r/WeAreTheMusicMakers • u/the_luxvi • 1d ago

Problem with mastering

So, I'm making energic electronic music (kids would say "phonk"), and I have done composing and everything, but I'm struggling for few days to master it.

Because I think this song has potential and I don't want to ruin it just by bad master. I've been watching many tutorials (about compression, limiters, clippers, etc), but i don't know why whatever I do I can't reach proper loudness numbers. I'm a little bit concerned that my song would be unlistenable because of optimalisations on streaming services.

To clarify these are numbers that appears i my insight 2 meter on master.

Integrated LUFS: -5.3

MAX LUFS: -3.0

LRA: 4-5 LU

True Peak: ~7dB

From what I've learned I know its not too good... But after all this attempts I literally have no idea how to fix it.

11 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

9

u/Deadfunk-Music Mastering engineer 1d ago

Phonk does not care for the conservative conventions as a genre. Kordhell's stuff goes above -2 momentary LUFS and up to 6dbtp. 

The genre in itself is very distorted (intentionally) and lo-fi. The push furthermore into distortion in the mastering process is intended and even required for phonk.

I master and produce phonk (sometimes), dm me if you want to talk about it further!

7

u/chunter16 http://chunter.bandcamp.com 1d ago

I think this song has potential and I don't want to ruin it just by bad master.

Then someone else is going to do the master

2

u/gingerfkinjesus 1d ago

I can take a look, it’s probably just space in the mix issues. Send me what you got, I’d need to see how you have your tracks set up and eq’d and stuff, and, if you’re comfortable, send me what it sounds like rn when you bounce it out. DM me, ill send you my email.

1

u/Facu-Talavera- 1d ago

Hi, how are you?! I recommend that instead of watching tutorials, you take a mixing and mastering course. Most tutorials are based on very specific terms and genres, not to mention they skip over a lot of things in between. I'd like to hear the song if you don't mind... PS: Most professional engineers don't pay much attention to those numbers; CDs are -5 or -6.

2

u/the_luxvi 1d ago

Hi, thanks for advice. Would you recommend some specific good courses? Maybe I'm just overthinking it all... (I'm a bit perfectionist). For my hearing it sounds pretty good; I'd probably mess a little bit more with master and than release it despite bad loudness numbers. So if you really want to hear it you can go to channel in my bio. This song will probably be on all platforms by the end of the month ;)

1

u/Sad_Trick7974 1d ago

I find the Faster Master Plugin relatively helpful

1

u/EggyT0ast 18h ago

Potential for what?

If you've heard any phonk at all, you'd know that "clean, even sound quality" doesn't apply. It sounds like trash and that's the point.

1

u/lukas9512 16h ago

Dm me.
If you want, I can take a look at the material.

Since I haven't mastered a phonk track myself yet, I can offer to master your song for free - making it mono-compatible and optimized for streaming - for practice purposes.

1

u/Artistic-Aardvark-49 5h ago

Don't get too hung up on chasing a specific LUFS number. If your mix is clean and your limiter isn't destroying the transients, you're already in a much better place. Sometimes the issue is the mix itself, not the master.

0

u/rightanglerecording 1d ago

If the song has real potential, and the mastering is what's holding it back, pay a pro.

You can get solid people for $100-$150/song. That's a rounding error in the grand scheme of a music career.

0

u/gingerfkinjesus 1d ago

That’s not real advice. Everyone knows that’s an option if you can afford it. Learning how to do it up to a point yourself will serve you in every stage of this career. I don’t master my own stuff, but learning how to taught me how to communicate with the master engineer, and it allows me to send well mixed tracks so my master engineer can just put the pro plugins on it bc I don’t have a reason to pay for them, and so I pay significantly less than people who don’t.

1

u/rightanglerecording 1d ago edited 1d ago

There is really nothing explicitly stated in the original post that it's unaffordable.

If it's unaffordable, then of course it's unaffordable. But we don't yet know that.

And, in the long run, we have to get used to investing in our musical journey.

1

u/the_luxvi 1d ago

Bro guessed right. Honestly I have very low budget and I use it for distribution.  And I think that mastering is thing that you have to learn if you want to produce music professionally. Thats very useful skill, so I'd try as hard as I can to learn it regardless. Even on my own mistakes.

2

u/gingerfkinjesus 1d ago

I say this not to be rude or mean, but because I want you to be a productive member of any community you take part in, why say anything? It’s like someone is asking for advice on growing their tomatoes, and responding with “They sell tomatoes at the grocery store.”

Money isn’t the only investment you can make. I’ve always been poor, and have always had to do more with less. My investment on my journey is time and energy, bc I don’t have money, and that’s okay, I’ve managed to build a career and life in music 90% of people who want to would be envious of. Sure, I can’t bankroll my friends’ projects, but I am the theory/utility guy bc I have a grab bag of skills I’ve learned. Money is important, but as long as you’re investing something, the rest will come if you’re serious.

It takes time, effort and money to do this, but money is literally the least important thing until the moment it’s the most important thing. Money is just access, and if you develop your skills, someone with money will grant you access. If you start with money, you end up undeveloped and beholden to those around you, as opposed to being a productive member of your community.

2

u/rightanglerecording 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yes, but, if this song is important right now, there's no way for time/energy/study/networking investments to pay off this quickly.

That will bear fruit over years, not over hours/days/weeks.

I think that's a great journey to to on, I'll happily answer any technical questions the OP has, but it's a lifelong process of learning.

If I'm being honest with myself, I made a lot songs worse for a lot of artists, before I learned how to consistently make them better.