Comments on: Producing and Mastering a DJ Set

By: David Sol

David Sol — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:12:47 +0000

That’s a lot of questions buddy hehe
Okay here goes.

Firstly, there’s no point in converting mp3 to WAV unless your files are in WAV format in the first place. MP3 is a compressed format ie: the audio is degraded slightly to become smaller in size (well technically anyway). So don’t waste time converting mp3s to WAVS, if you have the original lossless copy then use that, if not then carry on.

If you are serious on providing quality music for the world to listen to, whether its between your friends or to record label, whether its a mix tape or the next amazing album, you should always strive to provide top quality music. And by that I mean treat mixing and mastering very seriously. It makes the difference and distinguishes you from the average Joe Blow.

First glaring thing I’ll fix is the volume levels. You are saying its red. Turn it down! Digital Clipping (when it goes red in other words) is extremely harsh and makes all audio sound terrible. Turn it down!
When some songs have volume difference to others, it isn’t a bad idea to keep that as it makes your set dip and grow, giving it a nice dynamic. However if there is a major difference between 2 tunes, then normalizing it is the key. Since you are using MP3s, I recommend using MP3 Gain, look for it on google. I use that myself when I’m about to DJ, it keeps my songs in acceptable range (between 95 to 98 db).
That should solve the track volume issue.

Now, mastering your mix allows you to define your own sound, put a personal spin on it. And that’s a good thing! So yes, you should go through the processes mentioned in the tutorial above even though these tracks are mastered already. Think of it like a cake. You’ve been given yummy ingredients (tracks), and you want to make a nice cake (mix). It’s up to you to follow the procedures (mastering process) to make the cake. Good thing is, while there are guidelines to mastering, its always good to do things your own way.

Except for one thing…RED IS BAD. Make sure all tracks don’t clip the meters and at the end, EQ, Limit (to get about extra 6 db max) and you should have a very delicious cake, err, I mean mix!!!

Hope that helps.

- David Sol

By: Amgad

Amgad — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:46:00 +0000

Thank you for the great tutorial i really enjoyed it, but actually i do have a big problem i’ve been searching all over to find an answer for my problem n i got nothing useful so far!
i’m not the experienced into mixing or mastering but i use ableton for almost 3 years now and now i got ableton 8, my problem is that i’m trying to make a mixtape for my freinds and finally i started arranging it, but i’m not recording from an analog source i’m only loading my mp3s to ableton, so i wonder if i should convert them first to wave or not? or if i should make any mastering or not? like adding limiters or normalizing the set? and do i dither the whole mix or not? cause i suppose these tracks are already mastered but do i have to master the whole mix again at once? cause some tracks are lower than the others?
my other question is why do the volume gets to the red when i load my mp3s into ableton though it should be mastered right? and is it normal or i should limit it?

Thanks

By: kev on music

kev on music — Mon, 25 May 2009 22:00:50 +0000

spot on! just preparing for the live act. thanks for the tips on the format and bitrate:)

By: Katja

Katja — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:59:21 +0000

For 9 years i am Djing and now i get into the producing stuff. Thanks a lot for this great tutorial. Even because i use Logic and Ableton.

By: J Type

J Type — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:56:18 +0000

Excellent stuff. I was DJing long before I seriously got into audio production, so these kinds of skills weren’t in my repertoire, but would have seriously improved my mixtapes.

I’m sure this will help a lot of people, even as a basic guide to album mastering also.