If you want your songs mastered for free, click this.

Freebase Dali · 05-24-2013, 08:25 PM

Basically, I've gotten to the point where I can't be bothered to make my own music on a regular basis anymore. I just don't have the time or motivation to stick with it constantly after all these years. However, I still love working with music. For the past several years, I've been getting into the more technical side of music. The mixing aspect. The mastering aspect.
I've accrued a lot of knowledge, however, my experience has mostly been on my own material, which offers very little actual outside perspective in terms of what is considered an improvement.

Think about it. If you're making your own music, and mixing it, and mastering it, you're subject to your own opinion and your own listening limitations. It's why people farm their music out to professionals to give it that shine that they couldn't.

In that regard, I want to not only give an opportunity to those of you who make your own music, but an opportunity to myself. I want to gain more experience working with other people's music rather than my own. The benefit of this is two-fold. One, like I said, I gain more experience, and two, you might end up with a song you made that sounds better than before, for free.

I will tell you this now, I own a relatively modest home studio. I do have a very expensive audio interface, studio quality monitors, great plugins, a reasonably treated listening environment and an experienced ear... but I am by no means attempting to correlate my skills with the best in the business. But I may be of some use to those of you who are interested in hearing your own music in a different light, for free. No strings attached. Just me exercising my interest, and you possibly getting something out of it.

So. I say all that to say, if you want to give me a crack at it, upload the highest quality version of your song and shoot me a link in PM. If you can send a 24 bit WAV, you will be doing both of us a favor. Just don't upconvert an MP3 to WAV just because it will be in WAV format, as that will be defeating the purpose. Send the highest quality version you have.

Also, please realize that although Myth Busters "proved" you can actually polish a turd, the saying isn't meant to be literal. If you have a song that sounds like pure crap, I can't remove that. I can only accentuate the positive aspects, and maybe tone down the negatives a bit. If you recorded the vocals inside of a toilet, I can't really take the toilet sound out. Not from a single stereo file.
But if your source material is good, I can do a lot with that.

Which brings me to my next point...
If you have the stems of your song, I can mix them for you. Meaning, if you have guitars, drums, vocals, bass, percussion, etc... all as separate files, I can effect and mix them individually, if need be. If you feel this is a better option for you, then by all means.

Finally, if you're afraid of me stealing your music, do not be. I've been here for years, everyone knows me, and I'm pretty sure I'm far too lazy to actually go through an intellectual property violation lawsuit.
Anyway. I need the exercise. Test me out on something you don't really care about if you want. I will do what I can, given the quality of what you give me.

Looking forward to it!
J.

Edit:
- This is important. If you send me an audio track where the level is exceeding 0 db on your meters, there is no hope. In your music program, bring down the levels of each of your elements so that the levels on the master channel are not hitting at or above 0db. In fact, I would recommend that they don't hit anything higher than -6db on the master channel. This will give me enough headroom to work the magic.
But please do also understand that even plugins can be overdriven. Try to keep your gain staging, aka the level of your signal all the way from the source, through all the plugins and channels and finally to your master channel, at a reasonable level. Individually, this can be lower than -6. Should be. Because when everything sums up at the master channel, it's additive. So control your levels from the source out. This will help IMMENSELY.

Of course, I can still try to fix things if you're beyond that point. I just wanted to make that point, as compliance will yield far better results.

WWWP · 05-24-2013, 08:36 PM

I will absolutely take advantage of this soonish.

Freebase Dali · 05-24-2013, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolverinewolfweiselpigeon

I will absolutely take advantage of this soonish.

Can't wait!

I solicited an old friend for one of his tunes for me to master for free. He just sent it over and I was all primed and ready to go, but his song was clipping SO MUCH that I had to advise him to take off all processing on the master bus and bring his levels down on the individual tracks. (that reminds me of something I should include in the OP)

As a result, I contracted audio engineer blue-balls.

Powerstars · 05-24-2013, 10:38 PM

Cool, I might try this. Do you add extra effects/accompaniment? If not I still wanna try.

Freebase Dali · 05-25-2013, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Powerstars

Cool, I might try this. Do you add extra effects/accompaniment? If not I still wanna try.

I can, but generally I'd only do so if it really needed it or was requested. I wouldn't go too far with it because that's more in the production realm, and that's what I'm trying to get away from for a while.

Powerstars · 05-25-2013, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

I can, but generally I'd only do so if it really needed it or was requested. I wouldn't go too far with it because that's more in the production realm, and that's what I'm trying to get away from for a while.

Alright, I understand. I might hold off on recording my song anyways, because my mic corrupts bits and pieces of the audio.

Freebase Dali · 05-26-2013, 04:51 PM

2 Satisfied customers so far.
Who's next?

Freebase Dali · 05-26-2013, 04:59 PM

Also, please don't worry about crediting me if you include your song in a release. I'm just doing this for fun and I'd prefer to have control over what I am linked to at this point.

Surell · 05-27-2013, 12:23 AM

I have some mastering software via Fruity Loops but it confuses me and makes me feel powerless, which is a bummer. I think I will try this out.

Freebase Dali · 05-27-2013, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surell

I have some mastering software via Fruity Loops but it confuses me and makes me feel powerless, which is a bummer. I think I will try this out.

Check PM.
Let me know if you want something changed.

Anyone else?

05-24-2013, 08:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	If you want your songs mastered for free, click this. Basically, I've gotten to the point where I can't be bothered to make my own music on a regular basis anymore. I just don't have the time or motivation to stick with it constantly after all these years. However, I still love working with music. For the past several years, I've been getting into the more technical side of music. The mixing aspect. The mastering aspect. I've accrued a lot of knowledge, however, my experience has mostly been on my own material, which offers very little actual outside perspective in terms of what is considered an improvement. Think about it. If you're making your own music, and mixing it, and mastering it, you're subject to your own opinion and your own listening limitations. It's why people farm their music out to professionals to give it that shine that they couldn't. In that regard, I want to not only give an opportunity to those of you who make your own music, but an opportunity to myself. I want to gain more experience working with other people's music rather than my own. The benefit of this is two-fold. One, like I said, I gain more experience, and two, you might end up with a song you made that sounds better than before, for free. I will tell you this now, I own a relatively modest home studio. I do have a very expensive audio interface, studio quality monitors, great plugins, a reasonably treated listening environment and an experienced ear... but I am by no means attempting to correlate my skills with the best in the business. But I may be of some use to those of you who are interested in hearing your own music in a different light, for free. No strings attached. Just me exercising my interest, and you possibly getting something out of it. So. I say all that to say, if you want to give me a crack at it, upload the highest quality version of your song and shoot me a link in PM. If you can send a 24 bit WAV, you will be doing both of us a favor. Just don't upconvert an MP3 to WAV just because it will be in WAV format, as that will be defeating the purpose. Send the highest quality version you have. Also, please realize that although Myth Busters "proved" you can actually polish a turd, the saying isn't meant to be literal. If you have a song that sounds like pure crap, I can't remove that. I can only accentuate the positive aspects, and maybe tone down the negatives a bit. If you recorded the vocals inside of a toilet, I can't really take the toilet sound out. Not from a single stereo file. But if your source material is good, I can do a lot with that. Which brings me to my next point... If you have the stems of your song, I can mix them for you. Meaning, if you have guitars, drums, vocals, bass, percussion, etc... all as separate files, I can effect and mix them individually, if need be. If you feel this is a better option for you, then by all means. Finally, if you're afraid of me stealing your music, do not be. I've been here for years, everyone knows me, and I'm pretty sure I'm far too lazy to actually go through an intellectual property violation lawsuit. Anyway. I need the exercise. Test me out on something you don't really care about if you want. I will do what I can, given the quality of what you give me. Looking forward to it! J. Edit: - This is important. If you send me an audio track where the level is exceeding 0 db on your meters, there is no hope. In your music program, bring down the levels of each of your elements so that the levels on the master channel are not hitting at or above 0db. In fact, I would recommend that they don't hit anything higher than -6db on the master channel. This will give me enough headroom to work the magic. But please do also understand that even plugins can be overdriven. Try to keep your gain staging, aka the level of your signal all the way from the source, through all the plugins and channels and finally to your master channel, at a reasonable level. Individually, this can be lower than -6. Should be. Because when everything sums up at the master channel, it's additive. So control your levels from the source out. This will help IMMENSELY. Of course, I can still try to fix things if you're beyond that point. I just wanted to make that point, as compliance will yield far better results. __________________

05-24-2013, 10:38 PM	#4 (permalink)
Powerstars Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 450	Cool, I might try this. Do you add extra effects/accompaniment? If not I still wanna try. __________________ Last.Fm My New Journal Favorite Album Of The Moment: They Might Be Giants - Glean

05-26-2013, 04:51 PM	#7 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	2 Satisfied customers so far. Who's next? __________________

05-26-2013, 04:59 PM	#8 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	Also, please don't worry about crediting me if you include your song in a release. I'm just doing this for fun and I'd prefer to have control over what I am linked to at this point. __________________