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Mastering a track
“First-hand experience when standardised into a knowledge
base, then divided into a curriculum to be imparted as training to the next
generation, is what we call a formal qualification.”
This
article is meant to assist the hardworking indie artist community with
mastering their own tracks. What is being shared here is based on my personal
experience that I gained through painstaking efforts that I put in, both
studying music as well as producing it. I do not write to show off my knowledge.
I rather want to make sure there’s a brilliant music producer living in every side
street of this world. Brilliant music will no longer be solely the property of big
labels only. In fact, as in Punjab where big labels have no big bigger
significance in music market than any self financing-producing musician, we are
going to kick big labels out everywhere. We re-writing the rule books here boy!
A. Purpose of mastering the track:
1. The
first and foremost reason (even if wrongly) happens to be the need to increase
the perceived volume of the track to the same or even better level than the
other songs being played by, say a radio station or a DJ.
2. To
make sure the music or sound is not clipping when played at high, or for that
matter, any volume. Clipping in layman’s terms would be an instance of the
recording sounding rough as if sound was breaking in a nasty way.
3. To
make sure various tracks making the mix are sounding perfectly in tune with each
other, and a component or two are not jumping out of the mix in a glaring
fashion, unless they are intended to be like that.
4. To
add some special effects which might not have been added to the song at any
other stage, like reverb, or in some cases even effects like flanging, resonators
etc, if it is being done for musical reasons (explained below).
B. Preparing the track for
mastering:
The
highest level to which volume for any sound can be raised is 0db (decibel). Any
volume above this level makes no difference to what we can hear, however it
distorts the sound by the way of clipping (breaking/splitting of voice). So the
questions is; how can two different songs when played using the same music
player and sound system set at same levels, sound different in their audible
volume?
The
answer to this puzzle can be best explained by using the example of an ice tray
we use to freeze cubes in our refrigerators. Let us assume that the sound
levels are basically compartments with 0 db representing the tray as a whole.
Now we can fill some of these compartments which would mean volume levels less
than 0db, or we can fill all the compartments, which would mean a volume level
of 0db. But filling all the compartments is not the same as filling them to the
brim. We may just fill them all partially, in which case, in spite of us
getting cubes out of all the compartments, the total volume of ice generated
will still not be huge. Alternately, we can fill them all up to the brim, and
the ice we will get out of them will be huge compared to the earlier instance.
Same is true for the sound levels. Two songs set at 0db may not have equal
levels of volume for one of them might have more sound saturation per db. This
is what we do when we use a limiter, the global volume level wars, that is.
Now
it is prudent to mention here, no matter how much water we try to pour on to
the tray, once all its’ compartments are full, the rest is only going to end up
getting splattered all over the place and serve us no purpose. Same is true of
raising the volume levels above 0db. We won’t hear any difference, except for
the degradation of the sound quality, which might be intentional only on a rare
occasion when you are looking for a certain sound effect, like I was when I
used the gun shot sound in my latest song “You wanna love me”. The distortion
made the synthesizer generated sound feel authentic and gave it a quality way
different than what any actual sample might have given me.
So
before you sit down to master your record, the first thing you need to do is to
find out the levels at which the individual tracks in your mix are peaking. You
will need to use a level indicator plug-in, which in most cases comes in-built
with professional DAWs. I use Ableton Live 8 for my productions, and all I do is
switch to the sessions view and drag it’s levels indicator window ceiling high
enough to reveal its’ full stretch. Just above the level indicator, in a box,
when I play the mix, the level indicators of each track show the maximum value
hit by the individual track volumes. Thus I know which tracks are hitting above
the 0db level.
The
next step is to find out the track which jumps the most above the 0db level and
how much it does. Let us say for example, 5db. Then you lower each and every
track of your mix individually by 5db levels. Try the entire process again and
keep repeating until each one of your track is below 0db level. If the mix is
sounding fainter don’t worry, for limiting will increase the volume way above
the original level, and without distortion. By the time you will get the most
errant sound under 0db level, the others’ will be way below 0db level, giving
you ample headspace to master the track. All tracks are lowered by the same
level so as to preserve the sound that you had originally created. Now make
sure the most errant sound is getting close to 0db only on an occasion or two,
and that to for a brief point. It should be consistently below 0db by at least
2dbs for it to be mastered well. Else, drop down the levels of all the tracks
by another 2db. Once you are done with this, your track is now ready to be
mastered.
Yes,
there can be exceptions to this rule. In my track “I will never do” from my
debut album “I’m Fine”, I didn’t use a limiter to enhance the volume. Rather I
used a utility to increase the volume, and the very tiny bit of distortion that
I could hear at a few places, sounded much better than what the song sounded
after I properly mastered it. The properly mastered version actually sounded
dull than the other. But this is just one exception. And the reason I say it is
just one exception is; for my latest song “You wanna love me”, the first single
from my second album “Ferocious by instinct”, the only mastering I’ve done is
using a limiter with a ceiling set at -0.30db and “No gain” at all. The
decision was taken after I had properly mastered it the way I am going to
explain here, simply because it sounded way better without mastering, even
though the mastered version was way-way louder than the version I released. But
what worth is loudness if the essence of the music is lost? Besides, even the
non-mastered version for this song sounds as loud as most of the mainstream
stuff, effectively removing any need for me to alter the sound. The sounds,
whichever and wherever they clip, they enhance the feel of the song, and it is
just a case of a beat here or there, far and wide. And just to give you one
more example from my works, I intentionally didn’t drop the chorus levels in
“Please don’t leave my side” even though I could hear them clip. That trashy
sound gives it that “Rock” feeling which raises the chorus to another level,
and “Please don’t leave my side” is effectively a “Rap meets Rock” song.
So
how you will master a particular track will totally be determined by how you
want your music to sound like. There are no hard and fast rules. Even this
write-up is just another reference point which might assist you somewhere down
the line, and not a rule book. So let’s get on with it!
C. Plug-ins that you will
most likely use:
There
are three basic plug-ins that you will need most of the time for mastering,
namely the compressor, Equalizer and limiter. Reverb and multiband dynamics can
be used on occasions, but like most other plug-ins their requirement will be
governed by what you intend to achieve by using those plug-ins. So let me first
delve into the three you will most likely use.
1. Compressor:
A very slight compression with a very slow attack and release will mix the
sounds better, and also add volume to the song. The only other reason to use a
compressor when mastering is to either mix the sounds that are jumping out of
the mix brazenly, with the rest of the mix, or to compress those fainter sounds
that give the spice to the mix every now and then but are getting lost in
between other heavier or louder sounds (and there is no way to raise their
levels without distorting their character that you so liked that you put them
in, and no hope with side-chaining). In the first case you will keep the
threshold high and in the second you will keep it low, both cases with minimal
compression and a slight knee. The idea is not to crush the sounds but to
gently alter them. Any extravagant compression will distort the sound in a way
not good musically most of the time. Also, in first case the attack will
generally be quick to capture the peak, and release slow to keep it under check
before its’ level automatically falls to your liking. In the later case the
attack will be slow, just to capture the fading ends; and release will be quick
to allow it to fade out in a natural way. However like everything else about
mastering, this is not a hard and fast rule. Your ear is the best guide.
2. Equalizer:
Normally you wouldn’t need to raise any of the lower or higher end frequencies
at this stage for you would have already levelled them off sweetly with respect
to other sounds. In case you feel it doesn’t have the punch in the baseline,
you can raise a few db in the lower end, but keep in mind this will muddy the
low end, and the result will most likely feel heavy on ears. And in case you
raise higher end to increase the trashiness, the final result will be jarring.
This happens because when you equalize a final mix, you are not altering just
the quality of one sound that you wish was higher or lower in level, but every
other sound which has a similar frequency range. However you will notice, most
of the time the sounds we work on are either towards the lower end of frequency
table (drums, bass, sax, piano, male vocals etc), or towards the higher end
(cymbals, synthesizers, percussion etc). Hence, most likely so far you would
have heavily equalized those frequency ranges in the mix. Mastering is a good
time to raise that mid-range of the song, and you can do it liberally, using
your ear as a guide. Without a healthy mid-range your mix will more than likely
sound lifeless, unless it is a house track with plenty of reverb and echo going
on. Hence equalizing for the mid-range is a good idea. But final decision
should be determined by your ear, how it all sounds to you and is it really how
you want it to be.
3. Limiter:
The most important use of limiter is to make sure your final result does not
clip by going overboard (that is, 0db). However an equally important function
it serves is to make your song sound louder. A limiter with a basic ceiling
setting of -0.30db will serve the first purpose, and depending upon how much
you had lowered the levels of the sounds earlier, the gain you can add using
this limiter will serve the second function. Don’t be surprised if for a 5db
cut you made to the levels earlier, you are now able to give it a 13db gain.
The best part is; the sound will not just be loud without clipping, but also
fuller. To explain how limiter works and why we need to lower the levels prior
to mastering, let us revisit the ice-tray example. Every plug-in you will add
to your mastering chain, be it compressor or equalizer, they all add substance
to the volume. Now if you start with a tray already full to the brim, whatever
a plug-in like equalizer will add will spill over as waste, or a plug-in like
compressor will try to squeeze is would be the dirt laden already over-flown
water, which will simply not stay in the tray and will leave dirt (distortion)
inside the previously clear tray water. By lowering the levels prior to
mastering, you are basically emptying a few compartments in the tray so that
the effects being added by the plug-ins (which is why we are using the plug-ins
in the first place), they will only spill over into the empty compartments
without loss of quality. And then when you will raise the gain levels of the
limiter, those compartments will get saturated, and you will get the best
quantity and quality of ice (sound). Of course, as I mentioned in case of
exceptions above, you may already be satisfied with the quality and quantity of
the water your ice-tray already holds, in which case all these plug-ins,
including limiter, will not be needed. The final call is made by your ear and
musical intentions.
D. Other plug-ins:
Let
us now discuss some other plug-ins which might find possible use, or perhaps
can be avoided.
1. Gate:
Almost never (99.9% times). If you feel the need to use a gate at the mastering
stage, something is terribly wrong with one of your individual tracks and you
should fix that, rather than fix the master. A gate will adversely affect the
quality of sounds that fade in or out. A slowly rising or fading sound behind
the shadow of a brimming mix will not be altered by gating anyway thus
rendering its’ use worthless. On the other hand, an amazing soft sound starting
after a silence, or a brilliant sound fading into the next drop, will either be
chopped into an abrupt beginning, or will be cut short by the gate as soon as
its’ levels drop below the gating level, leaving a uncomfortable rest/silence between
the previous or the next bar. It’s true that 99.9% of listeners will not notice
the anomaly whether they are in club, car or home, but if the musician in you
is a perfectionist like me, then it won’t let you sleep at night. And if you
are going to keep the gating levels too low, or release time so slow so as to
let anything in, why the heck use it in the first place?
2. Filter:
What for? If there is a sound you don’t like, negotiate it at the individual
track level. Chopping anything below or above a certain frequency at the mastering
level effects every other sound that works at the same or similar frequency. If
you still insist on chopping the low end rumble for your mix is muddy, then you
better sort out your sub-bass, kick, baseline, and low frequency instruments
individually. Equalize their low ends to separate the different sounds. Same is
the case if your high end is sounding too shrill. The only time you really will
need to use a filter is when you have used too many trashy high frequency
sounds in your mix, so as to protect your ears, and those of your listeners.
3. Reverb:
Reverb can be used to enhance the overall effect of the mix in case of certain
genres like house and trance. Its’ only other use is to make a harsh sounding
track softer, or a mix which is sounding lifeless (as if vocals or music was
recorded in a room with perfect echo absorption, giving you lifeless results)
by giving it a bit of depth and fullness. In old day when musicians were
recorded live in sound proof booths, the mixes needed addition of reverb at
mastering stage. Now you can do the same with individual tracks. If you have to
use reverb at mastering stage, know that even a 5% wet level will give a
prominent effect to sound. Besides Reverb tends to muddy up the sounds that
fade into or out of silence, thanks to the echo which adds its’ volume into
those sounds. Final call, as is the case everywhere else in mastering, is made
by your ear and musical intentions.
4. Multiband
dynamics: The only time you will use this is to
make the low end sound muddier, or the vocals and music sound trashy. It will
have very limited use for most tracks, and your mix will more than likely be
better off without it. However, if your vocals and music are not gelling
together (in which case the issue is between the singing scale and the
composition scale, or could be just a matter of few notes here and there),
multiband dynamics can help gel the overall sound of the mix together. This is
generally achieved by mudding the low end very slightly, reducing the mid range
a bit more, but accentuating the high range in a prominent fashion, so that the
overall sound of the song is way trashier than without the use of this plug-in.
5. All
other plug-ins: Chorus, flanger, delays,
resonators etc have no use in mastering as such, but can all be used to give
special effects (with the use of automation of course), but it will only be
exceptional cases where such effects would be musically desired. Experiment,
yes you can!
In
the end all I can say is; your ear is your true guide. There is no such thing
as an “Absolute Mastering Chain” that you could use for every song.
Experimentation will help you learn more
E.
Lastly,
something totally irrelevant to this topic:
Those
of you who read my blogs regularly (they appear both on my personal website, as
well as my Google Blogspot handle at the same time), you will know how I have
been trying to make the scientific community realize that “Time” is not another
dimension or an inherent characteristic of the objects in physical realm.
Rather, it is just a mathematical constant whose value when used additively
describes how quick or slow a certain process or activity was. Now let me take
this knowledge a step further and provide a key to the puzzle of space travel.
The
biggest problem with travelling to other worlds is the distance that lies
between. Spacecraft technology and fuel issues aside, the biggest problem is;
how can a traveller travel to stars or planets millions of miles away without
ageing, and on minimal oxygen, water, food and loo requirements? Even if we are
able to travel in time, it won’t help us travel through space, however, the
solution to this problem was never related to time.
The
point to be noted here is, “Time only measures the speed of processes, and does
not alter them. We can alter them!”
So
if we can find out a way to slow down all the biologically processes in living
beings without killing them, we can travel indefinitely in space without ageing
(for in the absence of gravity in space, physical body will not degenerate).
Now all we will need will be an automated space craft, or an automation to wake
up people to take turns at minding the craft in travel.
We
cannot alter the speed of time, but we sure can alter the speed of processes.
Elementary my dear friends!
Fatal
Urge Carefree Kiss “Amanpreet Singh Rai”
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