All my tracks wind up coming out rather tinny overall. It's not necessarily a bad sound, it just seems to lack the energy in the mix of most commercial tracks. Can someone gimme some tips for mastering in reason 3?

Better yet, check out this track:

http://www.kalemika.com/sqw.mp3

What's wrong with the mastering?

Right off the bat you have a TON of high end. It's like you put a highpass filter at 2khz on everything, almost entirely removing the bass and lower-mid content. It's a very annoying sound. Your hats and snare sound almost no different. Texturally, this is very sparse as well.. you have a handful of lo-fi samples and instruments that really don't work well together. Put simply, the problem is not with the mastering, it's with the song. Once you fix some core issues with your texture and instrumentation then you can start worrying about production/mastering.

Are you composing on a laptop, or with really small speakers? This could be partially what causes you to favor higher-spectrum sounds like these over a fuller sound, because bass does not come through on small speakers. zircon_st is right--the mastering of this one has nothing to do with it--it is all in your choice of instruments. I recommend buying some decent headphones (50 bucks will get you something manageable) and listening to your song on those--it may help you gain some perspective on the sonic palette you're using.

Also, where is it that you're getting your sounds from? If you WANT that lo-fi sound, then great, but if you're looking to make something that sounds more like Oakenfold, you've got to start experimenting with creating more complex synthesis patches with the Malstrom. If you don't know how to do that, PM me and I can send you a quick rundown and maybe a link or two to get you started.

Okay, haha, there seems to be some misunderstanding about this track.

When I went into this track, I had the idea that it would sound something like a broken nintendo playing a drum machine. I ABSOLUTELY do not want to make ANYTHING that sounds like oakenfold, period. I programmed these synth patches specifically to be glitchy, whiney, and really lo-fi. Also, I'm producing this track on Sony MDR-V700DJ headphones, so I don't think my choice of headphones is an issue. I feel perfectly confident with my choice of sounds (and by the way, the organ bass patch WAS made with maelstrom.)

I guess aiming to make the track really thick and produced was an unrealistic goal considering the sounds I wanted to use, so for the purposes of -this- song, without changing the synth patches, what can I do to get it to at least sound clear?

Definitely upgrade your monitoring setup. Composing, to some extent, you can trust laptop speakers and headphones, but an even mix can most efficiently be obtained through a moderate, external, near-field speaker system.

Then listen to it a lot. Listen to it at extremely low levels, and short bursts of high levels (above 85dB). You want as even a mix at all levels. For instance, your track listening very low levels you hear a lot of high end (snares and synth) and no bass at all. So when you go to raise that level the highs are piercing and the sub is barely there.

Now, if you're mixing for headphones or a portable device...you may never notice this. Since you didn't state what your end-format is we're assuming it's meant to be reproduced by standard systems. Try it out on every system you own. Car stereo, home theater...playback device you know how they sound. Note the differences and go back to the mix.

But that's not your question...you're looking to master in reason. I don't think most people master in Reason. I'm sure there are some that do, and I don't think it's impossible or produces bad results or anything. But most of the Reason artists I know ultimately bring their stems into a better mixing environment like ProTools, Sonar, Cubase...all those guys.

Tony

Yeah, that's what I figured. Unfortunately, due to my recent splurge in software I can't afford to purchase cubase or sonar or anything like that right now, and FLStudio is NOT the best environment for mastering, in my opinion. So I need to work with reason's mastering tools, unless you recommend I run it through FLStudio 6 and Isotope oZone, if that would really help. I just hear the demo songs are incredibly well mastered.

Also, back at home I have monitoring speakers. There's no room in my dorm for them.

By the way, that tip about lowering the volume to hear how even the mix is is -great-. I never would have thought of that and it makes so much sense. Thanks :)

Quote: Original post by Kalemika
When I went into this track, I had the idea that it would sound something like a broken nintendo playing a drum machine. I ABSOLUTELY do not want to make ANYTHING that sounds like oakenfold, period. I programmed these synth patches specifically to be glitchy, whiney, and really lo-fi. Also, I'm producing this track on Sony MDR-V700DJ headphones, so I don't think my choice of headphones is an issue. I feel perfectly confident with my choice of sounds (and by the way, the organ bass patch WAS made with maelstrom.)

Ok, I gotcha--sorry to imply that you're a noob, didn't mean to come off that way.

It's hard to make a purely lo-fi song that also sounds like it has any depth, mostly because the original Nintendo music was MEANT to be played on a sound system with no depth (yeah for 3 inch TV speakers!). So, basically, what you have to do in a situation like this one is create some sounds that are related to the original Nintendo sounds, but are not identical: i.e. you're going to have to add some bass/drums/whatever that have a more solid low end to work with in the first place.

Those really pure saw and square waves are a good place to start, especially for that Nintendo sound, but what really makes a bass sound like a bass is that little extra bit of noise, so experiment with adding a little Frequency Modulation, maybe a little bit of noise on the Subtractors, and playing with some of the filters and such on the Malstrom to make sounds that are going to hold up better at a lower pitch level.

For -this- song alone:

If you don't want to change your palette, something you can do to reduce the really irritating high-end squeals is run one of the 2-Band EQs set to filter out only the highest of the super-high-end--this will remove some of the really annoying buzzes in the almost-dog-whistle range that cause irritation.

Also, one of the really great features about Reason is its ability to automate devices--try automating the mixer to keep the mix balanced at all times.

All your advice has been listened to and noted and I appreciate that. As it is though, the song was frustrating me to death and I grew bored of it - I'll go back to it eventually, but for now I'm moving on to a more lush track that I can really master to get a good sound. Thank you for all your tips! I will definitely listen to them :)

That's a great idea. If you don't have the motivation for a song don't try and force it out. Give it a break...for months if necessary and you'll be amazed at what you think about it when you pull it up again. Don't stop writing altogether, just tackle something different. When you go back to it, you will have fresh ears, fresh mind, and most likely have learned something new from other projects.

That is...unless you're on a deadline. In which case...welcome to Game Audio!

Tony