I figure I'll occasionally help some of the new jacks out and post up some tips to get ya'll mixes sounding a lil better.

For starters, when making your final pre-master mix, assuming you're recording digitally (into a computer), the best rule of thumb is to export you're final mix with LOTS of headroom. This way the mastering engineer has more "volume space" to work with. You may need some eq, and you'll definitely need some compression to make ur final mix "louder" and commercial release ready.

I suggest having your final mix peak no higher than -12db on the master level meter. If anything is lacking in eq/effects, and finally compression, these should be added in the final master of the song. So give your mastering engineer some room to do his job.

As a sidenote, also make sure that your channel faders are NEVER higher than your master channel fader. For example, if your master channel fader is set to -4db, NONE of your individual track faders or bus faders should be higher than -5db, and personally I think THAT'S too close. I can't explain why this is a classic rule of thumb other than headroom/bandwidth issues, but IT IS. Believe that, and make adjustments. Trust me you'll hear the difference.

That's all for this one ya'll. Hope it helps you out.



R = out.

Labels: Raze, Raze's Engineering Tips