Mastering Your Tracks In FL Studio

[dacalion]

First, let me say that since I've discovered Waves, I don't NORMALLY use any of FL's plugs to master, HOWEVER, when I don't feel like building a Waves Chain, FL has a great set of preset tools to get you sounding pretty damn good.

Ok, after I complete my song, the first thing that I do is go to "Tools" click and choose "Browser smart find", that will open a small window...type MASTERING in it. Then look over in your FL Browser, click and drag "General Purpose Mastering" over to your Mixer IN 1 section and drop it. That will open your FL Parametric EQ, FL Multiband Compressor and your FL Stereo Enhancer in the top 3 tabs.

Close your "Stereo Enhancement" by clicking the drop down arrow, click "Replace" and replace it with "FL Parametric EQ 2". Now start your song so that it is playing while you make these adjustments...

1. Right click the side arrow on the compressor. Choose "Maximize 2".

2. Then go to your Parametric EQ window and make your adjustments to your sound.

3. Turn your limiter on by clicking the light.

4. Make your final volume adjustments.

Thats it! Close your extra windows and Enjoy!
Hit me with any questions here.

 

[Ozmosis]

Good post Dac Ill have to try those tips. I recently bought FL9 PE since it was 50% off. I havnt messed with FL since 3 came out, and that was a bootleg copy. Im looking for all the mastering tips i can get.

 

[thedreampolice]

For mastering your compressor should really come before your eq unless you are trying to correct a problem.

 

[dacalion]

Good post Dac Ill have to try those tips. I recently bought FL9 PE since it was 50% off. I havnt messed with FL since 3 came out, and that was a bootleg copy. Im looking for all the mastering tips i can get.

Oz, I use those exact settings for anything thats "not that serious" when making beats. Anything that I really want to be on point, I use Waves so get that as soon as you can. In the near future I'm gonna post my whole Waves Chain.

For mastering your compressor should really come before your eq unless you are trying to correct a problem.

You're 100% correct, if you take a look at the 3rd picture, the 1st parametric eq is a 4 band eq and it's pretty much flat with the exception of the 1000Hz frequency, thats a FL default setting thats designed to drop the mid-range to setup the bass to have a little umph to it. That particular preset is for also taking in account that you will be using the "Stereo Enhancer" but we're not because most samples are already in stereo vs recording in mono and giving it a stereo effect or trying to fix an unbalanced signal. Technically speaking...it will also help your pre compressor/limiter stage of keeping your your signal fairly low so you'll have more room during the comp/lim stage to expand your signal. Makes some sense but all the major EQ'ing comes after like you said and as shown in EQ 2.

 

[thedreampolice]

For sure, the big problem is that eqing pre compressor actually does the opposite of what you want. For example if you boost 5k then compress, the boosted 5k will cause the compressor to kick in early and therefor the compressor will cut 5k. It's a trick I use to actually fix problem frequencies.

 

[dacalion]

In other words...you use the lazy mans way of doing it vs actually setting when and how fast it kicks in...lmao

 

[thedreampolice]

Its not lazy at all, sometimes its the only way to do it.

 

[dacalion]

So let me get this straight, by your example...you're saying that if you have a 5k problem, you raise 5k so the limiter will kick in and cut it off because thats the only way to fix it? or are we talking about 2 different scenario's?

 

[thedreampolice]

Instead of cutting 5k you can sometimes roll it of better that way, it can be a smoother cut, especially if you use a multi band compressor.

 

[Sucio]

Screw that..I'm just paying someone.

 

[mono]

<< likes sucios comment. i want a like button.

 

[dacalion]

Pay someone to do your serious work if you can't grasp it, I wouldn't use anything that FL offers to promote my sound. This is just a simple option that will get you in the right direction, it's mainly for beginners who don't want to spend money on mastering but want a better sound than just throwing it out there.

Honestly though, I think both of you guys are capable of doing a good job yourselves, just on the knowledge that you've shown in other areas. It takes years of trial and error but so does learning anything else proficiently imo. Just do a lot of research, reading and testing. If you use FL, my example is a good starting point. Just don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it, to me, thats basically calling you stupid.

 

[thedreampolice]

IDK, to do proper mastering you usually need a multi million dollar room, and a monitoring system outside of everyones budget here.

 

[dacalion]

This is NOT a thread on proper mastering! It's to give those that want to learn it a good starting point. Nobody jumps right in and becomes a mastering guru! For that matter, nobody jumps into beat making and goes straight to being the number 1 producer. My intent is to encourage, not discourage, they can figure out if they are capable of doing it on their own but don't shoot them down before they try! Geeez

 

[thedreampolice]

ha ha ahhh ok

 

[Sucio]

Yeah because Dac does nothing properly...that's why his beats suck.

 

[dacalion]

Sucio, I did think you were capable of doing it yourself but maybe I was wrong on that, maybe you should hire someone to master your tracks and you definitely need to hire someone to make your beats as well!

 

[Ozmosis]

Oz, I use those exact settings for anything thats "not that serious" when making beats. Anything that I really want to be on point, I use Waves so get that as soon as you can. In the near future I'm gonna post my whole Waves Chain.

dac, which waves bundle do you have? Im looking into waves gold, im not going to get it anytime soon just trying to get an idea of whats out there. Once I get a new PC ill be able to install ProTool 8 LE, those plug in that come with my be enough.

 

[dacalion]

I have the Mercury Bundle.

 

[jstoddart]

Decalion i love this post ... could you do more on compression, eq, and mastering .. i use t-racks and just choose a good enough sounding preset and touch it up .. not really to sure what happens under the hood though .. its something i think would be very helpful ..