Hi Mike, thank you so much for a truly excellent video, put together so professionally and so practical. Two questions that I have: Would you recommend before volume maching that it would be a good idea to make a copy of your reference track so that when you come to stage 10 (increasing loudness) you still have a visual thinckness of the reference track waveform to compare yours too so that it can give a visual on how much to increase the loudness by? The second question I have is- would you recommend putting a gain plugin after the Saturation plugin in order to gainstage after saturation as the saturation plugin did appear to add quite a bit of gain? Many thanks, regards Stuart
Hi Stuart, thanks for the excellent questions. The easy one first - yes, go ahead and use a gain plugin whenever the plug-in his neither an input or output level control. As for using the reference track for loudness, it depends on what platform it was mastered for. A CD or downloadable mp3 can afford to be mastered louder, and can really been done to taste. Streaming services like Spotify, Soundcloud etc, have specific loudness requirements, and you run the risk of your song being even quieter as they compress it. Remember we are talking about ‘loudness’ (perceived volume) rather than peak volume. So I feel you are much better using metering plugins to hit the right specifications.
For reference: 1. Preparation 2:05 (trimming, importing reference track, interface cleanup including console) 2. Metering 8:45 (insert metering plug-in, level match reference and song track) 3. High Pass EQ 12:25 (removing low-end buildup) 4. Console Emulator 14:21 *optional* (add analog warmth) 5. Saturation 15:59 *optional* 6. Compression 17:21 (allow for more control over song peaks) 7. Stereo Widening 22:12 8. Final EQ 23:27 (removing overwhelming bass frequenciess, adding sparkle to top end frequecies) 9. Automation 26:18 10. Loudness 28:02 I find that I'm having to come back here frequently so putting these reference points here would help both myself and others when I want to revisit specific sections. Hope it helps the rest of y'all.
Thanks this i really good nad helpful road map Infact i am using i as cheat sheet during mastering so i dont miss any steps And offcourse thanks to mike for making sucha wonderful video
Two truly outstanding things about this video. First, it's practical. It provides a series of no-nonsense, concrete steps to help get you where you want to go. Second, not a hint of arrogance! So many mixing and mastering videos are dripping with disdain for the common man. There are so many mixing and mastering "gurus" (and their fanboys) who seem to think that their ears are literally made of gold. This video proves that it doesn't have to be that way!
Only 5 minutes in and I've already learned something new about Cakewalk... grabbing the corners and dragging in to do the fades. I was doing all my fades with volume automation. Thanks for this time-saving tip!
I dont know how to thank you. I learned, using my audio drivers, recording Di, mixing, making multitrack drums, using the VSTs included in the package and few extras. I even learned reamping! Now I need to learn mastering. Thanks man. I hated my DAWs. I hate every DAW when it is the first time I use it, because I simply dont know how to do stuff I want to do. You made me love cakewalk. I still have allot to learn, but now I have the big picture in to what is actually going on in Cakewalk. I have BOSS GT-100 and I thaught it was garbage because I had input lags, I didnt know it could record DI and reamp. You got me in to Cakewalk and this thing started to work. You saved me so much money. I was about to buy new Audio Interface, DI box and Reamp Box, FRFR speakers and all kinda sht I thaught I needed for recording. Im not gonna buy all this junk now after you showed me how to use cakewalk, and i hooked it up to my GT-100. I was blown by this. I had it all the time I didnt know it. Thanks man! You saved me allot of money, and probably a year of my life.
I used to pay for regular major upgrades when Cakewalk was Sonar by Cakewalk. I was happy to do so as it is a great program. Then Gibson CEO destroyed the brand. He was probably paid by AVID to destroy the competition.
Im an old school engineer, who's pretty new to the whole DAW thing, so this has been really helpful and informative. I really like your patient detailed way of explaining things, while managing not to get tied up in the minutia. Definitely subscribing. Thanks. Btw, that song was lovely and your mix was exemplary.
@@CreativeSauce Im sure you will, brother. This Cakewalk DAW is giving me headaches already. Waaay back on the day, I used a DOS based version in my home studio and made it work well for me, and I had some pretty mad engineering skills back then (taught a college workshop in it) So I'm banging my head and wondering how I got so far behind so quickly. LOL Btw, after watching this, I watched a guy talking about "quality" effects available for free. When he did a demo of them, I realized it was everything I can stand in today's music. And then he added even more. Argh!!! I sure hope guys like you and I, who appreciate the subtle use of tech to improve our mixes aren't a dying breed. - Jstn
Mike, I just wanted to say that your videos are the bees-knees! Man, I wish I had found these a couple of years ago when I was working on my first Cakewalk project. I have learned so much in so little time. Thank you! Looking forward to going down the rabbit hole soon to unlock all of this DAW's potential. Keep um' coming! NC
Thanks Mike, i think you are a kind of angel who came to the Earth to safe Cakewalk´s users. I apreciate so much your profesionality and knowelege to help full us. Bless you
I can't thank you enough for all the great information you share! I don't fancy myself a true "home recording aficionado" - more of a demo-maker, really - but your content has improved the quality of my output immeasurably.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I'm a long-time user of Cakewalk (Sonar) and you are teaching and helping me in ways I simply would have taken a long time to figure out. You're a great teacher and I'm very fortunate to have found your channel. Thanks a bunch! from a grateful musician.
Very helpful! My entry into the world of recording and mixing has been made much less frustrating thanks to your dedication and expertise. I am so thankful for all of your videos.
mike it was a pleasure to watch this tutorial. i know i have said before that your videos are really well polished and produced but they really do keep getting better. i also appreciate the time you put into them. we get to watch a half hour video that took LOTS of work. nice one mate!!!!!!
Thanks Glyn. This was interesting for me, as I didn't use any of the commercial plugins that I normally do. I'll do an update video some time of my current practice :)
Thanks Mike, this video was immensely helpful. I have been breaking my head trying to get my mix sound right, but I was unable to fix it, till I found your video. You've made my day. Bless you.
Hi Mike, two weeks ago, this was the first of your videos I saw and how I found your channel. Your videos are great! My favourites are the Cakewalk Basics and the Record, Mix, Release playlists. I'm starting from zero, I just ordered an audio interface and I'm eager to get started. You helped a lot! Thank you!
Recently had time to get away from Abe Live a bit and dig back into my first love, Sonar Platinum, that I always keep around, but don't use as much. I'm so delighted and re-impressed by all this DAW has to offer (now that I've actually paid closer attention to it). So, imo, this tut is friggin' GOLD and EXACTLY the powerful simplicity I needed as I meld back toward a more "less is more" approach in my mixing and mastering. Thx a million! 👏🏿 Hymn
What a wealth of wisdom shared ever so generously from our MasterJedi. To be honest, my head is spinning and I probably need a swig of that Creative Sauce. But I took good notes and will watch it all again before attempting a Mastering session over the coming weeks. Thank-you!
Hey Mike. Wish I had found your vids years ago. I think I started using Cakewalk in 2004. But learnt most in the last weeks by watching your vids. Mastering one is excellent. Thanks so much.
Excellent. I am 97, so please don't be jealous, but the voice you used here and some other times too is lovely, and would love to listen to her more. I am in the classical music, so this like is quite unusual.
Thank you Mike for another valuable lesson. I just did everything step by step, I didn't always hear the difference turning the knobs thinking to myself "I have no idea what I'm doing". well, everything is ahead of me. Thank you for the channel again.
Really helpful video, thanks Mike. I've recently begun exploring the world of DAWs and home recording and I'm finding your channel to be an absolute gold mine.
Timely content for where I’m at with my current project. Many thanks for the hard work, knowledge and high quality output. Creative Sauce is helping me keep my love of music alive and well plus you’re facilitating a long desired (also long neglected ) desire to produce. Thank you Mike, we appreciate everything you’re doing for us 👍🏾
Great video as always Mike, very informative and easy to follow. However, for those of us who might want a quick (and not so dirty) solution to see how a mastered mix might work there is a wee trick I use which might be helpful for other viewers.The first steps using a reference track and metering with SPAN are essential but you can go straight to a mastering preset after you have those in place. How? Insert a new FX Chain at the very end of the Master bus (open the Pro Channel on the Master bus, right click , Insert Module and choose FX Chain). Beneath the header of the new FX Chain click the wee "+" next to FX and choose "Load FX Chain Preset" and choose the "Mastering" folder. There are a few useable mastering "one shots" in there which might be enough for a quick job. The one called "a bit louder" works well on noisy rock guitar based material when you're happy with your mix but just need to give it a kick up the arse and boost it towards 0db. There are also a number of other useful one shot FX chain goodies in there for vocals, guitar and bass etc which I actually stumbled upon by accident. Mike's advice is spot on though and I would urge you to try it as well but like I say my tip can yield quick results for less effort and you are maybe a newbie who can't be bothered RTFM and just want some results!
Excellent video with some great ideas! I will definitely look into span. I watched this after your video using ozone 8 and I really like the detail here.
Great video Mike. I use the LP Multi-band EQ and Compressor that came with Sonar Platinum using trial and error stepping through the pre-sets then adjusting to suit plus the CA-2A compressor, Brick Wall Limiter and the BT Stereo Imager - so similar components. I will try your method using the plug-ins suggested as it seems more methodical. I really like the Voxengo Span plug-in, that is something that could really benefit my masters. Thanks for all your videos, they are all easy to understand while being quite in-depth. Well done.
Hi David, you may well come up with a hybrid solution between my method and your own. In the end, do what seems to give you the best result! Thank you for taking the time to watch :)
Absolutely killer tutorial as usual. I can't say enough good things. One thing I'll say (just in case some newbies like me make the same mistake) If you don't turn off SPAN it will mute and unmute parts of the song, unless you buy the full version. It took me two days to figure out why my sound was "dropping out", it was even carrying over to the exported MP3. Finally someone suggested checking my VSTs to see if any were in trial mode and ta-da! Problem solved. Just power it off when you're done using it.
I am so grateful for this video. I dont have the money to pay someone to master my tracks for my EP. Looks like i can do it myself now! And feel clever along the way.
Great video, thanks! I just want to point out that TDR Nova isn't simply an equalizer, it's actually a dynamic EQ / multi-band compressor (tho you don't HAVE TO use it that way I suppose, as you did) Also regarding Nova: TDR Nova is free, but with some limits which you have to pay to unlock. There IS another version of it tho, which is 100% free with no limits. It's on Vladg Sound's website, and is called Nova 67P. Vladg and TDR have gotten together on several plugins now, and they're awesome. Vladg tho has several WONDERFUL plugins on his own website: Molot, Limiter No. 6, and Nova 67P. All WELL worth downloading. Molot is a compressor with character; it is decidedly NOT clean, but does sound wonderful. Limiter No. 6 has mulitple units and sounds quite clean. It's a compressor-limiter, well suited to mastering. Limiter No. 6 is one of them that he has released with TDR as well, but again you'd have to pay to unlock some features. Not so with the version on Vladg's website.
Exactly what I needed: clear and concise with many useful tips along the way. But....I need to make some notes...! That final mastering stage is where it can all go horribly wrong. This video is going to help me actually learn what I`m doing here...!
Thanks! Awesome! I don't see though why you can't master in the project section. I do that all the time. Instead of exporting I bounce the tracks to a new track and make all the adjustments there. I keeps everything into one window and can be saved in a bundle (.cwb). It also convenient to have all the tracks in reach incase you want to go back to them and make some small adjustments.
For mixing I absolutely agree. For this tutorial it was a bit of a stretch. No really good metering, lack of a useful maximiser, and widener. There is the "Depth" module for widening, but it's bad. The bus compressor is kind of ok, but maybe not a small enough ratio sometimes. It's possible, but why make it harder when there are useful free 3rd party plugins is what I ask myself!
@@CreativeSauce absolutely, I go straight for Ozone 9 in mastering. Picked that up for my bday in October, got such a great deal on their music production suite 3. Izotope on everything! lol
Yes, that's the reality for me also. For this vid I wanted to stick to free stuff, but the paid plugins make life a fair bit easier. Although I sometimes use bits of fabfilter stuff, and parts of the t-racks suite, I just feel that the imager and maximiser with ozone can't be beaten.
@@CreativeSauce Will Ozone 10 work in Cakewalk? After reading your comments, I looked up the product. The bundle seems like the way to go, but I didn't see Cakewalk listed as a supported host.
Another great video Mike - as you suggested some of the tweaks were very subtle and I struggled to hear them but at 60 years old and after many years of gig going my ears are definitely not what they were! Fascinating stuff though!
Thank you so much, Mike! I too have learned so much from your 30 minute video! I have recently come over to Cakewalk from Mixcraft, and after learning and working in Mixcraft for over 2 years, I never even knew of such a thing as "mastering outside the DAW". Plus I always wondered about those check boxes like "dithering", haha. You won't be surprised to know that, even though my mix sounded good from within the DAW, by the time it was exported, it sounded like sh*t!!! So thanks again!
I prefer to "bounce to tracks" within my working song file to produce an audio file of the song, which appears as an audio track. That way I have the audio next to the tracks and I can bounce back and forth between them. When I'm happy with the results, I'll export that bounced track to an audio file.
Mike, dont tell them to go to a sound engeneer for mastering, because then they will stop comming here.. This is one of my favorite videos on your channel . I learned so much stuff that otherwise seemed like black magic.
Hi Mike...was wondering if you could do a video tutorial on using Span for comparing Drums to Bass , Guitars to Vocals ....basically any permutation. Its the setting up of routing that I find I have trouble with and how to go about using it in CbB. I have managed to do this before but find that it is a very hit or miss process that doesn't work every time. Thanks for all your videos.....very informative.
Very good video! I've been using Cakewalk Sonar and its earlier incarnations for decades and found your using a separate project with a single waveform an interesting take on mastering, one which I may adopt. I'll be watching your videos from now on. Also, thanks for using a REAL song for demonstration as opposed to a lot of EDM or headbanger tunes!
Mike, You are an amazing teacher! Everything is very clear as you explain in detail. Thank you for your hard work. I am glad I came across you. Is there a mastering software that you can run the mix through to achieve all of the steps you showed. Thank You!
Mike just incase anyone runs into the issue I did I want them to know that the free plug in you suggested for stereo widening won't work correctly unless you buy it. It's that izotope plug in. It will cause your song to randomly cut out. I couldn't figure out why my audio was randomly cutting out on my masters. Once I got rid of that plugin. I had know problem. I had to research a little but it happens because it's a demo version. If anyone knows how to work around it and get it to work without buying the software would be helpful. So just letting whoever reads this know that it may cause problems with audio drop out.
One thing I found out, is the Ozone imager, which is now Ozone imager 2, is it is not free. It is a trail, then after the trial, you can continue to use the demo, but then they screw up your audio. I thought something was wrong with the settings of my DAW or the computer audio, I was freaked. But then I took the ozone imager off, because I had a hunch after getting a notice that my trial was over, and no audio problems. All the high quality free or free or Full versions that don't resort to sabotaging your audio to get you to buy the full versions. I'll never use anything from izotope at all. Some people just suck at public relations.
Automation is the key to a successful song mastering. Maybe you could have added one for volume after talking about it as an example. Great instructions.
Yes, as I was making this yesterday I be and aware that this deserved to be at least a 3 part series. I was getting concerned about adding more detail at over 30 mins. A future video I think!
Mike, I really enjoy your videos.These are the best tutorials on Cakewalk I have viewed. And I have been using cakewalk since Windows 95. My question isn't about this particular video but another video where you demonstrated changing a tracks clips to one single clip. Could you tell me which video demonstrates that method? Thank you.
Great one again Mike! Very informative, well done and lively. You have a knack for this for sure! I am curious though: what is the difference on doing this inside the mix project (which I have been doing until now) instead of exporting to a stereo mixed file first. You did say we could ask! :-)
Hi Jacques! I hope you are well. So I'm afraid the answer is a little long! First a little history. Traditionally the mix engineer and the mastering engineer were separate roles. The mastering engineer wasn’t very interested in adjusting the mix, so he/she only needed a stereo file to work with. Now, in a home studio, you are likely to have both roles, so you don’t need to stick to this. So actually, you can choose to master in your mix project, and that’s OK. So why don’t I? Firstly, system resources. At this point I already have maybe up to 100 plugins on the go, and commercial mastering plugins can be pretty heavy. So it’s nice to start with a clean slate, and just use the few plugins I need. Secondly, I think it’s a good idea to mentally commit to a mix. To say in your mind “I’m done tweaking, I’m gonna move to the final stages”. Many including me, have had songs on our computers for years, stuck at the mixing phase “Just in case”. So I think it’s good to draw a line under it. Lastly, when mastering songs for an EP or album, it’s nice to master them all together. In this case, I’d load up each song into this file (all stereo WAVs), and proceed to master them all. I feel this makes sense when you are treating them as one body of work which will have the same ‘sound’. There you go - you asked!
@@CreativeSauce Thanks for the explanation. I have been mixing for a while, but I never really got a grasp on mastering, how to and what for. Your video and this explanation made things clearer.
I really enjoyed this. I used very similar plugins sometime back. These days I tend to use Reaper rather than Cakewalk to master. However when it comes to LUFS settings I found the Youlean LUFS meter (free if you like) was easier to use than looking at SPAN. Even though these days I have Izotope Insight I still have Youlean in my master chain. (Just a thought)
I found Youlean so handy I paid for the Pro. (Not that I needed it but to support the developer). It was quite cheap but the free version does what is needed.
Love your Vids mike, im a newbie so they are very helpful. would you be able to do a video about how to use the CLA Mixdown plugin from waves in cakewalk? bought the signature series of plugins and the mixdown. not quite sure the correct way to set it up and use it as far as bussing and getting all the tracks sent to it. thanks, keep up the great work!!!!!
same here. bought the CLA signature bundle (guitar, bass, drums, etc) about 2 weeks ago. INSTANTLY made a difference in individual tracks. got the mix down also. not sure if im suing it correct either. i would suggest his CLA epic also. i havent got to mess with it much yet but the Echosphere that come with it is great. used it for the 1st time last night on a lead vocal. used "vocal #1" preset and didnt have to go any further. sounded great
I have been watching this series. MAN, I have learned so much. I don’t thInk I could say thank you enough! Things are well explained here, even for some of us newbies. Just awesome! Question though. I was trying to load the Ozone imager. I am having all sorts of trouble on the site. Is there another plugin that does the same thing? Thanks again Mike!
Hi Mike, thanks a million for this instructive video! I was wondering: should we also master for the so-called "sound enhancements" (f.i. in Windows) that most people have on by default? It boosts the bass, makes music louder etc. I have also noticed that the so-called enhacements can lead to unwanted distortions. Can we/should we circumvent these distortions and anhancements in our master? is that even possible? Cheers.
Amazing, very informative, I got a question though, why you use FX Chain instead of just using the regular FX Rack? the ProChannel signal is routed prior to the channel’s FX Rack (pre) by default anyway. keep the success! =)
@@CreativeSauce, Can you recommend a third party gain staging vst? I always watch your tutorial even though I'm on ableton live. I trust your tutorials since you're the only one explained clearly how compression works. It really helps me a lot.
Cool stuff. About the saturation knob, there's a little light there that begins to flicker as you turn it up. I've been setting saturation so that the light just begins to flicker, thinking it may be some sort of clipping signal. Is this the way you use it? I can't tell with your video, cuz that effect is too tiny on my screen.
Hi Mike. First of all, loved all your Cakewalk contents and totally grateful for all your effort to give us this kind of tutorials. Second, what if I don't have a reference track to use? Many thanks.
Hi Mike, thank you so much for a truly excellent video, put together so professionally and so practical. Two questions that I have: Would you recommend before volume maching that it would be a good idea to make a copy of your reference track so that when you come to stage 10 (increasing loudness) you still have a visual thinckness of the reference track waveform to compare yours too so that it can give a visual on how much to increase the loudness by? The second question I have is- would you recommend putting a gain plugin after the Saturation plugin in order to gainstage after saturation as the saturation plugin did appear to add quite a bit of gain? Many thanks, regards Stuart
Hi Stuart, thanks for the excellent questions. The easy one first - yes, go ahead and use a gain plugin whenever the plug-in his neither an input or output level control.
As for using the reference track for loudness, it depends on what platform it was mastered for. A CD or downloadable mp3 can afford to be mastered louder, and can really been done to taste. Streaming services like Spotify, Soundcloud etc, have specific loudness requirements, and you run the risk of your song being even quieter as they compress it. Remember we are talking about ‘loudness’ (perceived volume) rather than peak volume. So I feel you are much better using metering plugins to hit the right specifications.
@@CreativeSauce Thanks so much Mike for answering these questions, I really appreciate it, your advice is very helpful. Take care :)
i doing Remix do you Like to Play some electric guitar
@@CreativeSauce can you do New Video How to Mix song and Mastering
For reference:
1. Preparation 2:05 (trimming, importing reference track, interface cleanup including console)
2. Metering 8:45 (insert metering plug-in, level match reference and song track)
3. High Pass EQ 12:25 (removing low-end buildup)
4. Console Emulator 14:21 *optional* (add analog warmth)
5. Saturation 15:59 *optional*
6. Compression 17:21 (allow for more control over song peaks)
7. Stereo Widening 22:12
8. Final EQ 23:27 (removing overwhelming bass frequenciess, adding sparkle to top end frequecies)
9. Automation 26:18
10. Loudness 28:02
I find that I'm having to come back here frequently so putting these reference points here would help both myself and others when I want to revisit specific sections. Hope it helps the rest of y'all.
Thanks Loisa!
Thanks this i really good nad helpful road map
Infact i am using i as cheat sheet during mastering so i dont miss any steps
And offcourse thanks to mike for making sucha wonderful video
thanks mate ur the best
its 70% talk
your youtube name is the best and thank you for making our lives easier with this
Thank you for this summary!
Two truly outstanding things about this video. First, it's practical. It provides a series of no-nonsense, concrete steps to help get you where you want to go.
Second, not a hint of arrogance! So many mixing and mastering videos are dripping with disdain for the common man. There are so many mixing and mastering "gurus" (and their fanboys) who seem to think that their ears are literally made of gold. This video proves that it doesn't have to be that way!
He's super-talented, 100% Professional and just happens to be a really cool guy too~!
This was incredible. Thank you on behalf of all beginners like me.
Only 5 minutes in and I've already learned something new about Cakewalk... grabbing the corners and dragging in to do the fades. I was doing all my fades with volume automation. Thanks for this time-saving tip!
Thanks!
I dont know how to thank you. I learned, using my audio drivers, recording Di, mixing, making multitrack drums, using the VSTs included in the package and few extras. I even learned reamping! Now I need to learn mastering. Thanks man. I hated my DAWs. I hate every DAW when it is the first time I use it, because I simply dont know how to do stuff I want to do. You made me love cakewalk. I still have allot to learn, but now I have the big picture in to what is actually going on in Cakewalk. I have BOSS GT-100 and I thaught it was garbage because I had input lags, I didnt know it could record DI and reamp. You got me in to Cakewalk and this thing started to work. You saved me so much money. I was about to buy new Audio Interface, DI box and Reamp Box, FRFR speakers and all kinda sht I thaught I needed for recording. Im not gonna buy all this junk now after you showed me how to use cakewalk, and i hooked it up to my GT-100. I was blown by this. I had it all the time I didnt know it. Thanks man! You saved me allot of money, and probably a year of my life.
My pleasure!
Getting nearer to retirement, I am getting back to music... thanks to your 'Down-to-Earth' way of teaching!
you dont need the most expensive gear out there. this guy knows what he's talking about
I used to pay for regular major upgrades when Cakewalk was Sonar by Cakewalk. I was happy to do so as it is a great program. Then Gibson CEO destroyed the brand. He was probably paid by AVID to destroy the competition.
He’s a Gem forreal 💎
Im an old school engineer, who's pretty new to the whole DAW thing, so this has been really helpful and informative. I really like your patient detailed way of explaining things, while managing not to get tied up in the minutia. Definitely subscribing. Thanks.
Btw, that song was lovely and your mix was exemplary.
Hi jstnxprsn. Thanks for that, much appreciated. Hope to see you around in the comments!
@@CreativeSauce Im sure you will, brother. This Cakewalk DAW is giving me headaches already.
Waaay back on the day, I used a DOS based version in my home studio and made it work well for me, and I had some pretty mad engineering skills back then (taught a college workshop in it)
So I'm banging my head and wondering how I got so far behind so quickly. LOL
Btw, after watching this, I watched a guy talking about "quality" effects available for free. When he did a demo of them, I realized it was everything I can stand in today's music. And then he added even more. Argh!!!
I sure hope guys like you and I, who appreciate the subtle use of tech to improve our mixes aren't a dying breed.
- Jstn
Mike,
I just wanted to say that your videos are the bees-knees! Man, I wish I had found these a couple of years ago when I was working on my first Cakewalk project. I have learned so much in so little time. Thank you! Looking forward to going down the rabbit hole soon to unlock all of this DAW's potential. Keep um' coming!
NC
Thank you sir Mike for these insights, I've learned a lot. God Bless and more power
Good video. No overexited commentary just precise and experienced information.
Thanks Mike, i think you are a kind of angel who came to the Earth to safe Cakewalk´s users. I apreciate so much your profesionality and knowelege to help full us. Bless you
I can't thank you enough for all the great information you share! I don't fancy myself a true "home recording aficionado" - more of a demo-maker, really - but your content has improved the quality of my output immeasurably.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I'm a long-time user of Cakewalk (Sonar) and you are teaching and helping me in ways I simply would have taken a long time to figure out. You're a great teacher and I'm very fortunate to have found your channel. Thanks a bunch! from a grateful musician.
I thank you for going over these videos with us. It has def helped me understand the program alot more and it has been a life changing experience
Very helpful! My entry into the world of recording and mixing has been made much less frustrating thanks to your dedication and expertise. I am so thankful for all of your videos.
mike it was a pleasure to watch this tutorial. i know i have said before that your videos are really well polished and produced but they really do keep getting better. i also appreciate the time you put into them. we get to watch a half hour video that took LOTS of work. nice one mate!!!!!!
Thanks Glyn. This was interesting for me, as I didn't use any of the commercial plugins that I normally do. I'll do an update video some time of my current practice :)
Sounds so nice. Even for somebody uses listening to trap and hip hop. Cool,love this and take time to check it completly. this is so cool. Thank you..
Thanks Mike, this video was immensely helpful. I have been breaking my head trying to get my mix sound right, but I was unable to fix it, till I found your video. You've made my day. Bless you.
Excelent video, your such a cool professor! Thanks dude!
Mike, I feel so lucky to find your sire. You project an honest desire to help us. And, you do help. Thanks.
Hi Mike, two weeks ago, this was the first of your videos I saw and how I found your channel. Your videos are great! My favourites are the Cakewalk Basics and the Record, Mix, Release playlists. I'm starting from zero, I just ordered an audio interface and I'm eager to get started. You helped a lot! Thank you!
Thank you so much for your support, it means a lot.
This is the same exact thing that's happening to me right now. How's it been going for you 2 months later?
Recently had time to get away from Abe Live a bit and dig back into my first love, Sonar Platinum, that I always keep around, but don't use as much. I'm so delighted and re-impressed by all this DAW has to offer (now that I've actually paid closer attention to it).
So, imo, this tut is friggin' GOLD and EXACTLY the powerful simplicity I needed as I meld back toward a more "less is more" approach in my mixing and mastering.
Thx a million! 👏🏿
Hymn
What a wealth of wisdom shared ever so generously from our MasterJedi. To be honest, my head is spinning and I probably need a swig of that Creative Sauce. But I took good notes and will watch it all again before attempting a Mastering session over the coming weeks. Thank-you!
Hey Mike. Wish I had found your vids years ago. I think I started using Cakewalk in 2004. But learnt most in the last weeks by watching your vids. Mastering one is excellent. Thanks so much.
THIS Helped SO much. still trying to eliminate noise but really helped in getting more crisp vocals
Excellent. I am 97, so please don't be jealous, but the voice you used here and some other times too is lovely, and would love to listen to her more. I am in the classical music, so this like is quite unusual.
1:04 what's mastering
2:05 Step 1
8:46 step 2
12:27 step 3
14:26 step 4
16:01 Step 5
17:22 step 6
22:14 step 7
23:29 Step 8
26:20 Step 9
28:06 step 10
Again another great and helpfull video. I learned a lot from all your video's, great work!!! Thanks a lot!!
Thanks Paul :)
Thank you Mike for another valuable lesson. I just did everything step by step, I didn't always hear the difference turning the knobs thinking to myself "I have no idea what I'm doing". well, everything is ahead of me. Thank you for the channel again.
Learning a lot with you, here from Brazil... Thanks for that!
Really helpful video, thanks Mike. I've recently begun exploring the world of DAWs and home recording and I'm finding your channel to be an absolute gold mine.
Thanks man, I've learned quite a bit from you.
I'm so happy to hear that my friend, thank you!
Really good easy to understand and follow unlike many of the other so called tutorials who treat you like an expert and don’t explain anything!
Beautiful song Mike. Thanks for the very useful info.
Timely content for where I’m at with my current project. Many thanks for the hard work, knowledge and high quality output. Creative Sauce is helping me keep my love of music alive and well plus you’re facilitating a long desired (also long neglected ) desire to produce.
Thank you Mike, we appreciate everything you’re doing for us 👍🏾
I'm so happy to hear that man! Enjoy it!
Just wanted to say that your doing a great job and I really appreciate your video... hope you are well my friend and keep up the good work !
Great video as always Mike, very informative and easy to follow. However, for those of us who might want a quick (and not so dirty) solution to see how a mastered mix might work there is a wee trick I use which might be helpful for other viewers.The first steps using a reference track and metering with SPAN are essential but you can go straight to a mastering preset after you have those in place. How? Insert a new FX Chain at the very end of the Master bus (open the Pro Channel on the Master bus, right click , Insert Module and choose FX Chain). Beneath the header of the new FX Chain click the wee "+" next to FX and choose "Load FX Chain Preset" and choose the "Mastering" folder. There are a few useable mastering "one shots" in there which might be enough for a quick job. The one called "a bit louder" works well on noisy rock guitar based material when you're happy with your mix but just need to give it a kick up the arse and boost it towards 0db. There are also a number of other useful one shot FX chain goodies in there for vocals, guitar and bass etc which I actually stumbled upon by accident. Mike's advice is spot on though and I would urge you to try it as well but like I say my tip can yield quick results for less effort and you are maybe a newbie who can't be bothered RTFM and just want some results!
very usefull video for me as Cakewalk user for so long . THanks Mike
I found with Span, you can just select Stereo mastering preset on it, and it will analyze and adjust the levels.
Excellent video with some great ideas! I will definitely look into span. I watched this after your video using ozone 8 and I really like the detail here.
Great video Mike. I use the LP Multi-band EQ and Compressor that came with Sonar Platinum using trial and error stepping through the pre-sets then adjusting to suit plus the CA-2A compressor, Brick Wall Limiter and the BT Stereo Imager - so similar components. I will try your method using the plug-ins suggested as it seems more methodical. I really like the Voxengo Span plug-in, that is something that could really benefit my masters. Thanks for all your videos, they are all easy to understand while being quite in-depth. Well done.
Hi David, you may well come up with a hybrid solution between my method and your own. In the end, do what seems to give you the best result! Thank you for taking the time to watch :)
Thanks again Mike. This is very important vedio for all of us. Thanks
Absolutely killer tutorial as usual. I can't say enough good things. One thing I'll say (just in case some newbies like me make the same mistake) If you don't turn off SPAN it will mute and unmute parts of the song, unless you buy the full version. It took me two days to figure out why my sound was "dropping out", it was even carrying over to the exported MP3. Finally someone suggested checking my VSTs to see if any were in trial mode and ta-da! Problem solved. Just power it off when you're done using it.
I'm having the same issue with Ozone Imager 2. Keeps dropping out during the mastering and during mixdown.
mil gracias desde latinoamerica , excelente explicación ¡¡¡
Fuckin' A dude this is great. What a huge difference those small tweaks made. Clarity, crisp edge and sounds so much smoother. thanks.
Excellent job Mike. Your delivery, knowledge, pacing - spot on! My mastering approach has improved by an order of magnitude at least :-)
Bless you for sharing your knowledge with us. This was so helpful
Excellent video. You've taught me so much! Thank you sir!
I am so grateful for this video. I dont have the money to pay someone to master my tracks for my EP. Looks like i can do it myself now! And feel clever along the way.
This helps ALOT!! Thank you, sir!! Peace and love you from Kansas City
Great video, thanks!
I just want to point out that TDR Nova isn't simply an equalizer, it's actually a dynamic EQ / multi-band compressor (tho you don't HAVE TO use it that way I suppose, as you did)
Also regarding Nova: TDR Nova is free, but with some limits which you have to pay to unlock. There IS another version of it tho, which is 100% free with no limits. It's on Vladg Sound's website, and is called Nova 67P.
Vladg and TDR have gotten together on several plugins now, and they're awesome. Vladg tho has several WONDERFUL plugins on his own website: Molot, Limiter No. 6, and Nova 67P. All WELL worth downloading. Molot is a compressor with character; it is decidedly NOT clean, but does sound wonderful. Limiter No. 6 has mulitple units and sounds quite clean. It's a compressor-limiter, well suited to mastering. Limiter No. 6 is one of them that he has released with TDR as well, but again you'd have to pay to unlock some features. Not so with the version on Vladg's website.
Exactly what I needed: clear and concise with many useful tips along the way. But....I need to make some notes...! That final mastering stage is where it can all go horribly wrong. This video is going to help me actually learn what I`m doing here...!
Thanks! Awesome! I don't see though why you can't master in the project section. I do that all the time. Instead of exporting I bounce the tracks to a new track and make all the adjustments there. I keeps everything into one window and can be saved in a bundle (.cwb). It also convenient to have all the tracks in reach incase you want to go back to them and make some small adjustments.
This channel is sooo helpful! Really well presented too!
Thank you so much, appreciated:)
Hi Mike, Excellent presentation, as always.
Your vids are most informative !
What a beautiful song! Also ty for all the tutorials. Subscribed and alerted!!
great tutorial with everything I was looking for. many thanks for the video
Glad to hear it!
Just commenting to say thank you! I use your videos frequently. Always clear and helpful!
I did a mix once using only Cakewalk modules with no third party vst's. You can absolutely get great results so long as you know how to use them.
For mixing I absolutely agree. For this tutorial it was a bit of a stretch. No really good metering, lack of a useful maximiser, and widener. There is the "Depth" module for widening, but it's bad. The bus compressor is kind of ok, but maybe not a small enough ratio sometimes. It's possible, but why make it harder when there are useful free 3rd party plugins is what I ask myself!
@@CreativeSauce absolutely, I go straight for Ozone 9 in mastering. Picked that up for my bday in October, got such a great deal on their music production suite 3. Izotope on everything! lol
Yes, that's the reality for me also. For this vid I wanted to stick to free stuff, but the paid plugins make life a fair bit easier. Although I sometimes use bits of fabfilter stuff, and parts of the t-racks suite, I just feel that the imager and maximiser with ozone can't be beaten.
@@CreativeSauce Will Ozone 10 work in Cakewalk? After reading your comments, I looked up the product. The bundle seems like the way to go, but I didn't see Cakewalk listed as a supported host.
So. Much. Great. Information. Thanks for this Mike!
Another great video Mike - as you suggested some of the tweaks were very subtle and I struggled to hear them but at 60 years old and after many years of gig going my ears are definitely not what they were! Fascinating stuff though!
Thank you for this. Such a great breakdown of mastering basics.
Thank you so much, Mike! I too have learned so much from your 30 minute video! I have recently come over to Cakewalk from Mixcraft, and after learning and working in Mixcraft for over 2 years, I never even knew of such a thing as "mastering outside the DAW". Plus I always wondered about those check boxes like "dithering", haha. You won't be surprised to know that, even though my mix sounded good from within the DAW, by the time it was exported, it sounded like sh*t!!! So thanks again!
I love your videos brother!! THANKSSS A LOT!!!!!
Mike THX a lot. Good video really helpful. Greets from Poland. I am using Cakewalk from Sonar 4.0 up to now. I love this DAW.
I prefer to "bounce to tracks" within my working song file to produce an audio file of the song, which appears as an audio track. That way I have the audio next to the tracks and I can bounce back and forth between them. When I'm happy with the results, I'll export that bounced track to an audio file.
Mike, dont tell them to go to a sound engeneer for mastering, because then they will stop comming here.. This is one of my favorite videos on your channel . I learned so much stuff that otherwise seemed like black magic.
Hi Mike...was wondering if you could do a video tutorial on using Span for comparing Drums to Bass , Guitars to Vocals ....basically any permutation. Its the setting up of routing that I find I have trouble with and how to go about using it in CbB. I have managed to do this before but find that it is a very hit or miss process that doesn't work every time. Thanks for all your videos.....very informative.
Thanks Mike. Geest video. Most helpfull.
Very good video! I've been using Cakewalk Sonar and its earlier incarnations for decades and found your using a separate project with a single waveform an interesting take on mastering, one which I may adopt. I'll be watching your videos from now on. Also, thanks for using a REAL song for demonstration as opposed to a lot of EDM or headbanger tunes!
23:20 if you want to "mono" range from 0-200hz lets say, search for "TP Bassline" VST plugin, it is free and great for monoing the low end! Cheers!
This video is awesome! Is there a video for the mixing process?
Thank you so much!
Terimakasih kawan.
anda sangat membantu saya dalam mastering.
Hi Mike ! Thanks a lot for all the work you are sharing. I would like to ask you why should change to LUFS ?
Love your niche
Mike, You are an amazing teacher! Everything is very clear as you explain in detail. Thank you for your hard work. I am glad I came across you.
Is there a mastering software that you can run the mix through to achieve all of the steps you showed.
Thank You!
Mike just incase anyone runs into the issue I did I want them to know that the free plug in you suggested for stereo widening won't work correctly unless you buy it. It's that izotope plug in. It will cause your song to randomly cut out. I couldn't figure out why my audio was randomly cutting out on my masters. Once I got rid of that plugin. I had know problem. I had to research a little but it happens because it's a demo version. If anyone knows how to work around it and get it to work without buying the software would be helpful. So just letting whoever reads this know that it may cause problems with audio drop out.
One thing I found out, is the Ozone imager, which is now Ozone imager 2, is it is not free. It is a trail, then after the trial, you can continue to use the demo, but then they screw up your audio. I thought something was wrong with the settings of my DAW or the computer audio, I was freaked. But then I took the ozone imager off, because I had a hunch after getting a notice that my trial was over, and no audio problems. All the high quality free or free or Full versions that don't resort to sabotaging your audio to get you to buy the full versions. I'll never use anything from izotope at all. Some people just suck at public relations.
Extremely useful video! Thank you so much! 🎶
Automation is the key to a successful song mastering. Maybe you could have added one for volume after talking about it as an example. Great instructions.
Yes, as I was making this yesterday I be and aware that this deserved to be at least a 3 part series. I was getting concerned about adding more detail at over 30 mins. A future video I think!
Mike, I really enjoy your videos.These are the best tutorials on Cakewalk I have viewed. And I have been using cakewalk since Windows 95. My question isn't about this particular video but another video where you demonstrated changing a tracks clips to one single clip. Could you tell me which video demonstrates that method? Thank you.
Great one again Mike! Very informative, well done and lively. You have a knack for this for sure! I am curious though: what is the difference on doing this inside the mix project (which I have been doing until now) instead of exporting to a stereo mixed file first. You did say we could ask! :-)
Hi Jacques! I hope you are well. So I'm afraid the answer is a little long!
First a little history. Traditionally the mix engineer and the mastering engineer were separate roles. The mastering engineer wasn’t very interested in adjusting the mix, so he/she only needed a stereo file to work with.
Now, in a home studio, you are likely to have both roles, so you don’t need to stick to this. So actually, you can choose to master in your mix project, and that’s OK.
So why don’t I? Firstly, system resources. At this point I already have maybe up to 100 plugins on the go, and commercial mastering plugins can be pretty heavy. So it’s nice to start with a clean slate, and just use the few plugins I need.
Secondly, I think it’s a good idea to mentally commit to a mix. To say in your mind “I’m done tweaking, I’m gonna move to the final stages”. Many including me, have had songs on our computers for years, stuck at the mixing phase “Just in case”. So I think it’s good to draw a line under it.
Lastly, when mastering songs for an EP or album, it’s nice to master them all together. In this case, I’d load up each song into this file (all stereo WAVs), and proceed to master them all. I feel this makes sense when you are treating them as one body of work which will have the same ‘sound’.
There you go - you asked!
@@CreativeSauce Thanks for the explanation. I have been mixing for a while, but I never really got a grasp on mastering, how to and what for. Your video and this explanation made things clearer.
I really enjoyed this. I used very similar plugins sometime back. These days I tend to use Reaper rather than Cakewalk to master. However when it comes to LUFS settings I found the Youlean LUFS meter (free if you like) was easier to use than looking at SPAN. Even though these days I have Izotope Insight I still have Youlean in my master chain. (Just a thought)
I'll check that out, thank you!
I found Youlean so handy I paid for the Pro. (Not that I needed it but to support the developer). It was quite cheap but the free version does what is needed.
Brilliant Mike 👌🏼 followed this step by step. Is the track you were using available to listen to? She has a great voice
Love your Vids mike, im a newbie so they are very helpful. would you be able to do a video about how to use the CLA Mixdown plugin from waves in cakewalk? bought the signature series of plugins and the mixdown. not quite sure the correct way to set it up and use it as far as bussing and getting all the tracks sent to it. thanks, keep up the great work!!!!!
same here. bought the CLA signature bundle (guitar, bass, drums, etc) about 2 weeks ago. INSTANTLY made a difference in individual tracks. got the mix down also. not sure if im suing it correct either. i would suggest his CLA epic also. i havent got to mess with it much yet but the Echosphere that come with it is great. used it for the 1st time last night on a lead vocal. used "vocal #1" preset and didnt have to go any further. sounded great
I have been watching this series. MAN, I have learned so much. I don’t thInk I could say thank you enough! Things are well explained here, even for some of us newbies. Just awesome! Question though. I was trying to load the Ozone imager. I am having all sorts of trouble on the site. Is there another plugin that does the same thing? Thanks again Mike!
Hi Mike, thanks a million for this instructive video! I was wondering: should we also master for the so-called "sound enhancements" (f.i. in Windows) that most people have on by default? It boosts the bass, makes music louder etc. I have also noticed that the so-called enhacements can lead to unwanted distortions. Can we/should we circumvent these distortions and anhancements in our master? is that even possible? Cheers.
Do you have a video on how to connect and use a behringer x-touch one with cakewalk?
I'm considering doing one on the Mackie controller, and I think the x-touxh uses that protocol.
@@CreativeSauce I am very much a novice but I think it does. I'm having trouble getting mine to work properly.
Very helpfull video. Thank you. Subscribed.
Great mastering video. This offers very good starting point. Do you use 1dB boost on chorus?
Amazing, very informative, I got a question though, why you use FX Chain instead of just using the regular FX Rack? the ProChannel signal is routed prior to the channel’s FX Rack (pre) by default anyway. keep the success! =)
Yes we are interested
absolutely great! thx
Can you do a proper GAIN STAGING Tutorial sir? A lot of people seems doing it wrong, like they just pull down the track volume.
For sure. That's on my agenda. I already did one for Studio One, but I need to make one for Cakewalk.
@@CreativeSauce, Can you recommend a third party gain staging vst? I always watch your tutorial even though I'm on ableton live. I trust your tutorials since you're the only one explained clearly how compression works. It really helps me a lot.
Cool stuff. About the saturation knob, there's a little light there that begins to flicker as you turn it up. I've been setting saturation so that the light just begins to flicker, thinking it may be some sort of clipping signal. Is this the way you use it? I can't tell with your video, cuz that effect is too tiny on my screen.
Hi Mike. First of all, loved all your Cakewalk contents and totally grateful for all your effort to give us this kind of tutorials.
Second, what if I don't have a reference track to use? Many thanks.
Yes,that's OK:)