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Topic: questions about mixing and mastering (Read 5855 times) previous topic - next topic
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questions about mixing and mastering

Hi,
Can somebody please help me?
I have to write an essay about the mastering and mixing process which I know nothing about. I read what is written on wikipedia and there are several things that I just couldn't understand.
by the way, if you other articles recomendations i would love to have some.

the things i didnt understand are:
1. if there is so much editing in the mixing process why is it important to keep editing in the matering?
2. what is limiting (in mastering) and leveling?
3. why is it important to do e.g.vinyl? (if I understood right this means to have an analog record in addition to the digital cd)
4. what is pre-gapping? its not really two hidden minutes of silence right?

thank you very very much

shula

questions about mixing and mastering

Reply #1 –
Quote
1. if there is so much editing in the mixing process why is it important to keep editing in the matering?
There usually isn't any editing (cutting & splicing) in mastering.  Mastering is the "final touches" by "fresh ears".

Some mastering links:

Some notes on a particular mastering job[/u] (REAPER Forum)
What's This Mastering Business, Anyway?[/u] (Moulton Labs)
Tips 'n Tricks For Mastering[/u] (Moulton Labs)
Ozone Mastering Guide[/u] (Izotope.com)


Quote
2. what is limiting (in mastering) and leveling?
Limiting is volume limiting.  If you can limit the volume "nicely" you won't hit a hard-limit which causes clipping/distortion.  With limiting (a special type of dynamic compression) you can limit the peaks, which allows you to increase the overall/average volume without clipping.

Leveling is volume leveling...  Making the volume constant (or as constant as desired) throuought the recording.


Quote
3. why is it important to do e.g.vinyl? (if I understood right this means to have an analog record in addition to the digital cd)
Because some people want to buy vinyl records?

Quote
4. what is pre-gapping? its not really two hidden minutes of silence right?
There is usually 2 seconds of silence between songs.  A pre-gap is one  way to do it.

questions about mixing and mastering

Reply #2 –
Quote from: shula on
Hi,
Can somebody please help me?
I have to write an essay about the mastering and mixing process which I know nothing about. I read what is written on wikipedia and there are several things that I just couldn't understand.
by the way, if you other articles recomendations i would love to have some.

the things i didnt understand are:
1. if there is so much editing in the mixing process why is it important to keep editing in the matering?


Usually only minimal editing takes place during the mastering process. Things like trimming the beginning and end, fade in and fade out, etc.

Quote
2. what is limiting (in mastering) and leveling?


Limiting is clipping off parts that have too high of an amplitude.

Leveling is adjusting the overall level of track or portion thereof to meet some goal, such as all the tracks on a disc can be comfortably played without fiddling with the volume control.

Quote
3. why is it important to do e.g.vinyl? (if I understood right this means to have an analog record in addition to the digital cd)


It isn't necessary to vinyl unless you think you can make more money by offering your market a LP. This used to be important for dance music, for example.

Quote
4. what is pre-gapping? its not really two hidden minutes of silence right?


I have no clue.

questions about mixing and mastering

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Arnold B. Krueger on
Limiting is clipping off parts that have too high of an amplitude.

Limiting is the attenuation of peaks so that they do not exceed a specified amplitude.  This may or may not be done through clipping and the result may or may not be clipped.

questions about mixing and mastering

Reply #4 –
Quote from: DVDdoug on
Some mastering links:

Hey, thanks for those! They make for a quite interesting read.

Quote from: shula link=msg=0 date=
why is it important to do e.g.vinyl?

It's not, actually. They still make them because there is a niche market that buys them and prefers them over the CD versions. Whether one is audibly better than the other or even different is debatable and depends on each release. As a medium, CD is far superior and nothing "better" is needed for playing music.

questions about mixing and mastering

Reply #5 –

Hi,
thank you so much! your answers have helped me a lot!
I hope i wont be rude to ask some more questions.. these ones are not about mixing and mastering..
1) do you know anything about the 4 species of "clean" audio waves?
2) do you know what does the term 'audio content' means?
do you know where can I find articles to read about these subjects?

Again thank you so very much!

Shula

questions about mixing and mastering

Reply #6 –
Are we doing your homework for you?

Quote
do you know where can I find articles to read about these subjects?


I would suggest a search engine.

questions about mixing and mastering

Reply #7 –
Im not asking for complete answers, just for guidance. I wouldnt have posted my questions here if I could find the answers on the net or by any other means.
I have a 400 pages book about acoustics and about the physics of acoustics and I still (after reading many pars of it) couldnt find answers for those specific questions. I think that maybe its because the terms that I got for my essay are not the usual terms people use.

just wanted to say that.

questions about mixing and mastering

Reply #9 –
Yeah, sorry, but I cannot understand how you failed to find information on the four most common audio waveforms. Still, now that you have one link, I presume you can find your way from there to more detailed explanations if necessary. These waveforms are well-understood, having been chosen and retained in usage for specific reasons.

As for content, I would say the same thing, although I think what you want is spectral content, harmonic content, and suchlike, not the term from media that derty2 linked.

questions about mixing and mastering

Reply #10 –
Quote from: db1989 on
Yeah, sorry, but I cannot understand how you failed to find information on the four most common audio waveforms. Still, now that you have one link, I presume you can find your way from there to more detailed explanations if necessary. These waveforms are well-understood, having been chosen and retained in usage for specific reasons.

As for content, I would say the same thing, although I think what you want is spectral content, harmonic content, and suchlike, not the term from media that derty2 linked.



Furthermore calling sine, square, triangle and sawtooth  the 4 most common audio waves is a personal judgement that can be found here "http://public.wsu.edu/~jkrug/MUS364/audio/Waveforms.htm.

In real world work I see sine waves all the time, probably because that's what the power line is, but I never see or use any of the others.

questions about mixing and mastering

Reply #11 –
I was thinking in terms of oscillators/synthesis. If sines are far more common, because relatively few people work with other oscillators, that doesn’t negate the possibility that the other three are the three runners-up, which I think is very likely. And I highly suspect these four are those being queried in the OP’s assignment.
 

questions about mixing and mastering

Reply #12 –
I thank you for your answers although when refering to the waves, I allready thaught about the possibilties you offered and rejected them. To my understanding- the words 'most common' suggests the idea that there are more than 4 species and the words 'the 4 clean waves' suggests that there are 4 only four kinds. Maybe the person who gave me the assignment was wrong in choosing the terms so I guess I would have to ask him.

about the content, that was a big help for me thanks a lot. I was looking for audio content and didnt find anything- i dont think I could think about looking under a name like spectral content by myself. so, again thank you.

Im sorry if I was a pain in the ass I wont bother you any more with my questions.

again, thank you very much

shula