Todays Session Above
Well, put the finishing touches on a track today and am uploading to the Vancouver Mastering Company as we speak. Few notes about cleaning up things before sending to get it mastered.
Listen to each track individually to make sure there are no mistakes or clips.
Be careful to check all reverb sizes to get them just right. You dont want room space sitting over a track where it is not needed. Bring that reverb size down to just the right amount for each track.
Make sure all your delays end exactly where you want them too. Solo the track and watch the bar meter, or listen to it with just the kick. May not be so noticeable now, but will be in the club.
Make sure all db levels of each track are below 0db to avoid clipping.
Make sure the master track is at least 3db below 0 avoid clips on the master track.
When exporting all individual tracks, make sure to use at least 24bit encoding. Also, wav files are better than aif...all mastering facilities work with wav.
When sending to a mastering company, to save time (and your money), makes sure to add a notes section about important things you want. Especially if they are going to be mixing and doing individual track equing. Also, toss in a couple of sample tracks from past songs or other artists tracks so they can get a good idea of what sound you are going for.
Be sure to notify them that this is going to be used in the club mostly so they know to listen to it LOUD when mixing and mastering. They also need to take care of frequencies at lower ranges like 50db since it will be played out of club speakers. If it was just for home listening, these ranges are not as important.
Zip all the files and send it off.
Here is what my NOTES section looks like that i sent to them -
NOTES FOR FROBOT - BE AFRAID
Side chain kick & bass please. Not a ton, but for a nice sound.
At the beginning, sample called GLITCH PING PONG has a raising reverb effect that may sound weird....i like it though. It was the effect i was going for.
All hits on track "BIG HIT" Should be loud and powerful
All high hats should be sitting at the right frequency. You can shift then if they are not and I didnt hear something right.
Please pan hats to a nice sound after eqed.
Synth that starts at 2:23 is a main melody, and should REALLY stand out at its own frequency
The other track called HIGH SYNTH that is played at the same time as this synth should only accent the other synth.
The sample called HARD DRUM that comes in at 3:15 should be nice and powerful and low.
The crazy dropping out effect of all the tracks at 4:11 really needs to have its general levels checked because it gets louder do to the effects im using. Be careful here. Its really crazy, and goes into an all out of tune part. Just make sure levels are ok here.
The vocals starting at around 5:06 are very important and should stand out like a melody.
REMEMBER, if the bass isnt working, and you cant get it to sound right....let me know. I can hear the problems with it, but i would really like to get it to work. Its just where it bounces that it distorts a smidge. If you can clean that up somehow, it would be great.
USE YOUR ARTISTIC brain when working with this, i dont complain about a lot, and love it when changes are made.
As it is, levels are ALL messed up, cause I tried to drop everything so it wasnt clipping. Mix it to what sounds best. Remember that high hats are heard louder than everything due to their frequency, and can be brought way down. My speakers suck, and I had them up kind of loud i think.
Thanks!
Trip
Well thats it for today!
Peace!
FroBot
Listen to each track individually to make sure there are no mistakes or clips.
Be careful to check all reverb sizes to get them just right. You dont want room space sitting over a track where it is not needed. Bring that reverb size down to just the right amount for each track.
Make sure all your delays end exactly where you want them too. Solo the track and watch the bar meter, or listen to it with just the kick. May not be so noticeable now, but will be in the club.
Make sure all db levels of each track are below 0db to avoid clipping.
Make sure the master track is at least 3db below 0 avoid clips on the master track.
When exporting all individual tracks, make sure to use at least 24bit encoding. Also, wav files are better than aif...all mastering facilities work with wav.
When sending to a mastering company, to save time (and your money), makes sure to add a notes section about important things you want. Especially if they are going to be mixing and doing individual track equing. Also, toss in a couple of sample tracks from past songs or other artists tracks so they can get a good idea of what sound you are going for.
Be sure to notify them that this is going to be used in the club mostly so they know to listen to it LOUD when mixing and mastering. They also need to take care of frequencies at lower ranges like 50db since it will be played out of club speakers. If it was just for home listening, these ranges are not as important.
Zip all the files and send it off.
Here is what my NOTES section looks like that i sent to them -
NOTES FOR FROBOT - BE AFRAID
Side chain kick & bass please. Not a ton, but for a nice sound.
At the beginning, sample called GLITCH PING PONG has a raising reverb effect that may sound weird....i like it though. It was the effect i was going for.
All hits on track "BIG HIT" Should be loud and powerful
All high hats should be sitting at the right frequency. You can shift then if they are not and I didnt hear something right.
Please pan hats to a nice sound after eqed.
Synth that starts at 2:23 is a main melody, and should REALLY stand out at its own frequency
The other track called HIGH SYNTH that is played at the same time as this synth should only accent the other synth.
The sample called HARD DRUM that comes in at 3:15 should be nice and powerful and low.
The crazy dropping out effect of all the tracks at 4:11 really needs to have its general levels checked because it gets louder do to the effects im using. Be careful here. Its really crazy, and goes into an all out of tune part. Just make sure levels are ok here.
The vocals starting at around 5:06 are very important and should stand out like a melody.
REMEMBER, if the bass isnt working, and you cant get it to sound right....let me know. I can hear the problems with it, but i would really like to get it to work. Its just where it bounces that it distorts a smidge. If you can clean that up somehow, it would be great.
USE YOUR ARTISTIC brain when working with this, i dont complain about a lot, and love it when changes are made.
As it is, levels are ALL messed up, cause I tried to drop everything so it wasnt clipping. Mix it to what sounds best. Remember that high hats are heard louder than everything due to their frequency, and can be brought way down. My speakers suck, and I had them up kind of loud i think.
Thanks!
Trip
Well thats it for today!
Peace!
FroBot
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