Yes, more…
Title: Basic MASTERING
All the explanations you have always wanted to get from somebody who knows about Mastering Maters. Again, Paul White is really helpful, no unnecessary technicalities.
Author: Paul White.
Publisher: Sanctuary Publishing Limited.
ISBN 1-86074-289-0
The all-important Mastering
So did you actually read/own these books, or did you just go crazy with the Amazon.com search engine, or? A bit more information about what you found useful about these books would be helpful, cos I can tell you right now, I already know how to search Amazon.com for books... give us something we can't already get somewhere else 
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Nestor
- Posts: 6676
- Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2001 4:00 pm
- Location: Fourth Dimension Paradise, Cloud Nine!
No Subhuman, I've not used the Amazon engine to search for books… I "OWN" them all and now they are part of my personal library. I found these books very helpful, that is all. I'm studding them slowly, going through topics, as I need them. There are far too many books out there but they are too complicated or just a mixture of everything, useless.
You are right, it would be pointless to give you something you can get by yourself on the Net. But please, consider that I just want to help. Those books listed here are particularly useful. The point is that you don't need to search through hundreds of books reading a bit of them all to see if they are understandable and good for you, I've already done it for you.
You are right, it would be pointless to give you something you can get by yourself on the Net. But please, consider that I just want to help. Those books listed here are particularly useful. The point is that you don't need to search through hundreds of books reading a bit of them all to see if they are understandable and good for you, I've already done it for you.
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algorhythm
- Posts: 1139
- Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2001 4:00 pm
- Location: Tennessee, USA
- Contact:
Nestor,
I appreciate the intentions. In the future, it would be cool to hear you ramble a bit more about the books, maybe even give a few of the "gems" from the book in your post that you found interesting, and chapters/pages you liked. That would be even more useful for me, as there are more detailed reviews on Amazon still. But again, thanks...
I appreciate the intentions. In the future, it would be cool to hear you ramble a bit more about the books, maybe even give a few of the "gems" from the book in your post that you found interesting, and chapters/pages you liked. That would be even more useful for me, as there are more detailed reviews on Amazon still. But again, thanks...
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Nestor
- Posts: 6676
- Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2001 4:00 pm
- Location: Fourth Dimension Paradise, Cloud Nine!
It's s a pleasure for me, here you are:
Introduction
One of the joys of recording music in the modern home recording studio is that the entire process can be carried out there, from song writing and recording to mixing and mastering CDs. The mastering stage of any project can make a huge difference to the subjective quality of the finished work, and this is one reason why commercial mastering can be very expensive, but with a few basic tools and a sensitive pair of ears it's possible to produce professional-sounding CD masters at home.
The purpose of this book is to explore the techniques of computer-based mastering and editing in order to enable home enthusiasts to compile a collection of songs in the form of a finished, professional-sounding album. It's possible to produce something of similar quality to a production master CD with noting more than a standard computer, appropriate software and a CD burner, which, as well as allowing you full control over your material, can also save you a lot of money.
Introducing Mastering
It's tempting to think that, once you've a mixed a few stereo tracks, all you need to do is pop them onto a CD and voila - there's your album. Certainly the cheapness of CD-R (recordable CD) discs makes this an attractive proposition, but there are several processes that need to be carried out before you're ready to record a master DAT tape or burn a CD that can be used as a master for commercial production. These stages usually fall under the umbrella term of "mastering", because their ultimate purpose is to produce a master that can be copied for commercial production. One such stage is post-production (ie further processing carried out after a mix has been produced), during which unwanted material at the starts and ends of songs must be removed, lengths of gaps between songs must be decided, and changes in level, tonality or dynamic range are implemented in order to get the various songs to sit comfortably alongside each other. All of these are a part of the mastering process, although a professional mastering engineer will often also use his or her skill and a variety of signal-processing techniques to enhance the quality of a raw stereo recording.
Editing and mastering was originally a process that was performed completely in the analogue domain, and open-reel tape was cut and spliced with the use of razor blades and splicing tape. Although the degree of editing that's possible with such mechanical means is limited, cut-and-splice editing can be used to remove unwanted material and even rearrange various elements within a song (for example, an unwanted verse or chorus can be easily removed).
It takes considerable skill to locate a suitable edit point on an analogue tape. This is generally achieved by switching off the capstan motor and then rocking the tape by hand with the machine set to Play mode so that the audio can be "scrubbed" in slow motion. Edit points are then marked on the back of the tape with a wax pencil. A metal precision-editing block is then used to hold the tape steady as it is cut, which is usually done with a single-side razor blade that has first been demagnetised with a tape-head demagnetiser. The blade is then dragged through a machined slot cut into the splicing block, cutting through the tape at both edit points, leaving the ends precisely matched. The two ends of the tape are then re-attached with a special self-adhesive splicing tape. (Conventional tape should never be used to achieve this, because the adhesive will leak onto the surface of the tape).
Digital Formats
Most home studio owners either use DAT or CD-R to record their stereo mixes. During the mixing process, it's important to record at a level as close as possible to the digital peak shown on the recorder's meters, and if it's available the 44.1kHz sampling rate setting should be used. When working with a DATA machine that has a fixed sampling rate of 48kHz, the company who produce the CD master tape for you should be able to handle the necessary sample-rate conversion. However, it's important never to mix two or more sample rates on one tape or set of tapes - you could end up with part of your album playing back a the wrong speed. CDs are always manufactured to perform at 44.1kHz, so if you're going on to create your own Red Book production master at home, and your DAT machine only records at 48kHz, then some kind of sample-rate conversion is essential. Fortunately, most serious editing software is capable of converting sample rates, and even if you come across a program that isn't you can usually make a 44.1kHz recording from the analogue outputs of your DAT machine without experiencing any noticeably loss in quality.
When recording DAT production masters, be careful when using the Auto ID mode, as in this mode a new track ID is created when the audio level exceeds a certain threshold. Auto ID senses the presence of the programme material before writing the ID, and consequently the first notes of songs are at risk of being clipped. Because of this, it's a good idea to manually erase any Auto Ids already on the tape and write in new Ids half a second or so before the start of each track. Also, a gap of two seconds should be left after the first ID and before the start of the first track. This is particularly important in the manufacture of CD-R copies, as most stand-along CD-R recorders take a short time to move into Record mode after detecting the first track ID.
Avoid recording music on the first or last minute of a DAT tape, and always record silence before and after the programme material - digital tapes contain subcode information, and it's important that this starts before the recording and c continues for a while after it finishes. To create a gap, don't simply run the tape in Play mode, as this will leave a section of tape with no subcode.
Hard-disk editing
Most commercial and semi-professional mastering is carried out with a hard-disk editing system of some kind, and most project studio owners will choose to use a computer-based system because they will probably already have a suitable computer in their studio. The requirements and operation of such a system will be covered more thoroughly later on this book, but it's useful to have a general overview of the process.
Computer-based systems have the advantage that individual tracks can easily be "topped and tailed" to remove count-ins and other sounds that occur directly before the music starts, and they can also edit out any unwanted sounds at the ends of tracks. Although this can be done by splicing analogue tape, a computer system can do it more accurately, as the audio waveform can be seen as well as heard. Also, on a computer it's a simple matter to undo any edits that don't work out.
(I'll post some more when I have some time)
Introduction
One of the joys of recording music in the modern home recording studio is that the entire process can be carried out there, from song writing and recording to mixing and mastering CDs. The mastering stage of any project can make a huge difference to the subjective quality of the finished work, and this is one reason why commercial mastering can be very expensive, but with a few basic tools and a sensitive pair of ears it's possible to produce professional-sounding CD masters at home.
The purpose of this book is to explore the techniques of computer-based mastering and editing in order to enable home enthusiasts to compile a collection of songs in the form of a finished, professional-sounding album. It's possible to produce something of similar quality to a production master CD with noting more than a standard computer, appropriate software and a CD burner, which, as well as allowing you full control over your material, can also save you a lot of money.
Introducing Mastering
It's tempting to think that, once you've a mixed a few stereo tracks, all you need to do is pop them onto a CD and voila - there's your album. Certainly the cheapness of CD-R (recordable CD) discs makes this an attractive proposition, but there are several processes that need to be carried out before you're ready to record a master DAT tape or burn a CD that can be used as a master for commercial production. These stages usually fall under the umbrella term of "mastering", because their ultimate purpose is to produce a master that can be copied for commercial production. One such stage is post-production (ie further processing carried out after a mix has been produced), during which unwanted material at the starts and ends of songs must be removed, lengths of gaps between songs must be decided, and changes in level, tonality or dynamic range are implemented in order to get the various songs to sit comfortably alongside each other. All of these are a part of the mastering process, although a professional mastering engineer will often also use his or her skill and a variety of signal-processing techniques to enhance the quality of a raw stereo recording.
Editing and mastering was originally a process that was performed completely in the analogue domain, and open-reel tape was cut and spliced with the use of razor blades and splicing tape. Although the degree of editing that's possible with such mechanical means is limited, cut-and-splice editing can be used to remove unwanted material and even rearrange various elements within a song (for example, an unwanted verse or chorus can be easily removed).
It takes considerable skill to locate a suitable edit point on an analogue tape. This is generally achieved by switching off the capstan motor and then rocking the tape by hand with the machine set to Play mode so that the audio can be "scrubbed" in slow motion. Edit points are then marked on the back of the tape with a wax pencil. A metal precision-editing block is then used to hold the tape steady as it is cut, which is usually done with a single-side razor blade that has first been demagnetised with a tape-head demagnetiser. The blade is then dragged through a machined slot cut into the splicing block, cutting through the tape at both edit points, leaving the ends precisely matched. The two ends of the tape are then re-attached with a special self-adhesive splicing tape. (Conventional tape should never be used to achieve this, because the adhesive will leak onto the surface of the tape).
Digital Formats
Most home studio owners either use DAT or CD-R to record their stereo mixes. During the mixing process, it's important to record at a level as close as possible to the digital peak shown on the recorder's meters, and if it's available the 44.1kHz sampling rate setting should be used. When working with a DATA machine that has a fixed sampling rate of 48kHz, the company who produce the CD master tape for you should be able to handle the necessary sample-rate conversion. However, it's important never to mix two or more sample rates on one tape or set of tapes - you could end up with part of your album playing back a the wrong speed. CDs are always manufactured to perform at 44.1kHz, so if you're going on to create your own Red Book production master at home, and your DAT machine only records at 48kHz, then some kind of sample-rate conversion is essential. Fortunately, most serious editing software is capable of converting sample rates, and even if you come across a program that isn't you can usually make a 44.1kHz recording from the analogue outputs of your DAT machine without experiencing any noticeably loss in quality.
When recording DAT production masters, be careful when using the Auto ID mode, as in this mode a new track ID is created when the audio level exceeds a certain threshold. Auto ID senses the presence of the programme material before writing the ID, and consequently the first notes of songs are at risk of being clipped. Because of this, it's a good idea to manually erase any Auto Ids already on the tape and write in new Ids half a second or so before the start of each track. Also, a gap of two seconds should be left after the first ID and before the start of the first track. This is particularly important in the manufacture of CD-R copies, as most stand-along CD-R recorders take a short time to move into Record mode after detecting the first track ID.
Avoid recording music on the first or last minute of a DAT tape, and always record silence before and after the programme material - digital tapes contain subcode information, and it's important that this starts before the recording and c continues for a while after it finishes. To create a gap, don't simply run the tape in Play mode, as this will leave a section of tape with no subcode.
Hard-disk editing
Most commercial and semi-professional mastering is carried out with a hard-disk editing system of some kind, and most project studio owners will choose to use a computer-based system because they will probably already have a suitable computer in their studio. The requirements and operation of such a system will be covered more thoroughly later on this book, but it's useful to have a general overview of the process.
Computer-based systems have the advantage that individual tracks can easily be "topped and tailed" to remove count-ins and other sounds that occur directly before the music starts, and they can also edit out any unwanted sounds at the ends of tracks. Although this can be done by splicing analogue tape, a computer system can do it more accurately, as the audio waveform can be seen as well as heard. Also, on a computer it's a simple matter to undo any edits that don't work out.
(I'll post some more when I have some time)
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Nestor
- Posts: 6676
- Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2001 4:00 pm
- Location: Fourth Dimension Paradise, Cloud Nine!
Here you are a couple of pages from this superb book:
Signal Processing
One of the problems faced by many users of home studios is that most have monitoring environments which fall a long way short of being perfect, and this in turn may result in the production of mixes which may still require further tonal adjustment. In order to perform this job successfully, at the very least you'll need a good parametric equaliser and a monitoring system which you know is accurate and with which you are used to working. Most mastering is carried out in the digital domain, and for this reason an analogue equaliser shouldn't be used. That said, however, some of the more esoteric tube models can inject a little of their own personality into a mix.
It's important to have access to a good equaliser, whether analogue or digital, hardware of software. Cheap equalisers may offer a lot of facilities but they seldom sound inaccurate, whereas a high-quality equaliser will enable you to make quite significant tonal adjustments without the material sounding unnatural or overprocessed. Equalisation may be needed simply to compensate for the inaccuracies of the monitoring environment in which the mixes were made, but it may also be needed to match up the sounds of tracks which have been recorded or mixed at different times.
Common mixing problems
On mixes carried out in rooms equipped with near-filed monitoring systems or acoustic problems, the most serious errors usually crop up at the bass end of the audio spectrum, resulting in a master that has either too much or too little bass.
At the high-frequency end of the spectrum, however, the problem is often lack of brightness or detail, especially if the recording was made with an analogue multitrack machine and several bounces were involved. It's tempting to simply turn up the high end using a shelving equaliser, but this will also bring up the noise level and may not produce the requires result. It's sometimes better to identify those high-frequency sounds that need help and then use a parametric EQ or sweep mid to lift these a little. Harmonic enhancers may also be used to accentuate high-end detail, but I can't emphasise too strongly that enhancement needs to be carried out with restraint, as it's very easy to make a mix sound overprocessed or harsh.
Dynamics
Some producers like to compress their final mixes while others claim that this always makes things worse. The truth is that it all depends on the type of material being mixed, and if you want to maintain a kind of high-energy feel then a few decibels of compression can help enormously. Also, compression can also help to knit together the various component sounds within a mix. Soft-knee compressors seem to give the smoothest results on complete mixes, and if you can find a model with an auto attack/release option you may find that this works better than setting up a fixed attack/release time. Remember, however, that compression will also bring up noise during quiet sections.
Limiting is also immensely useful at the mastering stage, because very often you'll have a few peaks of a really high level and short duration which force you to keep the average signal level low in order to avoid running into clipping. Because of the brevity of these peaks, they can often be limited quite severely before any audible difference is evident, but this must be done with a limiter equipped with very fast attack and release times. On a good mastering limiter it's usually possible to pull down peak levels by at least 4dB without altering the sound, which means that the average signal level can be increased by the same amount.
Normalising
Hard-disk editing systems allow the user to normalise entire audio files or sections of files. Normally individual songs would be normalised, and all this process does is identify the highest peak in the selected region and then increase the gain of the entire file by exactly the right amount to ensure that this peak is the maximum digital level (or some lower level, if specified).
Before normalising a mix, there are a couple of points that you should remember. Firstly, you should never normalise if you still have any processing left to do, unless you've left yourself a little headroom (by normalising to peak of -6dB, for example). If you don't leave any headroom and later perform some other process, such as apply EQ, you may increase the signal level further, which could lead to clipping. Even an EQ setting that produces only cut can still increase the signal level slightly, for the simple reason that you may end up reducing the level of some frequency components that were previously cancelling out peaks at other frequencies. Apparently, this is also true when converting sample rates, because of the filtering involved.
Secondly, even if you've done all your processing, it may still be a good idea to normalise to a decibel or so below the maximum peak level. Clipping may also occur when a normalised signal is passed through subsequent digital systems, such as oversampling DACs. In practice this source of clipping rarely causes audible problems, but why not be a perfectionist if you have the option?
Signal Processing
One of the problems faced by many users of home studios is that most have monitoring environments which fall a long way short of being perfect, and this in turn may result in the production of mixes which may still require further tonal adjustment. In order to perform this job successfully, at the very least you'll need a good parametric equaliser and a monitoring system which you know is accurate and with which you are used to working. Most mastering is carried out in the digital domain, and for this reason an analogue equaliser shouldn't be used. That said, however, some of the more esoteric tube models can inject a little of their own personality into a mix.
It's important to have access to a good equaliser, whether analogue or digital, hardware of software. Cheap equalisers may offer a lot of facilities but they seldom sound inaccurate, whereas a high-quality equaliser will enable you to make quite significant tonal adjustments without the material sounding unnatural or overprocessed. Equalisation may be needed simply to compensate for the inaccuracies of the monitoring environment in which the mixes were made, but it may also be needed to match up the sounds of tracks which have been recorded or mixed at different times.
Common mixing problems
On mixes carried out in rooms equipped with near-filed monitoring systems or acoustic problems, the most serious errors usually crop up at the bass end of the audio spectrum, resulting in a master that has either too much or too little bass.
At the high-frequency end of the spectrum, however, the problem is often lack of brightness or detail, especially if the recording was made with an analogue multitrack machine and several bounces were involved. It's tempting to simply turn up the high end using a shelving equaliser, but this will also bring up the noise level and may not produce the requires result. It's sometimes better to identify those high-frequency sounds that need help and then use a parametric EQ or sweep mid to lift these a little. Harmonic enhancers may also be used to accentuate high-end detail, but I can't emphasise too strongly that enhancement needs to be carried out with restraint, as it's very easy to make a mix sound overprocessed or harsh.
Dynamics
Some producers like to compress their final mixes while others claim that this always makes things worse. The truth is that it all depends on the type of material being mixed, and if you want to maintain a kind of high-energy feel then a few decibels of compression can help enormously. Also, compression can also help to knit together the various component sounds within a mix. Soft-knee compressors seem to give the smoothest results on complete mixes, and if you can find a model with an auto attack/release option you may find that this works better than setting up a fixed attack/release time. Remember, however, that compression will also bring up noise during quiet sections.
Limiting is also immensely useful at the mastering stage, because very often you'll have a few peaks of a really high level and short duration which force you to keep the average signal level low in order to avoid running into clipping. Because of the brevity of these peaks, they can often be limited quite severely before any audible difference is evident, but this must be done with a limiter equipped with very fast attack and release times. On a good mastering limiter it's usually possible to pull down peak levels by at least 4dB without altering the sound, which means that the average signal level can be increased by the same amount.
Normalising
Hard-disk editing systems allow the user to normalise entire audio files or sections of files. Normally individual songs would be normalised, and all this process does is identify the highest peak in the selected region and then increase the gain of the entire file by exactly the right amount to ensure that this peak is the maximum digital level (or some lower level, if specified).
Before normalising a mix, there are a couple of points that you should remember. Firstly, you should never normalise if you still have any processing left to do, unless you've left yourself a little headroom (by normalising to peak of -6dB, for example). If you don't leave any headroom and later perform some other process, such as apply EQ, you may increase the signal level further, which could lead to clipping. Even an EQ setting that produces only cut can still increase the signal level slightly, for the simple reason that you may end up reducing the level of some frequency components that were previously cancelling out peaks at other frequencies. Apparently, this is also true when converting sample rates, because of the filtering involved.
Secondly, even if you've done all your processing, it may still be a good idea to normalise to a decibel or so below the maximum peak level. Clipping may also occur when a normalised signal is passed through subsequent digital systems, such as oversampling DACs. In practice this source of clipping rarely causes audible problems, but why not be a perfectionist if you have the option?
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Nestor
- Posts: 6676
- Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2001 4:00 pm
- Location: Fourth Dimension Paradise, Cloud Nine!
SESSION TAPES
The first tape created during a recording project is a session tape, which is generally a multitrack tape containing the first-generation recordings made during a session. In other words, it's a working tape on which material is recorded and overdubbed, and consequently it may contain out-takes as well as wanted material. The course of an album project may warrant the creation of several session tapes, and it's a good idea to store them along with their track sheets. Session tapes may be of any format, and may be either analogue or digital. With direct-to-stereo recording, the original recording is still known as the session tape and all relevant data should be recorded on the tape box or indaly card. If the tape is too small to hold a comprehensive label, it should at least be given a unique code to link it to the data held on a separate card. The APRS label is solid blue and bearns the legend "SESSION TAPE".
The first tape created during a recording project is a session tape, which is generally a multitrack tape containing the first-generation recordings made during a session. In other words, it's a working tape on which material is recorded and overdubbed, and consequently it may contain out-takes as well as wanted material. The course of an album project may warrant the creation of several session tapes, and it's a good idea to store them along with their track sheets. Session tapes may be of any format, and may be either analogue or digital. With direct-to-stereo recording, the original recording is still known as the session tape and all relevant data should be recorded on the tape box or indaly card. If the tape is too small to hold a comprehensive label, it should at least be given a unique code to link it to the data held on a separate card. The APRS label is solid blue and bearns the legend "SESSION TAPE".
*MUSIC* The most Powerful Language in the world! *INDEED*
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Nestor
- Posts: 6676
- Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2001 4:00 pm
- Location: Fourth Dimension Paradise, Cloud Nine!
THE PRODUCTION MASTERS
The production master is usually an edited copy or a clone of the original master on which the tracks have been organised into the correct running order and with the correct amount of spacing separating the tracks. The production master will often be equalised or processed in some other way, and because different versions may be required for different release formats it sould be marked with the specific format: CD, cassette, vinyl, MD (MiniDisc), DVD (Digital Verstile Disc) and so on.
The standard APRS label is solid green, with the legend "PRODUCTION MASTER". The label also includes space for release format details.
Many production masters are now made on DAT cassettes, which have the same 16-bit linear data format as audio CDs. A sample rate of 44.1kHz is preferred, if the machine can record at this frequency, as this means that the material won't have to undergo sample-rate conversion later in the manufacturing process. Many CD pressing plants can now work from Red Book stardard CD-R master disc, which may be more convinient to produce than a DAT master tape.
The term "Red Book" describes the data format used in the manufacture of commercial CDs. In addition to audio material, a CD also includes information concerning the start and end times of tracks, the numbre of tracks, the total playing time and othre details, which is stored in a TOC (Table Of Contents) and which is accessed before the audio starts. If a CD-R is to be used as a production master, it must have all of this data in place, and configured in a way which complies with the Red Book protocol. Some software produces audio CDs that will play on a regular CD player, but they don't include all of the necessary information for Red Book compliancy. Note that production master CD-Rs shuld be burned in a single session (in "Disc At Once" mode), because recording in multiple sessions will introduce errors between the tracks, which might cause a commercial CD production system to reject the disc.
The production master is usually an edited copy or a clone of the original master on which the tracks have been organised into the correct running order and with the correct amount of spacing separating the tracks. The production master will often be equalised or processed in some other way, and because different versions may be required for different release formats it sould be marked with the specific format: CD, cassette, vinyl, MD (MiniDisc), DVD (Digital Verstile Disc) and so on.
The standard APRS label is solid green, with the legend "PRODUCTION MASTER". The label also includes space for release format details.
Many production masters are now made on DAT cassettes, which have the same 16-bit linear data format as audio CDs. A sample rate of 44.1kHz is preferred, if the machine can record at this frequency, as this means that the material won't have to undergo sample-rate conversion later in the manufacturing process. Many CD pressing plants can now work from Red Book stardard CD-R master disc, which may be more convinient to produce than a DAT master tape.
The term "Red Book" describes the data format used in the manufacture of commercial CDs. In addition to audio material, a CD also includes information concerning the start and end times of tracks, the numbre of tracks, the total playing time and othre details, which is stored in a TOC (Table Of Contents) and which is accessed before the audio starts. If a CD-R is to be used as a production master, it must have all of this data in place, and configured in a way which complies with the Red Book protocol. Some software produces audio CDs that will play on a regular CD player, but they don't include all of the necessary information for Red Book compliancy. Note that production master CD-Rs shuld be burned in a single session (in "Disc At Once" mode), because recording in multiple sessions will introduce errors between the tracks, which might cause a commercial CD production system to reject the disc.
*MUSIC* The most Powerful Language in the world! *INDEED*
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Nestor
- Posts: 6676
- Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2001 4:00 pm
- Location: Fourth Dimension Paradise, Cloud Nine!
MASTERING OVERVIW
There are now many potential formats on which a recording can be released, including CD, MiniDisc, DVD and soundtracks for films and videos, and a number ofsurround formats are also emerging. The most popular consumer formats are CD, MiniDisc and cassette, although vinyl is still a viable option, especially for specialist dance music. DVD audio is clearly the next big thing, while DCC (Digital Compact Cassette) has proven to be largely unsuccessful as a consumer format.
There are now many potential formats on which a recording can be released, including CD, MiniDisc, DVD and soundtracks for films and videos, and a number ofsurround formats are also emerging. The most popular consumer formats are CD, MiniDisc and cassette, although vinyl is still a viable option, especially for specialist dance music. DVD audio is clearly the next big thing, while DCC (Digital Compact Cassette) has proven to be largely unsuccessful as a consumer format.
*MUSIC* The most Powerful Language in the world! *INDEED*
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Nestor
- Posts: 6676
- Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2001 4:00 pm
- Location: Fourth Dimension Paradise, Cloud Nine!
COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION
If you're planning to release your material only on analogue cassette, you may need noting more than a copy or a clone of the production master DAT tape or an audio CD-R. Unfortunately, this isn't the case if you're aiming for a CD release, in which case there are two more stages to negotiate: the CD master tape and the glass master. However, if you can produce a Red Book standard CD-R you can bypass some of the processes involved in CD mastering and save a little money. Similarly, if you're going to add either MiniDisc or DVD to your release formats you'll need to speak to the manufacturers to find out what you need to do meet their requirements. MiniDisc is a little different to the established formats insofar as a form of data compression is used to reduce the amount of digital data to around a fifth of that on a conventional CD or DAT.
When mastering a CD, the production master tape is arranged with no gap between the two sides of the albumand has a total playing time of less than 74 minutes, including gaps. The factory will require a fully-prepared CD master tape, which is most often handled by a specialist mastering facility and involves copying the production master DAT to a U-Matic tape. This tape is timecoded, and has the necessary PQ (pause and cue) code information added to it so that it complies with the Red Book standard for CD manufacture. This additional information is used to create the table of contents on the finished CD, to enable a CD player to locate the tracks. A track title and times sheet will also be produced at this time aof the CD manufacturers, and this is usually made by the same company that produces the CD master tape. Once again, you can miss out this stage entierly if you can produce a suitable CD-R master for yourself.
Some mastering facilities can make a reference CD from the CD tape master. This is a relatively cheap job, and the small investment involved is worth it for the peace of mind you have in knowing that the finished product will turn out as you expected it. A one-off CD-R is bettern than nothing if a proper reference CD is unavailable, although the track start times may not accurately reflect those which appear on the finished product.
Incidentally, the falling cost of low-volume CD-R duplication makes this a viable alternative to conventianla manufacture for small-quantity runs of discs (250 or less). These may be made directly from a production master tape, which will save you the cost of having to have a CD master tape produced. You should be aware, hawever, that not all CD players will play CD-R discs, as whey have different optical characteristics to those of pressed CDs, although most will play CD-Rs without difficulty.
If you're planning to release your material only on analogue cassette, you may need noting more than a copy or a clone of the production master DAT tape or an audio CD-R. Unfortunately, this isn't the case if you're aiming for a CD release, in which case there are two more stages to negotiate: the CD master tape and the glass master. However, if you can produce a Red Book standard CD-R you can bypass some of the processes involved in CD mastering and save a little money. Similarly, if you're going to add either MiniDisc or DVD to your release formats you'll need to speak to the manufacturers to find out what you need to do meet their requirements. MiniDisc is a little different to the established formats insofar as a form of data compression is used to reduce the amount of digital data to around a fifth of that on a conventional CD or DAT.
When mastering a CD, the production master tape is arranged with no gap between the two sides of the albumand has a total playing time of less than 74 minutes, including gaps. The factory will require a fully-prepared CD master tape, which is most often handled by a specialist mastering facility and involves copying the production master DAT to a U-Matic tape. This tape is timecoded, and has the necessary PQ (pause and cue) code information added to it so that it complies with the Red Book standard for CD manufacture. This additional information is used to create the table of contents on the finished CD, to enable a CD player to locate the tracks. A track title and times sheet will also be produced at this time aof the CD manufacturers, and this is usually made by the same company that produces the CD master tape. Once again, you can miss out this stage entierly if you can produce a suitable CD-R master for yourself.
Some mastering facilities can make a reference CD from the CD tape master. This is a relatively cheap job, and the small investment involved is worth it for the peace of mind you have in knowing that the finished product will turn out as you expected it. A one-off CD-R is bettern than nothing if a proper reference CD is unavailable, although the track start times may not accurately reflect those which appear on the finished product.
Incidentally, the falling cost of low-volume CD-R duplication makes this a viable alternative to conventianla manufacture for small-quantity runs of discs (250 or less). These may be made directly from a production master tape, which will save you the cost of having to have a CD master tape produced. You should be aware, hawever, that not all CD players will play CD-R discs, as whey have different optical characteristics to those of pressed CDs, although most will play CD-Rs without difficulty.
*MUSIC* The most Powerful Language in the world! *INDEED*
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Nestor
- Posts: 6676
- Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2001 4:00 pm
- Location: Fourth Dimension Paradise, Cloud Nine!
GLASS MASTERS
A the CD pressing plant, the CD tape master is played into a glass-mastering machine, which uses all of the special coding on the tape to determine the timing and table of contents of the final CD. After the data has been transferred to the gblass master (which is so called because it's essentially a glass disc, used to carry the light-sensitive surface, which is imprinted with digital data by a modulated laser), the disc is plated with nickel to make a mechanical stamper, similar in concept to that used to stamp out vinyl records.
During the manufacturing process, the reflective part of the CD is stamped out in aluminium and then sandwiched between layers of transparent plastic, which protect it and make it rigid. A special, quickdrying ink is used to print labels directly onto the pressed CD, and these may be printed in any numbre of colours. You should consult the manufacturer over what form the original artwork should take. Some manufacturers will offer a complete package, designing body and sleeve artwork based on your sketches and photos, which can be useful if you're unsure how to produce artwork yourself.
The manufactured discs are then automatically loaded into plastic jewel cases, along with inlay cards and booklets. If you haven't gone for a package deal, these must be provided before the manufacturing stage. Not all cases take exactly the same size inlays, so it's a good idea to ask the manufacturer to send you a sample jewel case.
A the CD pressing plant, the CD tape master is played into a glass-mastering machine, which uses all of the special coding on the tape to determine the timing and table of contents of the final CD. After the data has been transferred to the gblass master (which is so called because it's essentially a glass disc, used to carry the light-sensitive surface, which is imprinted with digital data by a modulated laser), the disc is plated with nickel to make a mechanical stamper, similar in concept to that used to stamp out vinyl records.
During the manufacturing process, the reflective part of the CD is stamped out in aluminium and then sandwiched between layers of transparent plastic, which protect it and make it rigid. A special, quickdrying ink is used to print labels directly onto the pressed CD, and these may be printed in any numbre of colours. You should consult the manufacturer over what form the original artwork should take. Some manufacturers will offer a complete package, designing body and sleeve artwork based on your sketches and photos, which can be useful if you're unsure how to produce artwork yourself.
The manufactured discs are then automatically loaded into plastic jewel cases, along with inlay cards and booklets. If you haven't gone for a package deal, these must be provided before the manufacturing stage. Not all cases take exactly the same size inlays, so it's a good idea to ask the manufacturer to send you a sample jewel case.
*MUSIC* The most Powerful Language in the world! *INDEED*
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Nestor
- Posts: 6676
- Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2001 4:00 pm
- Location: Fourth Dimension Paradise, Cloud Nine!
DEDICATED MASTERING HARDWARE
A number of companies now manufacture outboard processors designed specifically for mastering. These generally feature both digital and analogue I/O, and usually include parametric equalisation, limiting and compression, along with functions such as tube emulation, dynamic equalisation, de-essing and stereo balance/width contro. The best of these units split the audio into three or more frequency bands before they aply dynamic control, which reduces any audible side-effects when processing complex mixes. For example, a three-band compressor will control the level of bass sounds, such as kick drums, without causing a dip in the level of mid and high frequencies at the same time. With a conventional full-band compressor, there's alwasy the problem of high-energy bass sounds dodulating the level of mid- and high-frequency sounds.
These mastering units may also include a variety of options for noce-shaped dither - which reduces the bit depth of high-resolution recordings - and an automated facility for creating fade-outs. These devices can be used either after editing is complete or when material is transferred froma DAT or CD-R source to the computer to be mastered.
A number of companies now manufacture outboard processors designed specifically for mastering. These generally feature both digital and analogue I/O, and usually include parametric equalisation, limiting and compression, along with functions such as tube emulation, dynamic equalisation, de-essing and stereo balance/width contro. The best of these units split the audio into three or more frequency bands before they aply dynamic control, which reduces any audible side-effects when processing complex mixes. For example, a three-band compressor will control the level of bass sounds, such as kick drums, without causing a dip in the level of mid and high frequencies at the same time. With a conventional full-band compressor, there's alwasy the problem of high-energy bass sounds dodulating the level of mid- and high-frequency sounds.
These mastering units may also include a variety of options for noce-shaped dither - which reduces the bit depth of high-resolution recordings - and an automated facility for creating fade-outs. These devices can be used either after editing is complete or when material is transferred froma DAT or CD-R source to the computer to be mastered.
*MUSIC* The most Powerful Language in the world! *INDEED*
