Melody makers

Posted on 4 Dec 2007 at 17:14

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This exported file isn't your final mix. All commercial music goes through an additional stage called mastering. This is usually conducted by a specialist mastering engineer in a different studio, whose job it is to apply effects to the whole mix to iron out any problem frequencies and make the mix as loud as possible. With mastering engineers charging from around £35 per track, it usually isn't practical for home studio producers to send off their mixes for professional mastering. However, it's worth having a go yourself, if only to boost the overall level so it competes with commercial CDs.

To boost the overall volume of your mix without distorting it, you'll need an effect called a limiter. This is a compressor that stops the volume getting any louder than the specified threshold. Not all recording software includes a limiter effect, but Kjaerhus Audio's Classic Master Limiter from www.kjaerhusaudio.com is a decent, free VST plug-in. Mackie Tracktion users have the very capable Final Mix plug-in. It's pretty complex to use, but there are plenty of presets with which new users can experiment.

Import your mix into a new project and apply a limiter plug-in to the channel in question. The threshold setting dictates how much volume increase is applied, but go too far and your mix will start to sound congested. You might want to apply some gentle EQ, perhaps to add a little high-frequency sparkle and remove very low bass, and a little compression to help the sounds gel together. If so, apply these effects before the limiter in the chain to avoid distorting the output. When you're ready, export your mastered mix as a 16-bit Wav file, ready to burn to CD or convert to MP3 format.

It's not over yet

Your finished mix is the end of one journey, but the start of another. Play it to friends and try to get some honest feedback. A MySpace music account is an excellent way to get heard by a wider audience, and it's essential for bands and musicians hoping to get noticed. If the demand is there, use products such as Actinic Audio Store to sell CDs and MP3s from your website, or contact www.awal.co.uk, which can upload your music to iTunes and other music download stores. And if you fancy posting us a CD, we'd love to hear it.

Author: Ben Pitt