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mastering for live performance
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Axolotyl
Started Topics :
9
Posts :
96
Posted : May 16, 2006 07:56
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Just wondering how well tracks need be mastered to play on a live PA? Since your not mixing into professionally mastered material, would the difference in quality be that noticable?
I also notice people playing live with hardware synths sometimes and obviously raw waveforms from synths arnt anywhere near mastered?!
I'm assuming even with signed artists, not every track is professionally mastered since a lot of artists test their stuff live before sending it out.
Can anyone with experience on live sets explain how they go about the process of preparing their material for a live set with regards to mixdown/mastering? |
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piXan
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
107
Posts :
807
Posted : May 17, 2006 05:13
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hi man.
i do some sort of mastering which is of course far from a professional track, but it suits fine for playing live or on mixed cds at sound systems in parties. I master each track individually on Steinberg Wavelab. When there is a good mixdown i dont think that any additional eq is necessary. I use first of all a multiband compressor, in this case Waves C4, then a Stereo Imager. Finally i apply a Limiter L2, to raise the sound to CD quality-gain. i ve been told that normalizing is good , but i dont like the results of that. hope this is helpful. Also, as i do my live playing on Ableton, i also put a limiter on the master output, so it takes effect on the live-triggered loops and synth lines.
cheers.
 www.soundcloud.com/elektroakustica/sets/downtempo/ |
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Meta
Meta/Boomslang
Started Topics :
24
Posts :
1045
Posted : May 17, 2006 07:48
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Trip-
IsraTrance Team
Started Topics :
101
Posts :
3239
Posted : May 17, 2006 08:15
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you play live... it doesn't have to be top notch mastered wall of sound.
What does matter, is that you check how your tracks sound on a mono channel, since in many cases live PA can be configured on mono - and your whole material gets wack.
Crackling universes dive into their own neverending crackle...
AgalactiA |
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solconnection
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
11
Posts :
46
Posted : May 17, 2006 09:39
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I dj'd all my unmastered tracks once and spent the whole set worrying about wether the leads were too piercing or the bass was too loud (which it was in places)
i reckon either master it yourself or get the tracks finished enough and have them mastered if you can get a good price for it.
i think people do have a certain expectation of quality these days...most major pro live acts ive heard sound like the material has been mastered.
have a nice day
-Dan
PS. hello fellow australien  |
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orange
Fat Data
Started Topics :
154
Posts :
3918
Posted : May 17, 2006 09:40
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Axolotyl
Started Topics :
9
Posts :
96
Posted : May 17, 2006 12:02
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I've been having a look at ...
http://www.livepa.org/board/
and a lot of people are recommending hardware compressors and analogue desks to control the sound more directly based on the sound of the PA?! I wonder if this is overkill and obviously one would need enough outputs to facilitate this sort of live mixing.
--> Hey Dan
yes it there is definately an expectation for high quality sound, however a lot of live acts I've heard have a very rough and almost overdriven sound to them which is quite different from a DJ's sound, especially the ones using live synths. Not as clear, but it still sounds kinda nice?!
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Colin OOOD
Moderator
Started Topics :
95
Posts :
5380
Posted : May 17, 2006 13:05
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If a live act sets up on stage with only a laptop, or is using only a Nord Lead, or you can see there are less than 5 channels plugged into their mixer it is 95% certain they are playing mastered stereo WAVs.
Stereo imagers are fine as mastering processes, especially if your kick and bass are mono - I use them all the time. You just have to keep checking the mastering in single-speaker mono to make sure everything is still there in the right proportions.
Mastering - http://mastering.OOOD.net :: www.is.gd/mastering
OOOD 5th album 'You Think You Are' - www.is.gd/tobuyoood :: www.OOOD.net
www.facebook.com/OOOD.music :: www.soundcloud.com/oood
Contact for bookings/mastering - colin@oood.net |
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UnderTow
Started Topics :
9
Posts :
1448
Posted : May 17, 2006 14:03
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I don't play live but I do play my own tracks in my DJ sets. Due to the way I work, the track is essentially mastered when I bounce it out of my sequencer.
I have an EQ a compressor and a limiter (or two and sometimes a distortion plug  ) on the main stereo bus the whole time. These shape the sound and get the desired loudness throughout the production stage.
UnderTow
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shachar
Basic
Started Topics :
13
Posts :
402
Posted : May 17, 2006 14:08
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we make our own master versions for the tracks.
usually include eq, compressor & limiter.
of course not every track needs the same master process.
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D-Alien
Oxidelic
Started Topics :
51
Posts :
619
Posted : Jun 5, 2006 23:15
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..wow so helpfull topic. I wonder why there are so little responds, having in mind this big amount of artists that produce music but have not been released. So if they want to play their tracks live, they must have some mastering process applied. 2 days ago I've played some tracks on a party and I've noticed very well all that misses in the sound to be competitive to the other tracks I've played (original).
I'll tell u the process I've been using so please if somebody sees some error or can give some advice, share it please.
I make my tracks on Logic 5.5.1
bass, kik are on diferent buses. bass have sidechain compresion with an inaudible part of the kik which i've made previously on a muted send bus. i've applyed on it the RBASS also (before the compression) and some slight Equing, following some examples from isra forum. the kik has also some slight Equing, its done in Logic's ES1 (using for base the resokick preset). hi-hats, snares, also go to proper buses, synths I've separated in 2 main groups (diferent bus for every group). I was told i must use as less as posible EQing on synths so that i can safe the vast dynamic presence of the sound, but use more stereo spreads so that all synths can share the same space. i make some slight modifications on the gains of every synth depending on it role. Than I bounce the track without any final compressor, limiter or EQ, with lowered master volume level (about -3db)in a 24bit wav file, so that i can preserve the original dynamics. I open this file in Soundforge and apply Ozone Isotope 3 over it, playing a lot with all the posibilities that this mastering tool gives... But, playing at the party I felt a lack of power, although if at my home i compare this track with some mastered ones there is not so big diference in question of gain power, but on the PA... thay sounded much more weak...
Give us some more tips how can a track produced at home (I'm using an M-Audio card) can sound at least acceptable for a PA system...
thanxx
Sound:
www.myspace.com/oxidelic
www.myspace.com/setanicmusic
Image:
www.antumbra-studio.com |
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Kitnam
Mantik
Started Topics :
110
Posts :
1151
Posted : Jun 6, 2006 00:54
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with systems like ableton or any inteligent live-setting you can even go through a smooth software compressor, limiter, vintage tool, whatever you want to make it all sounding solid. thats not mastering but something like a live-aid. and put a freq-analyzer into it, maybe you will need it 
in my experience the eq in the livemix is essential, if you have your eq-settings during the set well done, everything will be fine and you will even dont need something on the main-out.
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le barde
Electrypnose
Started Topics :
32
Posts :
348
Posted : Jun 6, 2006 01:44
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work on mastering processes hardly since 3 years.
nothing new from the begining as we need more or less :
- eq
- stereo imager for the high-meds and highs (if you are making a mastering on several channels, better to not touch the kik-bass frequencies range with such fx .. and this step is not really necessary if you work good on the stereo image in your mix)
- compressor
- limiter
- and ..keep an eye on dithering !
after its all about how to set it, what speakers you use ... at what time you do it, if you drunk a tea or a coffee this morning...
never believe get an amazing sound with a shitty mix.
to play live, its much better to have mastered material if you want to have a punch like the dj before you.
otherwise you will go to the red limits of the mixer and PA system, like the dj before, but with much less power.
getting more involved in making masters for artists and labels these days, you can contact for any interest.
http://www.electrypnose.ch |
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Stranger_GR
Stranger
Started Topics :
8
Posts :
685
Posted : Jun 6, 2006 09:34
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e-motion
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
71
Posts :
933
Posted : Jun 6, 2006 12:52
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i master my own tracks (or better said... i newbie my own tracks lol). but when i do a live i separate every of my tracks in a Kick & Bass channel, Percursion, Leads, etc. how do i master this then? have a fixed simple mastering in the master channel or i automate the presets of this mastering chain? thanks in advance i'm cursious about this one. |
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