do you normalize normally, er...

[blue4u]

Wow. Honestly, thanks for all the answers, but this is overloading me a little bit.

Don't be overloaded! Yes, there is A LOT to learn but it is supposed to be fun When it stops being fun then step back and let it go. Just learn a little at a time. Do some research and be patient. There's lots of good books and web sites to look at if you take your time. But remember, there is no easy fix. You must take it slow. Work on one thing to make your tracks better NOT perfect. And keep at it!!

Rich

[rhynoclemmis]

Ah, thanks for such answers. Whew.

Yup, I'll get a batch of songs done in RW and I guess I can always come back, upload them and ask "Mommy, what did I do wrong?"

[ShredRex]

Yeah learn how to squeeze everything you can out of RW, using EQ basic effects for flavour and compression can do wonders......that and a good mix of course.

Then look at exporting out to some other proggy for more of a mastering pass.......using a hard limiter, m/b compression, stereo widener and what not.....

I still like my mixes right out of RW best....but need to amplify the final mix in other proggys. But all that stuff is time consuming, and you can easily get lost and start spending too much time on tweaking and not enough time recording. Plus too much tweaking can ruin a good tune.....just my opinion.

[gatorjj]

ShredRex hits the nail on the head...great results start at tracking whether you are in a high-dollar studio or using RiffWorks in the shed, and IMHO that's about 85% of the battle. Mixing and mastering effects can be applied in small amounts to make a great performance shine instead of to correct things. It's the difference between "mixing" instead of "fixing"!

[troy2006]

Great topic! I totaly agrea with it starting with the tracks first AND RIFFWORKS alone can do the job . I just crank the stereo and still have volume to spare. but thanks to everybobody for explaining this because im looking foward to doing some mastering.I would like to know if mickey or anyone can help me out about this with using cubase? IS it posible or worth it to master using cubase? i would like to try then riffcast from riffworks.

[GuitarSlinger]

That's right! You own the volume knob so it doesn't need to be so loud. I try to master some of my better songs because its a fun way to experiment and learn, I'm pretty new at it I guess. But I like to try alot of things. Also, if you were putting a bunch of songs on an album youd want to master them so that the levels were close and no big volume jumps.

[rhynoclemmis]

That's right! You own the volume knob so it doesn't need to be so loud. I try to master some of my better songs because its a fun way to experiment and learn, I'm pretty new at it I guess. But I like to try alot of things. Also, if you were putting a bunch of songs on an album youd want to master them so that the levels were close and no big volume jumps.

Yes, but how do you make them loud?
My song-volume setting in RW is -6 mostly because else I get clipping. When I export the songs they are really silent. I need to crank my car stereo all the way up to get a decent volume.

[GuitarSlinger]

Use the Master Limiter I linked to a few posts back with another program.

[cwight]

That's right! You own the volume knob so it doesn't need to be so loud. I try to master some of my better songs because its a fun way to experiment and learn, I'm pretty new at it I guess. But I like to try alot of things. Also, if you were putting a bunch of songs on an album youd want to master them so that the levels were close and no big volume jumps.

Yes, but how do you make them loud?
My song-volume setting in RW is -6 mostly because else I get clipping. When I export the songs they are really silent. I need to crank my car stereo all the way up to get a decent volume.

Use gator's advice re mastering in Audacity (it's on his Webpage) and you can increase the volume as much as you want, but there are always compromises (clipping mainly). Once you have mastered your track in Audacity, save it as an OGG then you can load it onto your profile from Riffworld. The other thing to do is to find some casts that have been made to the site that you really like and ask the people who casted for advice about their mixing techniques. People on here are incredibly helpful and I suspect they won't mind you emailing them.

[troy2006]

THANKS COLLIN! I just got the audacity download and I was wondering how one would riffcast after using audacity .

[mickeymix]

Great topic! I totaly agrea with it starting with the tracks first AND RIFFWORKS alone can do the job . I just crank the stereo and still have volume to spare. but thanks to everybobody for explaining this because im looking foward to doing some mastering.I would like to know if mickey or anyone can help me out about this with using cubase? IS it posible or worth it to master using cubase? i would like to try then riffcast from riffworks.

I've used Cubase to master on a few occasions most notably here....on my RR V tune...mos def worth it to master in Cubase...it's just that lately I've gotten used to the Wavelab or T-Racks/Audacity combo, for mastering

http://www.riffworld.com/Members/admin/unassigned-riffcasts/groovy-chicks-rr-v-edition/