An excellent procedural article for post tracking
Originally posted by Steve D and possibly the most straightforward procedural article I've seen for the post tracking process I have seen on these or other forums in my experience. It's excellent reading and while it does not deal with the media dependent technical details of the mastering process (media considerations, output targets, ISRC, PQ, delivery formats etc)- it DOES deal with the most important single part of the process which is the sound of what will go to that end product you will put into the hands of your public at the end. Truly fine reading and the very best practice scenarios in real world procedure. In my experience, the DAW and the mastering plugins work much better on a stereo file than they do on the multi-track 2 bus. However, as I near what I think is completion of the mixing process, I will place a mastering chain on the 2 bus... just to see what my mix might sound like mastered. This saves a lot of time as reverb will swell, and vocals come forward, and drums and bass can get buried. It's easy to by-pass the effects on the 2 buss and make corrections in the mix and then try again.
Once I'm ready to master, I bounce the unmastered mix to a new stereo track in the same project. Remember... RMS around -18.0dBFS and peaks around -6.0dBFS. That's a good mix for mastering. If that's not loud enough for you while mixing... turn up your speakers.
Next I save the whole project into the same folder with a "-Master" extension like so "MyProjectxx-Master" where xx = the sequence number of the project saves I've done.
Next, after verifying that I'm in the -Master project name I delete all tracks and buses except for the master bus and the stereo mixdown track.
I place all mastering plugins on the insert effects bin of the stereo mix and leave the master bus at unity gain (0.0dBFS).
I may route the mix out for hardware processing and back in again on a new stereo track. I have a couple high-end analog compressors, EQs, and limiters... but I usually throw the UAD-1 Precision Limiter on as the last step even here... just to catch any pesky overs... but it's really not showing any activity when I work this way. This is time consuming because the whole song must be re-recorded back into Sonar in real time... but you can monitor (if you're set up that way) what the hardware is doing as you make adjustments. Again, you need great converters and great outboard gear for this to be worth the trip to analog and back.
The master is limited to -0.3dBFS. Not all playback meters are created equal and the 0.3db of headroom is virtually inaudible and protects against intersample peaks that can slip by Sonar's or CD Architect's meters. Just another mastering safety tip. This is recommended by Bob Katz and the Waves L2 manual.
Playback, listen, tweak, playback, listen, tweak, playback, listen, tweak...
If I'm staying in the box, I'll bounce the mastered mix to a new track to listen, and inspect the resulting wave form. If it's crushed or getting a crew cut, not only does it sound that way, but it looks that way too.
I'm able to check this mix on several speaker systems instantly with the push of a button... right out of Sonar.
Once I'm happy, I burn a reference CD at high-speed and check it on the living room hi-fi, in the car, and on a boogie box. Amazingly, my laptop with earbuds provides incredible insight into the translation of the mastered mix.
Finishing touches and tweaks in Sonar and repeat.
Export the mastered mix at 44.1/16 using Sonar's excellent SRC and POW-r dither and create a project of all the songs on the CD in CD Architect.
Check for leveling and continuity, arrange song order, and adjust pause lengths.
Back and forth to Sonar for mix and master corrections. Notice this is the only time I've had to leave Sonar. But by this time, it's quick and easy to make a correction, usually just for leveling between songs. If the name and start/end times of the exported master from Sonar haven't changed, the new version just appears in CD Architect in place of the old one. Very cool.
I "drop the needle" through the album to make sure it really sounds like it all belongs on the same CD.
When I'm done and I've got an album, I burn a PMCD in CD Architect at 4x speed and use Plextools Professional to inspect the CD for errors.
If I'm not happy... burn another... 'til I am. I don't need a duplication plant to tell me it will kick out. I can see that for myself.
Label the PMCD as such and "DO NOT PLAY"... and send it off with the track sheet and PQ details which can be exported to a file and/or printed right out of CD Architect and sent to the plant.
Again... Sonar is just the host. The mastering is in the experience and understanding of the engineer and the tools that are used in the process.
This can be done in Sonar. The rest is not so easy. It takes years to learn and the correct tools are not cheap.
Again... even though what I offer sounds great... I'm not a master house, don't have their gear, and I'm not an ME. Any demo or commercial release will benefit greatly from using a qualified reputable mastering facility for their project.
Hope this is helpful.
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SteveD
www.DawPro.com