Hello, new to this forum. Tried searching for some similar posts, but couldn't find any, so if this topic has already been asked, kindly direct me there.

Thing is, I am a complete beginner. I am a professional recording musician, but I do not have any training whatsoever in mixing or mastering. But I am generally not interested in mixing though, I am more interested in learning about mastering. I do have a lot of written material on how you master, and I am willing to to spend some (most likely hundreds) of hours learning this by myself. This interest generally comes from the fact that some of the recordings I have made end up with average mastering jobs that I am not happy with, and that I could probably do a better job myself. And I'm pretty stubborn so I won't stop until I have proven otherwise.

Only problem is. Where do I start with the software?
Hopefully if you know any good (average) programs that aren't expensive, if you could direct me to those. Doesn't have to be a great program, as long as it has what it needs. That way I can try out by myself, see if I can manage to do something good with a mix. And if it seems that I can, I will upgrade to better software. But I don't want to start out with a 2000$ program and find out I have no talent whatsoever.

Also, do I need something else? Because as I understand, most of the mastering programs comes as plug-ins and that means I need some kind of recording software as well, right? Or can I get a mastering program all on its own?

Hope someone can help me out, would be much appreciated.

-John

Sounds like that you have had the same problem that alot of my clients have dealt with. They take their babys to a commercial mastering house, they whip it in and whip it out. Next / Or a fly by night cheapo company that haven't invested in the proper monitors.
I still would suggest that you find an M.E. that would take the time to find out what your goals are.
But if you are willing to put int the time try Izotope Ozone. It is a relatively inexpensive all in one plug-in. I have it in my arsenal (along with waves products). If you get the sound you want go for it.
But make sure that you listen to the result in multiple systems. You really need full range speakers for proper monitoring. (Not Nearfields)

Last edited by fhmastering on Wed Aug 20, 2008 8:40 am, edited 1 time in total

by the way, check out myspace.com/fhmastering
This is how I make a living, and my samples say it all.

Last edited by fhmastering on Wed Aug 20, 2008 8:41 am, edited 1 time in total

If you're on a PC you may want to look at Sony Sound Forge and CD architect. This package includes Ozone. Wavelab is also a popular program for the PC.

However the real investment in mastering (and expense) comes in creating proper room acoustics and monitoring. If you can't hear a problem properly, you can't fix it. Trying to mastering in a compromised listening environment can become frustrating.
_________________
Tom Volpicelli
The Mastering House Inc.
www.masteringhouse.com

You are very correct about listening environment and monitors. But the only thing missing is spending the time learning your monitors and room. Training your ears to know the limitations and exagerations of your equipment.
_________________
Rob
FH Mastering
fhmastering.com
myspace.com/fhmastering
Professional Mastering / Affordable Rates

I agree with fhmastering, learning how your listening enviroment sounds is crucial. Having spent so much time working with one system, and listening to my masters in as many different listening environments as possible, i have a good understanding of how my masters will translate onto different monitoring systems.

I must disagree though, iZotope Ozone is not great for mastering, its easily over-abused and many people rely heavily on the pre-sets. The harmonic exciter is useful to add a little sparkle, but very destructive unless used in serious moderation. The only other module i use is the stereo widener, which is pretty good...

Like fhmastering, i also use the Waves collection - the one stop collection of plugins for any mastering engineer.. if you can find the time to learn/work out what all the plugins do, you'll find yourself getting much better results than ozone can ever produce.
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Actually the limiter and dither in Ozone are fairly popluar among several MEs that I know. It's the rest of it that are fairly well ... non-popular.
_________________
Tom Volpicelli
The Mastering House Inc.
www.masteringhouse.com

Thats news to me. Personally ive always used the Waves C4 for limiting, and the L3-LL for dither..
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www.EarwaxAudio.com

Hello EarwaxAudio, Just to let you know I use the c4 as well but I only use it as a compressor (and only when needed).
I use the L3 Multi for standard limiting and minor tonal adjustments. If double limiting is needed I add the L3 ultra in the chain. With the s1 for stereo width.
What I find is that in some situations is that the sound isn't where I desire it to be. In those cases I drop the L3 and the S1 and incorporate Ozone.
If used properly, this is a awesome tool.
As masteringhouse mentioned, the dither and limiter is prefered by actually a lot of top ME's. (One that I personally know that uses the MBIT dither is Bob Olhsson of Motown Fame) If he uses it I know that it's a great tool.
If used properly, Ozone can be used as a standalone application. No presets should be used for anything but a starting point. Even with Waves.
With the amount of home recording jobs that I get, I have to be open to a large amount of different type of plugins, I even use wave arts in some situations. It is about the sound. No matter how you get it.
_________________
Rob
FH Mastering
fhmastering.com
myspace.com/fhmastering
Professional Mastering / Affordable Rates

thanks fhmastering ill bear that in mind. i used ozone quite a lot a while back until i purchased the waves collection and found im getting much better results without it. Ill have to have a play about with the MBIT dither..

I agree the s1 is excellent for widening, ill often use the s1 matrix and the Q10 for example in an MS chain. Gives some excellent flexibility with stereo widening.

Just out of curiosity, do you use MaxxBass much?
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I usually only use maxxbass in the mix. But I never rule out anything.
My arsenal of plugins is too extensive, but as soon as I get rid of one, I want it for a certain project.
I do like the waves best, there is a clarity and transparency that can't be rivaled.
_________________
Rob
FH Mastering
fhmastering.com
myspace.com/fhmastering
Professional Mastering / Affordable Rates

When I use ozone, I always use the L3 Multi behind it.
I double dither.
I will dither Ozone(or L3 Ultra) to 24 Bit and the the L3 Multi to 16 bit
Double dithering is a trick that I learned from Bob Olhsson.
I use it the same way that I double limit, that way I am not pushing one plugin too hard for limiting or dithering.
_________________
Rob
FH Mastering
fhmastering.com
myspace.com/fhmastering
Professional Mastering / Affordable Rates

Ill give that a try, thats an interesting technique thanks.

I couldnt agree more about the waves collection, they swamp you with excellent plugins, some of which you may never use but i know if i remove any of them, luck is sure to bite me in the ass and ask if i have a morphoder the next day
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fhmastering wrote:

When I use ozone, I always use the L3 Multi behind it. I double dither. I will dither Ozone(or L3 Ultra) to 24 Bit and the the L3 Multi to 16 bit Double dithering is a trick that I learned from Bob Olhsson. I use it the same way that I double limit, that way I am not pushing one plugin too hard for limiting or dithering.

I think that even Bob would agree that you should only dither when going from a higher wordlength to a lower one. Sometimes the plug will do this internally as in many of the Waves plugs so there isn't a need to do this outside of the plug. I'm guessing that Rob is speaking in this regard.

Definitely don't dither more than once with a noise shaped dither. TPDF at 24 bit, noise shaped when going down to final version.
_________________
Tom Volpicelli
The Mastering House Inc.
www.masteringhouse.com

Last edited by masteringhouse on Tue Aug 26, 2008 3:13 pm, edited 1 time in total

Thanks Tom, I should have clarified that better.
Since Ozone works in a 64 Bit environment I dither it to 24 Bit with no noise shaping.
Then with the L3 Multi I dither to 16 bit with moderate noise shaping.
_________________
Rob
FH Mastering
fhmastering.com
myspace.com/fhmastering
Professional Mastering / Affordable Rates

Last edited by fhmastering on Tue Aug 26, 2008 3:21 pm, edited 1 time in total