[dnb-prod] RE: mastering question

[Jimbo's Drunk again]

I've tried answering this so many times, one more won't hurt.

Heres what i do.

step one:
once i've got all of the arrangement complete, i turn all of the channels and eq down on the desk and inside cubase. I then go for a cup of tea to rest my ears for 15 mins.

Step two:
Then i first raise the kick and snare so it's floating around -7db or -5db. Then i bring in the sub bass just to see that the frequencies don't clash with the kick. (i eq slightly as i go along).
Then i raise the the instrumentals (strings etc) so that the whole sound so far is sitting around -2db.
Then i bring in the drum fills (amen breaks etc) so that it accompanies the original kick and snare but doesn't drown then out. (you may need to use a HPF so that the fills don't clash with the kick.
Then bring in the high bass sound (if you have one) so you can see how it fits within the mix.
If you have vocals, you can either base the whole sound around the vocal levels (i.e start with the vocal) or bring this in. Make sure it's sitting ontop of everything else to get that crystal clear sound. I would strongly recommend using a compressor like LI etc after you've EQ'd the vocal.
Hopefully, now that you have all of the sounds floating at around -1db you now have room to raise certain sounds even higher without the worry of clipping and creating your own sound. Dillinga has his snares at the same level as his vocals in his tune to give it a real millitant edge. (after i raise all channels, i have it all banging around 0db and it hardly ever clips. It doesn't really matter if it's only a tiny clip here or there but no more than that)
Once it's all sounding like everything fits perfectly into place, save it and fuck off for a wank or something.

Step three:
Once you've returned, try listening to your tune at all levels. If you can hear every element of the tune with the volume turned all the way down, you're doing good so far. Listen to it loud and if it sounds good at all levels, bounce it to audio.

Step four:
Once you've got it as audio, bung it in T-racks and twiddle away till it's loud as fuck without sounding distorted.

Hopefully, it should sound good. If not, just go through the process again with fresh ears and it should sound better. If it still don't sound good, don't give up your day job.

Peace

Jimbo:o)

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