Mastering with OzoneTM Tools, tips and techniques © 2003 iZotope, Inc. All rights reserved. iZotope and Ozone are either registered trademarks or trademarks of iZotope, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other product or company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 4 What's Wrong With My Song? .................................................................................. 4 Intended Audience For This Guide ............................................................................ 4 WHAT IS MASTERING? .............................................................................................. 6 The "Commercial Sound" ........................................................................................ 6 Consistency across the CD ...................................................................................... 6 Preparation for Duplication ...................................................................................... 6 WHAT IS OZONE? ..................................................................................................... 7 A Mastering System ............................................................................................... 7 64-bit Audio Processing .......................................................................................... 7 Analog Modeling .................................................................................................... 7 Digital Precision ..................................................................................................... 7 Meters and DSP ..................................................................................................... 7 UI Efficiency.......................................................................................................... 8 GETTING SETUP FOR MASTERING ............................................................................... 9 Software and Sound Card........................................................................................ 9 Mastering Effects ................................................................................................... 9 Monitors ............................................................................................................. 10 Headphones ........................................................................................................ 12 SEVEN SUGGESTIONS WHILE MASTERING ................................................................. 13 EQ........................................................................................................................ 14 What's the Goal of EQ when Mastering? .................................................................. 14 EQ Principles ....................................................................................................... 14 Using the Ozone Paragraphic Equalizer.................................................................... 15 EQ Shapes .......................................................................................................... 16 EQ the Midrange .................................................................................................. 19 EQ the Bass ........................................................................................................ 20 EQ the Highs ....................................................................................................... 21 EQ'ing with Visual Feedback .................................................................................. 22 Spectrum Options ................................................................................................ 22 Snapshots........................................................................................................... 24 Digital or Analog EQ ............................................................................................. 24 Matching EQ........................................................................................................ 25 General EQ Tips ................................................................................................... 28 MASTERING REVERB ............................................................................................... 29 What's the Goal of Reverb when Mastering?............................................................. 29 Reverb Principles ................................................................................................. 29 Using the Ozone Mastering Reverb ......................................................................... 29 General Reverb Tips ............................................................................................. 32 MULTIBAND EFFECTS .............................................................................................. 34 Using Multiband Effects in Ozone............................................................................ 34 Setting Multiband Cutoffs ...................................................................................... 35 Crossover Options................................................................................................ 35 Multiband Main Points ........................................................................................... 36 MULTIBAND HARMONIC EXCITER.............................................................................. 37 Using the Multiband Harmonic Exciter in Ozone ........................................................ 37 General Exciter Tips ............................................................................................. 38 MULTIBAND STEREO IMAGING ................................................................................. 39 Using Multiband Stereo Widening in Ozone .............................................................. 40 Phase Meter ........................................................................................................ 40 Vectorscope ........................................................................................................ 41 Multiband Stereo Delay......................................................................................... 42 General Multiband Stereo Imaging Tips ................................................................... 42 MULTIBAND DYNAMICS ........................................................................................... 44 Compression Basics.............................................................................................. 44 OzoneTM Mastering Guide Page 2 of 66 ©2003 iZotope, Inc. Dynamics Meters ................................................................................................. 46 Overall Compression Strategy................................................................................ 49 Bringing Limiting and Expansion into the Mix ........................................................... 49 Limiter ............................................................................................................... 50 Compressor ........................................................................................................ 50 Expander ............................................................................................................ 50 Limiter/Compressor/Expander Summary ................................................................. 51 Multiband Dynamics ............................................................................................. 51 Bass Boost .......................................................................................................... 52 Warmth .............................................................................................................. 53 Vocal Treatment .................................................................................................. 54 Noise Gating ....................................................................................................... 54 LOUDNESS MAXIMIZER ........................................................................................... 56 Loudness Maximizer Principle................................................................................. 56 Using the Ozone Loudness Maximizer...................................................................... 57 General Loudness Maximizer Tips ........................................................................... 59 GENERAL OZONE TOOLS ......................................................................................... 60 Automation ......................................................................................................... 60 History List ......................................................................................................... 61 Setting the Order of the Mastering Modules ............................................................. 62 Preset Manager ................................................................................................... 63 Shortcut Keys and Mouse Wheel Support................................................................. 64 SUMMARY.............................................................................................................. 66 OzoneTM Mastering Guide Page 3 of 66 ©2003 iZotope, Inc. INTRODUCTION You've just finished recording what you think is a pretty good song in your project studio. The playing is good, the recording is clean and the mix is decent. So you burn it to a CD and proudly pop it in your CD player. But when you hear it played after a "commercial" CD, you realize that something is wrong. What's Wrong With My Song? · · · It's not loud enough. It sounds wimpy next to other CDs. Turning it up or mixing down at a higher level doesn't solve the problem. It sounds louder, but not, well LOUDER. It sounds dull. Other CDs have a sparkle that cuts through with excitement. You try boosting the EQ at high frequencies, but now your song just sounds harsh and noisy. The instruments and vocals sound thin. Commercial songs have a fullness that you know comes from some sort of compression. So you patch in a compressor and turn some controls. Now the whole mix sounds squashed. The vocal might sound fuller, but the cymbals have no dynamics. It's full...and lifeless. The bass doesn't have punch. You boost it with some low end EQ, but that just sounds louder and muddier. Not punchier. You can hear all the instruments in your mix, and they all seem to have their own "place" in the stereo image, but the overall image sounds wrong. Your other CDs have width and image that you just can't seem to get from panning the individual tracks. You had reverb on the individual tracks, but it just sounds like a bunch of instruments in a bunch of different spaces. Your other CDs have a sort of cohesive space that brings all the parts together. Not like rooms within a room, but a "sheen" that works across the entire mix. · · · Don't worry. It's not that you're doing anything wrong. There are just some things you still need to do to get that "sound". You just need the right tools and an understanding of how to use them. You won't become Bob Ludwig1 overnight (or probably ever) but you can make dramatic improvements in your master recordings with a little work. We put this document together to help others in their quest for better sounding masters. We don't claim to be mastering masters. If we could master the next Christina Aguilera hit would we be writing code and manuals or sitting in a mastering studio with Christina Aguilera? What we can give you is professional quality mastering software (iZotope OzoneTM) and guidance on how to use it. But in the end there are no right answers, no wrong answers, and no rules. At least if there are, we still haven't found them. So in the end just experiment and have fun. Intended Audience For This Guide · If you don't know anything about mastering and don't have Ozone, we still hope this guide will help you. Sure, we think you should use Ozone. But we learned a lot about mastering from "the online audio community" and we 1 http://www.gatewaymastering.com/ Bob Ludwig has won the TEC award for mastering every year he's been eligible. That pretty much sums it up. OzoneTM Mastering Guide Page 4 of 66 ©2003 iZotope, Inc. want to give something back in return (in addition to iZotope Vinyl2). This guide can be freely copied or distributed for noncommercial purposes for that reason. · · If you don't understand mastering but do have Ozone, you're in luck. Ozone gives you the tool to get "that sound" and this guide shows you how to do it. If you have Ozone and know the basics of mastering, this guide will still show you tricks or techniques that are possible in Ozone. Just say "yeah, I knew that" when appropriate for the other ...