|
Is the thought of mastering your own audio files (music mixes, vocal tracks, audio books, podcasts, etc.) driving you mad? Well, have no fear my friend because today we are going to explore the highest quality audio mastering software out there. You will learn how to make your audio files sparkle and shine just like the professionally mastered music that you hear from your favorite music artists.
This may be a series of in-depth tutorials covering the concepts and many creative uses of Ozone even some non-traditional applications. This first installment is geared more towards those who are already using Ozone. The next tutorials will be for everyone including the newbies! I dont claim to be the expert - but I do use this software and Im just being a spreader of helpful and useful information.
My Best Plug-in For Audio Mastering Work:
iZotope Ozone for Mac/PC is a 64-bit integrated mastering suite containing six modules including high quality dithering. There are many other great audio plug-ins out there but due to space restrictions, we wont be discussing them here.
Some Quick Tips For Current iZotope Ozone Users:
* First of all, you need good ears, a good set of studio monitors/speakers and subwoofers if needed (so you can truly feel those hard to locate low frequencies) and even some mastering-grade headphones for critical listening.
* Remember, to have a good master requires a good flat, balanced mix that is properly equalized already. At the mastering stage, you shouldnt have to add much equalization, because that is what the Harmonic Exciter or enhancer effects are for (to add that sparkle and sheen)! If anything, you will be more concerned with cutting or subtracting specific EQ frequencies at this stage. The audio mastering motto is really all about addition by subtraction.
* Read the included Ozone manual and download the mastering guide from iZotopes website. It contains a wealth of audio mastering knowledge!
* When using the Harmonic Exciter module, dont go overboard with it or you will add distorted bass and fatiguing highs or sibilance to your track. Especially in the sub-sonic low frequencies and the upper midrange. Add just a tad bit, it will greatly enhance the brightness, punch and clarity to your track - without any additional EQ. In the lows, placing the spectral delay setting to 1, somewhat pushes the bass forward/closer in a sense while tightening the lows. Spectral delays in the other frequency domains shouldnt be touched unless for creative usage.
You can season to taste with the type of harmonic flavor you need: Tape, Tube or Retro. Tape sounds nice and warm all over. Tube sounds overall lovely, brighter, more excited. The Retro option has an old vintage sound to it for other creative uses.
* In the Multiband Stereo Imaging module, do not use too much widening on the low frequencies. In fact, for the lows, set the widening to a negative number. This is what you want because what it does is tighten up the bass frequencies and give it more warmth and punch! You can use larger, positive settings on the upper mids and highs though.
* I do not recommend using the Mastering Reverb on a 2-track bounced mix! If choosing to use it on the entire mixdown, use only a tiny amount and experiment with the room or plate settings.
Remember use this sparingly! An even better way to use this module is to create four separate submixes before bouncing your final mixdown. One submix for all of your drum tracks, a 2nd submix for your bass or low frequency sounds, a 3rd for all of your other sounds and instruments and a 4th and final submix for all of your vocal tracks. You can then use more of Ozones Mastering Reverb (especially for the sounds and vocal submixes).
Doing this, will ensure that the reverb doesnt affect the drums and the bass, keeping them separate and untouched by the reverb. If you do go this route, make sure that you use the same exact settings (save a good custom preset), after you process the sounds/vocal submix(es) with the Reverb. Now, bounce all submixes down to one final mixdown (2-track stereo master) except this time, turn off the Reverb module and then finally process this final mixdown with all of the other modules. This reverb really does sound great on vocals even though its not actually designed for that purpose.
* If you apply any Fade-ins or Fade-outs to your mix, make sure you do this before applying any bit-reduction or Dithering down to 16-bit/44khz. The best Dithering Type to use in Ozones Limiter/Loudness Maximizer section is the MBIT at 16-bit/44khz, if burning to Audio CD. Read the manual and the Ozone Dithering Guide for more technical info on dithering.
Realize that mastering really cannot be explained...lol! However, Ill try my best to explain it anyway. You really have to learn it by trial and error on your own. The main thing is to listen and listen and listen and listen! Practice mastering beats and songs from your friends and other people, so that you have a fresh ear. Its very difficult to properly mix or master your own material, but its not impossible either...just takes a little longer.
First, arrange and sequence your beat/song - take a day off and refresh your ears. Then the next day, mix your beat/song - take a day off and refresh your ears. Now on the third day master your beat/song - take another day off and come back and re-analyze your master on different speakers and systems. Now after all of that, if necessary redo it until it sounds right.
Play with equalizers and enhancers and use smooth, soft compression settings on your masters. Alot of those low sub-bass frequencies have to be cut out which eliminates muddiness. Just listen to a professionally mastered recording and youll realize that they dont have too much bass on their final mixdowns, just silky smooth bass and non-fatiguing highs. While editing, listen closely at low volumes and see if you can catch any weird sounds like pops and clicks.
Just play with Ozone and learn its interface. Listen to many tests on one of your bounced mixes or some of your professionally mastered CDs from your music collection. This will let your ears get a sense and feel of what you should be aiming for. You wont become a professional mastering engineer overnight, but with Ozone, you sure can fake it til ya make it and your audio quality will surely sound amazing!
Words For The Wise:
Lastly, mastering audio (or anything else for that matter) takes patience, time alone and a severe love for sound. As a producer or engineer, you have to be very focused and organized in your work environment. If you have too many distractions around you its going to be very hard to do anything music wise. Used properly, this awesome plug-in can achieve that professional commercial CD sound full of clarity.
Use only the plug-ins that you really are comfortable with and understand. Sometimes having too many effects, VSTis, sample libraries, DAWs and hardware gear as well can be overwhelming - believe me I know. And another thing, just be creative...lol! Be creative with your recording, creative with your mixing, creative with your mastering and have fun. Take breaks every now and then and you should get excellent results!
In the forthcoming installments (Ozone tutorials 2-8), we will be breaking down each mastering module within the Ozone interface and go deeper into what the software can and cannot do for you. So, until next time...Peace!!
Is the thought of mastering your own audio files (music mixes, vocal tracks, audio books, podcasts, etc.) impulsive you mad? Well, have no fear my friend because today we are going to explore the highest quality audio mastering software out there. You will learn how to make your audio files coruscate and shine just like the professionally down pat music that you hear from your favorite music artists.
This may be a series of in-depth tutorials masking the concepts and many creative uses of Ozone even some non-traditional applications. This first installment is geared more towards those who are already using Ozone. The next tutorials will be for everyone including the newbies! I dont claim to be the good - but I do use this software and Im just being a broadcaster of helpful and utile information.
My Best Plug-in For Audio Mastering Work:
iZotope Ozone for Mac/PC is a 64-bit integrated mastering suite containing six modules including high quality dithering. There are many other great audio plug-ins out there but due to space restrictions, we wont be discussing them here.
Some Quick Tips For current iZotope Ozone Users:
* First of all, you need good ears, a good set of studio monitors/speakers and subwoofers if needed (so you can truly feel those hard to locate low frequencies) and even some mastering-grade headphones for decisive listening.
* Remember, to have a good master requires a good flat, balanced mix that is properly equalized already. At the mastering stage, you shouldnt have to add much equalization, because that is what the Harmonic Exciter or enhancer personal effects are for (to add that sparkle and sheen)! If anything, you will be more concerned with cutting or subtracting specific EQ frequencies at this stage. The audio mastering motto is really all about addition by subtraction.
* Read the included Ozone manual of arms and download the mastering guide from iZotopes website. It contains a wealthiness of audio mastering knowledge!
* When using the sympathetic Exciter module, dont go overboard with it or you will add distorted bass and fatiguing highs or sibilance to your track. Specially in the sub-sonic low frequencies and the upper midrange. Add just a tad bit, it will greatly enhance the brightness, punch and limpidity to your track - without any further(a) EQ. In the lows, placing the spectral delay setting to 1, passably pushes the bass forward/closer in a sense while tightening the lows. Spiritual delays in the other frequency domains shouldnt be tinged unless for creative usage.
You can season to taste with the type of harmonic flavor you need: Tape, Tube or Retro. Tape sounds nice and warm all over. Tube sounds overall lovely, brighter, more excited. The Retro option has an old time of origin sound to it for other creative uses.
* In the Multiband stereo imagination module, do not use too much widening on the low frequencies. In fact, for the lows, set the widening to a negative number. This is what you want because what it does is tighten up the bass frequencies and give it more warmth and punch! You can use larger, positive settings on the upper mids and highs though.
* I do not urge using the Mastering Reverb on a 2-track bounced mix! If choosing to use it on the entire mixdown, use only a tiny amount of money and experiment with the room or plate settings.
Remember use this sparingly! An even bettor way to use this module is to create four separate submixes before bounce your final mixdown. One submix for all of your drum tracks, a 2nd submix for your bass or low absolute frequency sounds, a 3rd for all of your other sounds and instruments and a 4th and final submix for all of your vocal tracks. You can then use more of Ozones Mastering Reverb (especially for the sounds and vocal submixes).
Doing this, will ensure that the reverb doesnt involve the drums and the bass, keeping them separate and uninfluenced by the reverb. If you do go this route, make sure that you use the same exact settings (save a good impost preset), after you process the sounds/vocal submix(es) with the Reverb. Now, bounce all submixes down to one final mixdown (2-track stereoscopic picture master) except this time, turn off the Reverb module and then finally process this final mixdown with all of the other modules. This reverb really does sound great on vocals even though its not actually intentional for that purpose.
* If you apply any Fade-ins or Fade-outs to your mix, make sure you do this before applying any bit-reduction or Dithering down to 16-bit/44khz. The best Dithering Type to use in Ozones Limiter/Loudness Maximizer section is the MBIT at 16-bit/44khz, if blazing to Audio CD. Read the manual and the Ozone dithering Guide for more technological info on dithering.
Realize that mastering rattling cannot be explained...lol! However, Ill try my best to explain it anyway. You really have to learn it by trial and error on your own. The main thing is to listen and listen and heed and listen! Practice mastering beats and songs from your friends and other people, so that you have a fresh ear. Its very difficult to properly mix or master your own material, but its not unacceptable either...just takes a little longer.
First, arrange and sequence your beat/song - take a day off and refresh your ears. Then the next day, mix your beat/song - take a day off and refresh your ears. Now on the third day overlord your beat/song - take another day off and come back and re-analyze your master on another(a) speakers and systems. Now after all of that, if necessary redo it until it sounds right.
Play with equalizers and enhancers and use smooth, soft concretion settings on your masters. Alot of those low sub-bass frequencies have to be cut out which eliminates muddiness. Just listen to a professionally mastered recording and youll realise that they dont have too much bass on their final mixdowns, just silky smooth bass and non-fatiguing highs. While editing, mind tight at low volumes and see if you can catch any weird sounds like pops and clicks.
Just play with Ozone and learn its interface. Listen to many tests on one of your bounced mixes or some of your professionally mastered CDs from your music collection. This will let your ears get a sense and feel of what you should be aiming for. You wont get a professional mastering engineer overnight, but with Ozone, you sure can fake it til ya make it and your audio tone will certainly sound amazing!
Words For The Wise:
Lastly, mastering audio (or anything else for that matter) takes patience, time alone and a severe love for sound. As a producer or engineer, you have to be very focused and organized in your work environment. If you have too many distractions around you its going to be very hard to do anything music wise. Used properly, this amazing plug-in can accomplish that professional commercial CD sound full of clarity.
Use only the plug-ins that you really are comfortable with and understand. Sometimes having too many effects, VSTis, try out libraries, DAWs and hardware gear as well can be overpowering - believe me I know. And another thing, just be creative...lol! Be creative with your recording, creative with your mixing, creative with your mastering and have fun. Take breaks every now and then and you should get first-class results!
In the forthcoming installments (Ozone tutorials 2-8), we will be breaking down each mastering module within the Ozone user interface and go deeper into what the software can and cannot do for you. So, until next time...Peace!!
.
About the Author (text)Mr. Sine best cd rates
|
|
SIGN
UP FOR FREE
