to address.
A M/S EQ allows you to bring up just the content on the sides or mids independently, so you can for e.g. make a high shelf in ReaEQ, untick the Left input and output in the Routing Pin window (L=M, R=S, when working in mid/side) and now only that content will be affected.
As for what those plugins I mentioned are for...
Dithering: conversion to a bit rate for a final medium. For e.g. you are normally working in 24bit and dithering to 16bit is necessary for the best quality audio at 16bit (which is what CDs use).
I mentioned the limiters for getting a louder mix by shaving off around 1-2db at most of the highest peaks. May or may not be necessary for some of your punchier songs once you have all your albums songs together.
3. And this is the big one. You keep asking for 'how to master in Reaper' tutorial. There isn't one. There doesn't need to be one. Mastering is a concept completely independent of DAW. Just the fact that you don't know what dithering, M/S technique, or multiband compression is tells me you probably don't understand the concept of mastering and/or the different types of plugins available to you.
There are a fairly limited number of plugin types for compressors and EQs. For your benefit, here is a list which you can google and learn. Most articles you will find will probably be from SoundOnSound, which is a great resource:
Compressor ('fullband', or 'wideband': e.g. ReaComp)
Multiband Compressor (e.g. ReaXComp, Waves C6)
Linear Phase Equalizer
Zero-latency Equalizer
Minimum Phase Equalizer
Dynamic Equalizer (very similar to Multiband Compressor but usually more control over Q size of individual bands and more often work both positively and negatively)
Back to Reaper. With a full understanding of the stock plugins (which all DAWs, even Audacity, have a fairly wide breadth of but they all do the same thing) you can approach any DAW with the same concept in mind for mastering. But without understanding what mastering is, none of these plugins will help you. Mastering does not mean putting effect on your master channel of the mix or on a rendered track with no purpose. It also doesn't say anywhere that you must-must-must use rendered tracks to do mastering. If you have access to the mixes, and once you have all your albums songs together, you can master by adjusting the elements of each mix in context to each other, for e.g. if you are trying to make an acoustic 90bpm song feel like its on the same album as the 125bpm rock slammer right next to it, you might open both projects in Reaper tabs and make adjustments to each while jumping back and forth.
The end result is the same and in fact if you have access to the mix, it's a much better result.
You may notice though I've been stressing "once you have all your albums songs together". I can't say this enough times. Mastering is a concept applied to an album. There's nothing wrong with some master track compression and EQ in your mix, but that's part of the mix. Don't confuse this with mastering.
You may notice though I've been stressing "once you have all your albums songs together". I can't say this enough times. Mastering is a concept applied to an album. There's nothing wrong with some master track compression and EQ in your mix, but that's part of the mix. Don't confuse this with mastering.
I think that's it in a nutshell... and a common confusion. Well said.
Although assembling all songs in an album format made a lot of sense in the past, I think it will be less important in the future.
Many artists are now releasing songs in a serial fashion (one a month or so) to keep closer contact and in front of their fans.
There is nothing wrong with mastering one at a time, as long as you keep the dynamics and levels within reasonable parameters for the media delivery system. Tonal and stylistic balance can always be referenced against previous works of the artist, if they want to maintain consistency.
There is nothing wrong with mastering one at a time, as long as you keep the dynamics and levels within reasonable parameters for the media delivery system.
There is if you have access to the mixes. Fix it in the mix if the sound of a single song is frustrating you.
my 'go to' efx are ReaEQ and ReaComp.
and i sometimes get paid for my masters.
There you go. Now, all that is needed is to hear you out on what it is you do at the mastering stage of post-production. Voila'!
Inb4 someone reads that as:
"Now, all that is needed is to hear you out on what it is you do at the mastering stage of post-production, which is all there really is to good music production."
As I know someone is going to interpret my words as
have you considered the possibility that no amount of tweaking is gonna make your stuff sound good because you're not a very good singer?
LOL That may be, but there is nothing about the vocal in this particular track that I would change, because I happen to like it - like the style of it. Others have mentioned that they like it as well. At least 1 person said the acoustic git was the only thing that needed retracking.
It's also not a bad mix, IMHO. I've often used it as a "default" song on Youtube or something similar. It's pretty engaging and to the point.
I haven't had any negative reactions to the Beatitudes song, either.
Btw - I can see the read-out on ReaTune, it's not like Idk what the truth is. But I go by what satisfies me. I can show anyone examples of me re-doing a particular line or lyric in a song to get it right. I think it would pass most people's muster as a def improvement.
And there are far WORSE out there than myself, and making a whole lot more $$$, I might add.
I did find Kanaka interferes too much with the signal volume and lacks features to be considered even remotely useful to me.
So there's that. I think the simplest way to explain this M/S thing is that it's just adjusting the stereo configuration of the sound in a particular finished track right? I tried Density mkII on a couple of things, I like the way at least one preset worked.
Quote:
Just the fact that you don't know what dithering, M/S technique, or multiband compression is tells me you probably don't understand the concept of mastering and/or the different types of plugins available to you
Ok, so what I would be asking for is a discussion of the common plugins one is likely to encounter in Reaper, with a focus on the mastering stage in mind.
The rest of what you said is fine, thank-you for typing that out.
I could show you the FX Chain that's currently in my master buss, and a minimum of 50 out of 100 people here would say I'm doing it all wrong. And it changes as I attempt to learn new things.. and it only applies to the song I'm working on at the time.. and I go back into the mix all the time when I feel that's where a tweak would be more beneficial. That's not the true definition of mastering but I think it's what you're describing.
There's my mastering tutorial. There is NO magic bullet.
Reaper for those on a tight budget?
I could be a millionaire, and if I still mixed for fun, Reaper would remain my DAW of choice. It by far exceeds its price.
Location: United States of Europe, Germany, Mönchengladbach
Posts: 2,047
imagine 50 facepalms in a row HERE ...
he is fighting as if its for his life to not seeing it. no sign of willing to learn.
I quote a roman soldier: "if your god is so mighty, why doesnt he teach you to mix and master your songs perfectly?" (because he felt his religion insulted ... yawn.)
and his claim for the exact presets for reaeq and reacomp shows clearly that he doesnt want to learn but wants ready solutions for "his problem". what he denied a few postings above. the 9. amandement says: thou shall not lie. bang!
and if someone gives him a preset-list I bet he will come back again and will blame the donator for his tracks sounding shite.
I bet.
oh, lord, wont you buy me a mastering chain ... (Holy Janis of Joplin)
Some very un-christ-like language being strewn about.
It's a pity because there were some very thoughtful and clear replies to the questions.
I would've been grateful for the attention and feedback lavished on our spiritual yet angry community resident.
The mix is super poor, brother. The vocals unacceptable. If your art and songs are sacred to you, they deserve better than this effort thus. If they are not... then why bother at all?
Some very un-christ-like language being strewn about.
It's a pity because there were some very thoughtful and clear replies to the questions.
I would've been grateful for the attention and feedback lavished on our spiritual yet angry community resident.
The mix is super poor, brother. The vocals unacceptable. If your art and songs are sacred to you, they deserve better than this effort thus. If they are not... then why bother at all?
Peace.
This is twice now I've had someone be critical of my singing and I've gone to hear their stuff and found they have no real room to talk. Is there a full moon out today?
Are you serious, "brother?" IMHO, I would listen to just about anything I sing, over your whipped puppy whining. And that's the 'gospel' truth.
I quote a roman soldier: "if your god is so mighty, why doesnt he teach you to mix and master your songs perfectly?" (because he felt his religion insulted ... yawn.)
Because that's something that should be kept out of the discussion. I'll take any comments about anything but insults to my faith. Why is that so hard for you to understand?
And he also had no room to talk... although I could see his singing style possibly finding an audience. Like Leon Redbone, perhaps?
Quote:
and his claim for the exact presets for reaeq and reacomp
Okay, now you have yet another statement I'm waiting for you to provide a quote for. Show me where I said this, and I'll own up to it.
Or you can keep digging yourself deeper, it's all on you.
do you have any plans or goals for your music? ...because I guess the best most of us can hope for is to sing our songs well enough that --if we come up with a kller song-- someone will recognize the potential and pick it up
if you're planning on bypassing the record companies and going straight to youtube, there's lots of really talented people trying that... I mean, really talented people... and it's kind of a rough row to hoe compared to being picked up and promoted by a big label...
there's a pretty good song and video by boyce avenue... it was put up ten months ago... 1,649,442 hits so far
speed limit...
.
meanwhile, rhinanna gets 60 million hits in a couple weeks with "four five seconds"
maybe persistence will pay off sooner or later... if you sing enough that you can just sing and quit thinking about singing...
meanwhile, there's so much t alent out there that the record companies can use who they want, and I'm sure one of the yardsticks they use to judge potential recruits is "attitude"
.
Last edited by flickervetigo; 02-27-2015 at 08:14 PM.
this is my opinion... and i am an amateur bedroom recording (well basement actually) artist so TIFWIW. I consider myself to be one of those who shouldnt be worried about mastering
I think a lot of the friction in these threads comes from the anxious and ambitious amateurs (like myself) work at it for a while and get some mixes we think sound pretty good. Everywhere, you read and hear that mastering is the last step. The final procedure in the process so you hunt around and find lots of turorials and get all the plugins that are typically used.. even study and know from reading examples and watching some tutorial vidoes why you might use some of them in certain situations.
You feel ready to try to master your mix..
I think the bottom line is that amateurs have trouble with this concept. Assuming that there are basically good performances tracked.. the errors in the mix are because you don't hear the flaws. It could be because your monitoring environment isnt great, but I think most of it is because your ears and brain aren't trained to find the problems.
Experienced mix engineers who mix regularly different styles- instruments etc, like every other competent professional, hone the skill over time to where the though process of a mix engineer is a lot different than the home recording artist is to mix their stuff...
While the home recording artist is still spinning the track through a few times a day just to bask (and continue to convince themselves) in what they think is a great track, a pro mix engineer would listen to it once and be making a bunch of notes, mental notes, developing a plan.. just second nature.. Not only the workflow is refined to a 2nd nature process.. the technical side and ears are trained to spot the issues right away.
the approach is vastly different.
The exact same challenges exist for a mastering approach, except there is less control of the audio so if you don't have the mixing experience to really (and be honest with yourself) hear the attack and release characteristics of different color compressors or eqs used subtly on as track.. much less a buss.. much less a master.. Then there is no reason that you will be able to hear your mix, and have a plan for how you can put the fine polish on it. I can almost guarantee you will start putting plugins on first.. then fiddle with them and hope your mix will just start sounding better.
So I think that's probably where the tough responses from more experienced mix engineers come from when the topic of mastering is raised by an amateur (like me).
These kind of threads also have their share of comments everyone can live without.
In all reality, "mastering" is probably irrelevant to most amateur home recording artists. It is, honestly a much more productive approach to just continue to put your energy into improving your mix. If you can get your mix perfect.. then all you need to do is make it as loud as you want it. that's easy and no one will call that mastering. Who cares.. your track is perfect and loud as you want.. there's nothing left to do.
At the end of the day.. if you can get your mix just right... then, and probably only then do you have the refined ear to start really trying to "master" tracks.
There are plenty of tutorials on mastering online..youtube etc.. That would be where to find the tutorials.
There is no benefit for reaper to have one.. If it did, it would have to be a video.. because it would have to have an example program to work on and explain the approach and step through it while you can hear it.
Groove3.com has you covered there.. the problem is.. you come away with some great fundamentals, and principles.. and if your next track has a hi hat that pokes out too much.. you now have a trick up your sleeve to tame it..
but your next song may not be a pop song like the tutorial and you may and probably have a whole different type of mix to work with.. so one tutorial isn't gonna get'er done by itself.
so you want lots of tutorials.. in different genre... welcome to youtube.. and good luck
Or just focus on mixing.. and probably some really basic and safe processing at the end just to get desired loudness.. and keep plugging away
flickvetigo, whiteaxxxe, chill out. Don't be dicks, keep it about the music. We don't share his beliefs, but it doesn't mean that he deserves to be ridiculed for them.
This is twice now I've had someone be critical of my singing and I've gone to hear their stuff and found they have no real room to talk. Is there a full moon out today?
Are you serious, "brother?" IMHO, I would listen to just about anything I sing, over your whipped puppy whining. And that's the 'gospel' truth.
wtf?! what's anyone else's singing got to do with your vocal performance?
if wanna post here asking for feedback then that's what you get. .....or do you want everyone to bullshit you into thinking everything is awesome.
I certainly aren't the best singer going but the vox on this track are average. I probably couldn't sing it (mainly because of how shithouse the style of music is) but hey, do you want input from lots of people who do know there shit? SaulT, quietroom, et al have given some seriously good feedback on how the mixing (not mastering!) could be improved and you carry on like a sissy? wow
wtf?! what's anyone else's singing got to do with your vocal performance?
if wanna post here asking for feedback then that's what you get. .....or do you want everyone to bullshit you into thinking everything is awesome.
I certainly aren't the best singer going but the vox on this track are average. I probably couldn't sing it (mainly because of how shithouse the style of music is) but hey, do you want input from lots of people who do know there shit? SaulT, quietroom, et al have given some seriously good feedback on how the mixing (not mastering!) could be improved and you carry on like a sissy? wow
You missed all the fun where pdk threw a big temper-tantrum & tried to "dirty insult" me to death
Even if the posts are deleted, I have the alert emails as evidence
And who made this your place to police, homeboy? This convo was soooooo 5 hours ago. Move on!
LOL That may be, but there is nothing about the vocal in this particular track that I would change, because I happen to like it - like the style of it. Others have mentioned that they like it as well. At least 1 person said the acoustic git was the only thing that needed retracking.
I still like the vocals
But I also second what many contributors already said. The mix is not "mastering ready" yet. It indeed turns out that the tubby reverb on the vocals is emphasized now that the audio is compressed and limited.
This is something that normally shouldn't happen if the mix is dense (or glued/cohesive) enough in the first place.
Being able to deliver a good mix doesn't happen over night - a lot (!) of experience is needed. Objective listening, more than basic technical knowledge, also the ability to accept technical/musical feedback.
How about mixing 2 more versions with a completey different approach? Just for experience's sake?
__________________ Windows 10x64 | AMD Ryzen 3700X | ATI FirePro 2100 | Marian Seraph AD2, 4.3.8 | Yamaha Steinberg MR816x "If I can hear well, then everything I do is right" (Allen Sides)
Maybe. But I was raised as an so-tolerant never-give-up German, haha.
All I see is a (sorry, it's true) kinda childish OP who is kinda yelled at by the other forumites. The fact that he posted here originally meant that he wanted to learn something, I'm sure. Confronted with some of the replies (especially the religion ones) I likely would have taken that defensive demeanor as well.
__________________ Windows 10x64 | AMD Ryzen 3700X | ATI FirePro 2100 | Marian Seraph AD2, 4.3.8 | Yamaha Steinberg MR816x "If I can hear well, then everything I do is right" (Allen Sides)