A newbies question about Online Mixing & Mastering....

[RaGe.]

I was looking to get some Recordings i did with a friend of mine in his studio Mixed and mastered professionally over the net.

The sound is good but can be improved.

However, my question is; how would I send the file to the online mastering services? I want vocals, adlibs, instrumental etc. mixed and mastered pro.

After I have recorded with my friend, what should I tell him to do so that I can have each part of the song mixed and mastered (exporting as blah...blah file)?

I know about keeping the levels below 0db if Im correct...?

Appreciate the help...

[wado1942]

Yes, you're correct in keeping the levels below 0. Peaking below -3dB is what I recommend.
I frequently master audio using the internet and even ocassionally mix with files sent over the net. Just upload your files to an FTP server and give the mastering engineer the URL, username and password. Many engineers have their own FTP sites for this purpose. When you're ready to upload your files, make a document containing notes on what you want the master to sound like. Things like.

01 - "Video is for Wimps", little bass heavy compared to others. Cross-fade into next track starting at 3:20. Use your judgement on how fast.

02 - "If Shrimp Could Whistle", good as is. Quick fade after last note, leave silence between songs.

03 - "My Coffee is Green", crackle during break is intentional. Let chorus repeat and gradually fade at the end.

Your mastering engineer will send E-mail or call with any questions. Like one time I was working on an electronic tune and there was a rather wimpy bass drum sample to end it which seemed anti-climactic. With the client's permission, I hyped up the last hit and mixed in reverb with a long decay. Sometimes when the client asks for something very specific, I may send short samples of my interperetation of those notes to see if it's what he wanted. It's a very efficient way to work.

I must say, sometimes sending a DVD-ROM is more efficient and safer for a mixing job, especially if there's a lot of tracks.

[brethes]

The size of the song files for mixing will be quite big so depending on your internet connection speed and location, you can either upload the files to an FTP or using a delivery service such as Yousendit.com or Sendspace, or post/courier DVDs of the files to the studio.

Unless the songs are recording in the same application as the studio uses (Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase...), the best way to get them mixed is to export/bounce each track as a continuous audio file, with all the files starting at bar 1. The tracks should be clean of effects (reverb, delay, EQ, compression) unless this is part of the desired sound and not expected to change. If in doubt, do one version of that particular track dry, and one with the effect in place so that the engineer has a choice. If you have done some tuning on voices but think it can be done better, send also the original un-tuned vocal tracks.

Labelling of the traks is equally important for mixing or mastering, and good communication (usually by email) with the engineer is a must in most cases.

Once you have chosen a studio for either mixing or mastering, contact the engineer by email to check what are his/her requirements or recommendations before sending the files and discuss the price for doing the multiple versions as this is usually extra.

[RaGe.]

Thanks a lot both of the guys above.

But if I am sending seperate files; how will the engineer know where the vocals and so on go or will I have to place them where they were myself when sent back.....?

[wado1942]

All tracks should start at "0:00" so there's no possible way for them to be out of sync.

[Waltz Mastering]

Originally Posted by wado1942

All tracks should start at "0:00" so there's no possible way for them to be out of sync.

What Stephen and Brethes are saying, it's different for each daw but in Pro Tools if you highlight all your tracks from the end of the song to the very start of the session, go to the edit window > select consolidate tracks. Go to your audio folder hit date modified, the new consolidated tracks will all be the same size, put them in a new folder, zip and send.

[RaGe.]

Ahh..........I see..

Thanks a lot for the help everyone....