Roland Clan Forums

hey guys. I create lots of music tracks on my Fantom X7 which is a phenomenal machine!!! A real top of the range songwriting and composing tool! What I would like to ask is...when a track has been final mixed and I like what I hear....how do I get the best out of the Mastering tool.

I find when I bring the mastering tool up, I'm never really sure what I'm supposed to be doing? (I know what mastering means in terms of putting the finishing touches via fx, xliders and knobs) but I have no real experience in the "engineering" side of things, so, being a bit of a techno newbie I generally am scared to death to touch anything in case I mess up the sound!
I've used "normalisation" to bring up all the levels but not on the fantom. So, any hints or tips guys....very much appreciate the passing on of all your knowledge. Thank you.

Hi James,

Here's a link to an excellent site on "all things recording".
It's not in any way Fantom specific but hopefully it might shed some light on a few basic principles you'll need to understand.

http://www.tweakheadz.com/mastering_your_audio.htm

Remember that sometimes the best way to learn how to swim is just to jump in !
What's the worst that can happen ?
Oh yeh........ok not a great example of an encouraging saying but you get the idea


Cheers

Doc
Australia

Before just rummaging around in the Fantom, you should do a little light reading on the topic. There's tonnes of articles on mastering on the net. You may find if your mixes sound great, a light touch on the mastering is all that's required (and I don't think I'd be using the Fantom anyway, have a look at Wavelab or other similar mastering software. iZotope makes some nice plugins: http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/

What we record in life, echoes in eternity.

The process of mastering is and can be an art. There is alot to the process of mastering. Briefly there are a couple of different kinds of 'mastering'. If you go to a guy with a little bit of software and plugs in a basement with guitar center monitors and whatever... well, you get what you get. He may be good he may not be good, and who knows?

Or you can go to a mastering facility, where the monitors are full range, the room is bisymetrical, the room is treated, the guy knows his stuff, you sit in the sweet spot and hear things that you didn't know were on your recording. If your serious about mastering properly, as suggested by others, read up. Quality Mastering makes an average product good and a good project great. Like wise a bad mastering job can have negative effects on your project.

Agreed fully with what Silver Dragon says here.

Mastering can be a lot tougher than you think at first. In the beginning I thought: "Ah, I can just do the mastering myself! All they do is add a little compression and tweak on some eq's!"

Boy oh boy.

It really is an art form if you want great results. Study up hard and practice hard with some good software like izotope, and others if you want to do it yourself.

If you're not putting out a super serious album release then just start fiddling with the Mastering tools you already have while reading up on as much stuff you can find about mastering.

Most of all have fun and take your time! Practice is key.

One of the best resources is Izotope's Mastering Guide, which is also the guide to using their product Ozone, but it contains a wealth of useful general information:
Mastering Guide PDF

Click and drop by my site!

and don't forget, it's all going to be eventually listened to on a state of the art mp3 player......and will sound like some guy in a basement with a pc and a few plugins did the mastering... ;o)

What we record in life, echoes in eternity.

ta much mate for ur advice. Yeah, you're absolutely right...we learn by fiddling around and I've learned lots by doing just that.
My problem is...being a muso of over 35 years and being primarily a singer songwriter and composer of songs and tunes...working with software is relatively new to me, as anything I've recorded either with bands or solo, was done by an engineer in a studio and must admit, even now, I still prefer the creative side of things such as sorting out the mixes in terms of sound, more than the technical engineering side... however, one shall batter on regardless. Once again, thanx much!

Hey Dan. thanx for the links and advice man. My problem as a relative newbie and johhny come lately to working with synths and workstations is trying to learn a load of stuff and cram it into my tiny brain...see my reply to 5051.
Now that I'm a fantom, user I'm having to learn this technical jargon and at times reading a manual isn't as good as having a buddy who can show you in real time....do steps A.B. C etc...
manuals can give you so much, but 'only' so much, so if you've follwed steps ab& c but what your doing still isn't right...well then, you're snookered!!! And that's why I love this forum, because honestly, without it...alot of users like me who are good musos but hopeless techies would be forever lost in a loop of ignorance!

so ta much!

Hi guys, dragon, skyline and visionaire, thanks a bundle for all your advice, musch appreaciated...AND taken on board.