JapanAxe Posted October 26, 2017 Share Posted October 26, 2017 I enjoy a bit of home recording, normally short demos that I put on my website*, but I have never got to grips with mastering and I'm wondering where to start. Can anyone recommend any free or inexpensive plugins that I can try - multi-band compressors, clever EQs etc? I am using Reaper. Cheers *[size=3]See link below - if you want to hear some of my un-mastered efforts, go to the 'Guitar' and 'Bass' pages.[/size] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedmanzie Posted October 26, 2017 Share Posted October 26, 2017 Demo Isotope Ozone for free, it's really good. You'll eventually have to buy it if you like it (about £200). For quick and easy mastering I find you can pick a preset and just adjust input gain to suit and generally not touch too much else. If you want a cheap and easy way just to get your tracks [i]louder[/i] then Waves L2 limiter/maximiser is about £60, also free to demo, and L1 is cheaper still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted October 26, 2017 Share Posted October 26, 2017 I use AAMS on my Reaper stuff. There's a free version for evaluation; the full version costs 65€ presently. Might be worth a look. I doctored a very badly recorded 'live' concert with Ozone a few years ago, and the results were spectacular. I've not used it since, though, and have lost it somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted October 26, 2017 Share Posted October 26, 2017 IK Multimedia offer free demos of their T-Racks plugins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted October 26, 2017 Share Posted October 26, 2017 Yep, worth demoing Ozone 8. There are three versions to choose from price wise. Another 'all in one' mastering plugin is 'Eventide Elevate'. This is getting quite a lot of love at the moment with some pretty good reviews. ($99).Demo available as well. https://www.eventideaudio.com/products/plugins/mastering/elevate-bundle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonEdward Posted October 26, 2017 Share Posted October 26, 2017 (edited) Another Reaper user here. I'm Mastering my own EP, and I've put together this chain over the last few months, which I thought I would share. All of the plug-ins are stock or Free to download: - Voxengo Tube Amp (Master Maximizer) > 'Toned' by VLC-audio (gentle loudness) > Baxter EQ by Variety of Sound > JS: Exciter (Reaper) > LoudMax Limiter (by Thomas Lundt). EDIT: I use compression (ReaXcomp by Cockos) + Ferric TDS (Saturation) when mixing. But not at the Mastering stage... Good luck and have fun! Edited October 26, 2017 by SimonEdward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted October 27, 2017 Author Share Posted October 27, 2017 Thanks all, I will give some of those a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roman_sub Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 I would personally recommend to stay away from multiband compressors at the start - they can really screw up the sound and IMO they are difficult to get right. One of the most useful approaches to get started would be use something like a Match EQ (not sure what the reaper equivalent may be called); import a finished studio track you like the sound of, as reference, and then run Match EQ to analyse key tonal differences between your mix and the final master. Often you'll see a gentle "smile" EQ, with either end boosted and some dip in the mids. You might find that a Linear Phase eq sounds more transparent (though we're getting into ever-smaller impacts).... I would avoid overly coloured compressors - something like FabFilter Pro C is a really great compression plugin that can even be clean enough for classical mastering (in my view!) Lastly you probably want some form of limiter to just take care of those loudest peaks, often snare drums.... but don't go much above -0.5db. To be honest, most of mastering is about subtle touches - so stock plugins are probably adequate for most tasks. Also consider using distortion / saturation - you may be surprised at the added [i]clarity[/i] that could provide! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedmanzie Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 Another alternative is to use online mastering - I have had excellent results from here: https://ariamastering.com but as in standard mastering, the better the mix the better the master. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 Great suggestions above. I mostly use the old Waves plug-ins and some of the Softube stuff for colour, but will almost certainly be picking up Ozone 8 sometime soon. Another quick tip is to try using [url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_compression"]parallel compression[/url] on the master bus for 'loudness'. Works best with tracks that are already quite noisy. I find it helps to increase the perceived loudness, which means I can ease off on the limiter a little. Worth experimenting with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted October 28, 2017 Author Share Posted October 28, 2017 [quote name='tedmanzie' timestamp='1509112822' post='3396732'] Another alternative is to use online mastering - I have had excellent results from here: [url="https://ariamastering.com"]https://ariamastering.com[/url] but as in standard mastering, the better the mix the better the master. [/quote] I ran a track through LANDR with good results but you can only do 2 per month FOC, you have to pay for any more than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTypeV4 Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 +1 for Ozone (I have version 6) and T-Racks - I still have an ancient copy of this when it was T-Racks 24 as well as a modern version.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 Another +1 for Ozone here. I'm using Ozone 8 Advanced but I started with Ozone 7 Elements and got good results from that. Ozone 8 Elements seems to let you have more control than 7 did. It's got a maximiser, EQ and imager in there. The imager really helps open up a piece I find. https://www.izotope.com/en/products/master-and-deliver/ozone/ozone-elements.html I find that when I use the gain-match bypass feature on Ozone there's not a massive difference between the bypassed and processed versions in terms of for example, the EQ suddenly changing loads but the subtle difference has a huge effect on opening the track up. It also does matching of a reference track which I quite like as it gives me a good starting point. But saying that, I'm sure over time I could take what I learn from Ozone and use other standard plugins like the ones mentioned above and get similar results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 So a chain with some or all of these will see you right 95% of the time:- Multiband compressor with up to 5 bands, if you really know how to use it 3 band very broad eq for some gentle eq 'Surgical' hiQ eq if there are any nasty frequencies to get rid of Mid side compressor for widening and control of the stereo field Multiband saturation Feedback comp for gentle level control across sections Decent brickwall limiter is a must Check in mono too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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