Home Studio Mastering

Description

Home Studio Mastering is a step-by-step manual that gives you all the tools to professionally master your music yourself. It demystifies the subject in a hands-on way for those working in a home studio and provides comprehensive guidance, from buying equipment and applying acoustical treatment, to using different audio applications and mastering plug-ins. The book is accompanied by five mastering plug-ins (VST/AU/AAX for Mac and PC), to facilitate your personal mastering sessions from start to finish. Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Part I Setting Up Your Home Studio......Page 14 1.1 Can you Master Your Music in a Home Studio?......Page 16 1.2 What is Mastering?......Page 18 1.3 A Bit of History......Page 21 1.4 Managing Expectations......Page 24 2.1 Make Smart Choices......Page 28 2.2 Room Characteristics......Page 29 2.3 Arrangement......Page 32 2.4 Don’t Panic Please......Page 34 3.1 Common Acoustic Problems......Page 36 3.2 Acoustic Treatment......Page 37 3.3 Standing Waves......Page 40 3.4 Comb Filtering......Page 43 3.5 Flutter Echo......Page 45 3.6 Reverberance......Page 47 4.1 A Basic Digital Setup......Page 50 4.2 Computers......Page 51 4.3 Audio Interfaces......Page 53 4.4 Monitor Sets......Page 55 4.5 Headphones......Page 57 5.1 Audio Editor or Sequencer?......Page 60 5.3 Restoration......Page 62 5.4 Tonal Balance......Page 64 5.5 Width and Depth......Page 67 5.6 Dynamics......Page 69 5.7 Loudness......Page 71 6.1 Evaluating Your Setup......Page 74 6.2 Choosing Reference Tracks......Page 77 6.3 The Art of Listening......Page 78 6.4 General Workflow......Page 80 Part II Home Studio Mastering Techniques......Page 84 7.1 Finalizing Your Mix......Page 86 7.2 Choosing Samplerate and Bitdepth......Page 88 7.3 Setting Output Volume and Headroom......Page 91 7.4 Checking Mono Compatibility......Page 93 7.5 Checking Render Section and Fades......Page 94 7.6 Setting up Your Mastering Project......Page 95 8.1 Removing DC Offset and Unwanted Noises......Page 98 8.2 DC Offset......Page 99 8.4 Noise and Hiss......Page 101 8.5 Clicks and Crackles......Page 103 8.6 Sibilance and Plosives......Page 105 9.1 Frequency Distribution......Page 110 9.2 Frequency Analysis......Page 113 9.3 Mastering Equalization Basics......Page 115 9.4 Optimizing Tonal Balance......Page 118 9.5 Low End Control......Page 119 9.6 Corrections and Improvements......Page 121 9.7 Match Your Tracks......Page 122 9.8 Enhance Overall Timbre......Page 124 10.1 Stereo Image and Reverberation......Page 128 10.2 Stereo Imaging Techniques......Page 130 10.3 Narrowing the Low End......Page 131 10.4 Overall Mid-Side Stereo Enhancement......Page 133 10.5 Reverberation Techniques......Page 134 10.6 Algorithmic Reverb......Page 136 10.7 Convolution Reverb......Page 139 11.1 Dynamic Range and Crest Factor......Page 142 11.2 Mastering Compression Basics......Page 144 11.3 Optimizing Dynamics......Page 148 11.4 Compression for Punch and Impact......Page 149 11.5 Compression for Balance and Glue......Page 151 11.6 Multi-Band Compression and Dynamic Equalization......Page 154 12.1 Track Order and Individual Volume......Page 156 12.2 Maximizing Loudness......Page 159 12.3 Loudness by Equalization......Page 161 12.4 Loudness by Compression......Page 163 12.5 Loudness by Brickwall Limiting......Page 165 13.1 Housekeeping......Page 170 13.2 Rendering Your Tracks......Page 171 13.3 Creating a CD-Montage......Page 173 13.4 Creating a Master-CD or DDP-File......Page 176 Part III One Hour Mastering Workshop......Page 178 Download the Mastering Bundle......Page 180 The Plug-Ins and 5-Step Workflow......Page 181 Prepare Your Mastering Session......Page 183 Step 1: Monomizer......Page 184 Step 2: Equalizer......Page 188 Step 3: Compressor......Page 193 Step 4: Convolver......Page 197 Step 5: Limiter......Page 200 In Conclusion......Page 203 Appendix A—Mastering Dictionary......Page 206 Index......Page 222