Mixing in your bedroom for mastering? — mystery, solved!
I’ve had a number of bedroom musicians and garage bands on tight or no budget asking me to master their tracks, EP’s or albums. They’ve recorded a bunch of tracks on their portable digital recorder, transferred them to their DAW and have attempted to mix their songs. Everyone of these musicians and bands are obviously different in sound and style but all of them share one thing and that is a varying degree of confusion when it comes to mixing with mastering in mind.
So in an attempt to make this subject somewhat clearer, I have compiled sort of a checklist that you are welcome to use. This list was created with how I master in my studio in mind so certain things like, for instance, keeping files at 44.1/16, is specific to me and what I do. Others may prefer 48/24. I am not there yet and besides, most music ends up as a lowly 128 kbps mpg anyway so I am not really seeing the point of 24 bit for me at this time. All that is beside the point and you can call me old fashioned, if you like.
(This point is obviously controversial at best and it sparked a bunch of back and forth about whether I believe 24 bit is no better than 16 bit! I am not in ANY way saying that. This post is for the bedroom musician who record on an 8 track like the very popular Tascam DP-008 or something similar that is 16 bit! If you can record in 44.1/24 or even 48/24, by all means please do! You spent the money and YOU earned it! It IS of course better and has more definition. Your audio will STILL end up as a 44.1/16 wav and from there most likely to a 128 kbps mp3 (Did I mention that Bandcamp offers wav and 320 kbps mp3 downloads to their listeners?) However, if you are on a budget and you have a choice, think about who your audience is and what platforms they are listening to! AND, if you ARE a lucky bastard and you happen to be recording a string quartet at 96/24 in perfect conditions with absolutely zero background noise (like in space) and $12 K microphones from Germany, why indeed would you even consider mixing at anything less? Your master will still end up 44.1/16!
Here are a few interesting points on the subject! Also, I think that this article is a fun read!)
Anyway, back to the checklist. Now, this is off the top of my head so feel free to comment if you find something missing or something that just doesn’t make sense to you. Just because I see this as pure logic, doesn’t necessarily make it so! Ok here goes nothing:
Mixing for mastering in your bedroom DAW — checklist
· Keep individual tracks at or below -6 db peaks input to avoid clipping!
(Yes I am aware of the fact that you CAN push 24 bit higher without clipping! Why would you want to? The S/N ratio is already a million times better in a digital recording! Yes, I know! That then becomes a question of dynamic range. Ok, your final master will have a dynamic range of about 10 db on a good day! The headroom in your recording, whether it is 44.1/16 or 44.1/24 at -6 db, far exceeds that! You’ll live, trust me!)
· Avoid heavy compression on instruments with attack like drums or acoustic rhythm guitar tracks. You can and should use compression but be very gentle. Less is more. Generally, compression should be used with caution but then again, I also like to compress the crap out of my distorted guitar knowing full well that this will affect the overall dynamic range of the song. However, expression and sound sometimes weighs more and I am complicated like that.
A note about reverb. Consider de-essing reverb. It is incredibly difficult to remove harshness out of a stereo mix if the harshness is contained in a blanket reverb. It is a simple thing to do and it keeps me from tearing out my hair!
· Keep master channel fader at 0 db
· Final master channel output mix should not exceed -12 db RMS and max -6 db PEAK! Mix according to that! Since the bass drum usually is the loudest, use it as an anchor and build the mix around it. Be aware of the fact that a bass on top of the bass drum adds around 3 db in the mix! There is a really nice trick on how to balance bass drum and bass in a mix right here!
· Master channel should not have any plugins active. Especially compression, EQ or any kind of enhancer. Better to keep the master channel completely clear. Having said that, if you feel comfortable working with a simple EQ, a subtle instance of that, will not have any adverse effect on the master.
· Leave 2 seconds of silence before and after the track
· Do not fade in or out. If you need it faded, tell me where you want it to start and how long you want it!
· Indicate artist/band name and collaborators
· Indicate time signature and tempo at delivery
· Render to 44.1/16 wav without dithering! If you recorded in 44.1/24 or 48/24 or 32 bit float, render out a wav in that resolution with triangular dither ONCE! Double check that external plugins anywhere in your mix that offer dithering have that function turned OFF!
This subject also struck a nerve so I’ve edited this bit slightly but the essence is the same! Read about dithering here!
(Added June 22nd 2016: Ian Shepherd just emailed me a link to this video! Thanks, Ian!)
That concludes the list. Not very mysterious, is it?
If you stick to this, you will end up with a master that is competitive without being crushed to death.
A few final thoughts on this:
Don’t upload tracks for mastering until you are ABSOLUTELY sure that your tracks are done and finished and edited and checked and checked and checked! Don’t rush. Mix, listen, sleep on it and listen again. Keep doing that until you don’t feel the need to adjust any more. Then and only then, can you upload your single track, EP or album into one folder with a document indicating the sequence.
If you are mixing an album or an EP, mix each individual track as you think it should sound and don’t worry too much about uniformity. After all, that would be part of my job. Having said that, if you have a common practice or a red thread throughout your songs, that will help the result become uniform and pleasant to listen to.
Have fun!
If you would like to know what the deal is, email me at: wavemasteringus@gmail.com
