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Mastering in Cubase??

cubefactor	Date: November 1, 2005 @ 8:16 PM hi...i know a lot of you guys are probably sick of hearing this but im new to cubase (actually havent even played with it at all). From the top....i make a song (dnb) in Fruity Loops. They sound pretty sweet when exported as a wav/mp3 on a CD etc but i heard mastering it through Cubase makes it sound like the real deal. I was told to export each element as a separate .wav (eg. export the drums as a single .wav then export the bassline as a single .wav etc) then bring it into Cubase. then what? do i have to know what knobs to turn and all that technical stuff?...or is it just a matter of exporting it again through Cubase as the programe will do it all for you? any help...screen shots...etc would be a great help. cheers all
AdamsGod	Date: November 1, 2005 @ 11:40 PM hmm... ok. first.. you export every kind of different insturment that you have used on FL. if its the snare drum or the bass or a synth, everything should be exported individually, everything. in cubase what you would do is work on the mix, the effects etc. i never used cubase for mastering, for that you should try Wave Lab, i like the quality you get from that.
cubefactor	Date: November 1, 2005 @ 11:51 PM eek! that specific?! so you have to export everything separately right down to the hi hats? are you sure? ...so if i have used over 100 instruments in a song does that mean i'll have to export over 100 separate .wav tracks?
GeneHilbert	Date: November 2, 2005 @ 12:23 AM You can mix them down as “stems” (a sub-mixed groups ) i.e. drums, brass, keys, bass, guitars or as a stereo mix-down. The whole idea is to mix in the program. I'm not sure what you are attempting to do is even necessary. Even then there are a lot of ways to make it work or screw it up. I would recommend reading the manual... first and foremost, People write books on recording and mixing in Cubase... it is not an easy program for a novice. As well, Cubase will not work miracles - so make sure your takes are perfect because you will only get out what you put in.
cubefactor	Date: November 2, 2005 @ 12:41 AM huh?...i thought mastering/mixing down was at all costs the most important thing in production. basically i just wanted to know if i need to know the mad technical stuff to do the following things in Cubase (or any other app for that matter): 1. EQing - Getting rid of all the freqs you dont want in each Audio/Midi track. This will give each sound its distinctive shine in the finished track. 2. Stereo Field - decide which sound to pan right/left and how much. Leaving enough space in the middle for more important instruments. 3. Leveling - decide how much Db you want on each Audio/Midi track, balance the tracks so each sound sitts perfectly in the mix. (once you got rid of unwanted freqs, this should'nt pose much of a problem). cheers
GeneHilbert	Date: November 2, 2005 @ 1:16 AM Absolutely - You can do all that....... However - getting good quality track takes is where it all starts.... without that you are doomed from the beginning....
cubefactor	Date: November 2, 2005 @ 5:26 AM huh?...i thought mastering/mixing down was at all costs the most important thing in production. basically i just wanted to know if i need to know the mad technical stuff to do the following things in Cubase (or any other app for that matter): 1. EQing - Getting rid of all the freqs you dont want in each Audio/Midi track. This will give each sound its distinctive shine in the finished track. 2. Stereo Field - decide which sound to pan right/left and how much. Leaving enough space in the middle for more important instruments. 3. Leveling - decide how much Db you want on each Audio/Midi track, balance the tracks so each sound sitts perfectly in the mix. (once you got rid of unwanted freqs, this should'nt pose much of a problem). cheers
DaveWL	Date: November 2, 2005 @ 9:46 AM Cubase will have tools to change all these setting (As would any music Software package) but it won’t actually decide for you which are the right settings. There is a lot theory about where different instruments should lie in the mix and what frequencies to boost/cut for each instrument for it to sound best but at the end of the day its for you to use your ears with maybe a bit of theory and develop your own ideas. WaveLAb has some analysis tools but then it’s not a multitrack audio editor in the same sense that it has a studio type interface to it. A spectrum analyser is a useful tool. There is at least 1 free VST available. As for isolating individual instruments that a good idea because the more control you will have. For example hi-hats are usually panned wider in the mix than snare and kick. Some people might even have the set of Toms panned across the spectrum. But if you can already separate individual drum sounds in FL then you could mix one drum track. I personally keep them separate for the final mix. The other thing is effects, reverb, compression etc – how you use these will dramatically change the overall sound. Cubase has some good built in ones but it’s worth building up your own collection of VST or DX effects. So to answer your question Cubase has a nice interface for changing these settings but you will have to decide yourself what to change them to.
hueseph	Date: November 2, 2005 @ 9:43 PM You can do all the things youmentionedd within Fruityloops. You can adjust pan within each instrument panel before you even assemble your playlist. You can add compression, eq, verb, delay all within FL. I'm guessing that it's cracked software because otherwise you would have read your manual and would already know this. That being the case, this is about as far as I'm willing to help you. As far as mastering in cubase. Look up the definition of mastering. There are a lot of confused views as to what mastering is. The truth is in the word. Master of what? What is the purpose of creating a master? If you can answer these questions, you will have a better Idea of what you need to achieve it.
GeneHilbert	Date: November 2, 2005 @ 10:20 PM Cha-ching
orgasmotron	Date: November 3, 2005 @ 10:40 PM one word: compression. and not the "explosive de-" type. thats a bit more messier and less helpful to this so called "mastering" process.
LiQuidMetamo...	Date: March 19, 2006 @ 2:35 PM Mastering in cubase is possible, but better done with specialized mastering plug-ins (not included in the regular cubase sx/sl/se plug-ins), although things such as the VST dynamics & EQ plug-ins will work, they are not dedicated mastering plugs - such as the Steinberg Mastering Edition set (which includes spectographs for db levels and rms levels, pan oscilloscopes etc. better levelling tools and a multiband compressor, stereo widening etc) or something like the Ozone plug-ins or similar. Or you can get Wavelab (very nice program but very costly, which includes lots of specialized plugs and features including DVD-audio, red book CD, surround sound options, etc, etc) or for a bit less Sony Soundforge 8 (which does most of what wavelab does but is a bit cheaper) or even Audacity. The best option yet (and obviously most costly) for real high quality works etc. is to have it done at a pro facility and have your work mastered with seperations - here is a link by top mastering engineer john vestman http://www.johnvestman.com/separations.htm
EchoMinor	Date: March 26, 2006 @ 3:06 AM i only use cubase now for mastering the volume side of everything...for some reason i am always shy a few db in Audition when i mixdown. just cant seem to squeeze anymore db out of the track without it smashing into Odb going into the forbidden redzone of death!!! cubase for some reason is always louder when i mix down...
Lemieux1	Date: June 10, 2006 @ 7:50 PM Well me i'm using cubase only for recording and mixing song. When it time for mastering i use another software who allow me a better eq. By the way i have an external spectrum analyser that allow me to see what frequency is to loud. That way i can use my ear and my eyes for the work i have to do. Good luck in your work.

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