I am a newbie to mixing and mastering. So, I am gonna ask some newbie question. May I know what is the difference between mixing and mastering? Specifically, what really is mastering? I am able to do some basic mixing on my own - using the EQ and Compressor effect of Sonitus, and doing some volume automation. May I know is it possible to do Mastering on Sonar X1 Producer? If yes, what built-in plug-ins or effects should I use in Sonar? Thanks.

If you're a newb, you got some stuff to learn. Suggest getting a few books:

Roey Izhaki - Mixing Audio
Bob Katz - Mastering Audio

Those two books will get you started. There is a lot to learn and getting right into some good books will help you a lot. Suggest the Roey one first as it's the most important.

In short, I'd explain it something like this:

Mixing - Volume balancing, panning and manipulation of individual and multiple tracks using techniques such as equalisation, compression, reverb and effects.

Mastering - process of doing a final balance check (is there too much bass or too little treble etc), arranging all the tracks on an album so it flows smoothly, and essentially preparing it for CD, including adjusting the final volume levels of the completed track.


It does get more detailed than that, but in essence, I believe that sums most of it up. That first book, Mixing Audio will give you a much better understanding. You won't regret that purchase, promise.

Thx matt. You really did give me a good answer. Now I know basically what is mastering. BTW, Roey Izhaki - Mixing Audio is a good book that comes with a DVD. I already have it... but need to find time to really go thru it. Thanks again :-)

Mixing, as the name implies, is mixing the relative balance of your individual tracks in volume and tone (through EQ, reverb etc).

Mastering - it helps to have a little history.  It is maximizing the benefits of going from one medium to another.  As an example, going from a 24 bit mixdown "master"to a 16 bit/44.1 sample rate copy for CD replication.  In the old days of vinyl, that medium couldn't reproduce the full range of tape.  Lots of bass or volume would bounce the needle out of the track, for example.  So they ran the tape output through things like the fairchild limiter to compress the volume and rolled off the bass eq with pultec eqs and such.  These are still used 40+ years later and you'll pay high dollar for them.

Like tracking and mixing, mastering turned from a science (the guys in white coats at Abbey Road) more into an art.  Bands recorded in different studios, with different people, and part of "mastering" became less of matching volumes between songs on an LP and making the entire production cohere.

Now days mastering is less of a final polish to a song or CD and more a matter of making it louder - AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE.  A little science sez that people prefer a song or sound slightly louder, and therefore it seems a good bet to make your song the loudest that will be heard.  Which is self defeating, since radios and TV have their own limters/compressor etc, so you are flatlining a flat line.  At home, it means reaching for your volume knob

As a practical matter for the home recordist, it means adding a final polish on your work, raising the overall level of a song and matching song volumes on a CD so your one ballad on your rock opus doesn't sound like you hit the dim button on a console and leave the listener scrambling for the volume remote.  Mix to -12 dB, or -6, or even -3 if you are rocking.  Buy SF studio ($50) and some mastering tools (Voxengo less than $100) or just use SONAR Producer's stuff to squeeze a few more dBs out of your songs and gentely put an EQ curve on all the songs.  Voila, mastered.

As you work you will get better (if you have any intelligence and/or talent).  But there is a reason people pay other people to master - it is a science, art and craft and some mastering engineers are better than others.  Phil York, who just died last week (won grammys- engineered Red Headed Stranger by Willie, for one) was a whiz with the TC Konnekt Finalizer.  It is considered passé today, but he would punch the buttons quick as a feather-weight fighter and as good of a master as one could expect would come out the other end.  You could give me and a million monkeys a room full of the finest analog equipment and it never would have sounded as good.  There is something to be said about spending your life learning to do something.

@

This is another one of those subjects that can get everyone's hairs standing on end. The professionals will argue, and quite rightly so, that Tracking, Mixing and Mastering are three totally different people, with different skill sets and totally different equipment.

I'll be the first to admit that my skills are limited. But I can't justify, or afford to spends lots of money on the three processes mentioned (the ones not mentioned being the song writing/composition/playing skills). I do, however, have an appreciation of what is required and I have read many articles on this general topic over the years, and I still refer to them from time to time.

As a hobbyist, I, like many others, do everything, from writing to publishing, and the end result usually (but not always) tells a sad tale. But we give it our best shot, and it brings joy into our lives.

Actually, I entered this topic thinking there would be blood and snot flying already so I am pleasantly surprised to read the replies above.

Thanks.

While reading the books from the masters is indeed a fine thing to do.....and I do highly recommend having one or two (or more) of the books in your library....

You can also find some interesting stuff at the Ozone 5 website. http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/
Get the demo and play with it.  Be sure to download the informational manuals as well. They are specific to O5 BUT... the stuff they teach is universal to mastering.

I do use and recommend Ozone but I also recommend learning what is happening to the music when you adjust something and more importantly....WHY you need to, or not need to make a specific adjustment. 

Of course most of us master our own songs.  As I said above, if you have SONAR Pro you have the tools to do it.  More tools can make it easier, but aren't necessary.  And most people can learn the chops to improve the mix, even if it isn't as polished as a pro.

That is one of the great things about where home recording is today, and where the art comes in.  develop your own style as you work, once you have a solid basis.  Reading up is as important as experimenting when begining, so you know if you are breaking rules and why.

AT


That is one of the great things about where home recording is today, and where the art comes in.  develop your own style as you work, once you have a solid basis.  Reading up is as important as experimenting when begining, so you know if you are breaking rules and why.

Absolutely.




I've not personally used X1 for mastering yet... got nothing to master yet.


When I was using 6PE, I would mix my final stereo WAV at 44.1hz/24bit and I would then open it up in Sound Forge and "master" it there. Sound Forge would load up all the same plugs as Sonar, so I would more than likely use the Sonitus effects. And Sound Forge already had an effects chain and I would save my favourite setups as presets.


Still getting to grips with X1

May I know is it possible to do Mastering on Sonar X1 Producer? If yes, what built-in plug-ins or effects should I use in Sonar? Thanks.

Sure, you can master with any plugin (FX) and any program as long as it gets you to where the song needs to be.