Mastering Ideas? Options

[kundama]

hi all new to the forum so i thought i'd start with an easy one :-)

i've been writing tunes for a while now, and always get to the same stage in the prossess before encountering problems...Mastering.

getting the compositional elements right isn't a problem (well it is it just takes a lot of time but when i come to bouncing down my tunes and compare them to oh i don't know some one like prefuse 73, the quality of sound is different. They always seem to be able to get it that little bit louder than me. Obviously they've got all that fancy equipment, but i'm sure it's just a question of time again, and knowing the right steps to take.

at the moment when bouncing down i simply make sure all the volumes are right, nothing is clipping, the panning is nicely spread and there is't too much frequency intrerferance, (everything has its own space) idon't use any compression, or effects, (just a bit of limiter) because i want to keep the dynamic range. iwas wondering if anyone had any tips for me, coz iwant to put up a websight with all mi tunes on , but none of them really feel finnished, ya know.

wicked well if any one has any tips let me know
thaks for your time

take it easy
kundy

[pdgood]

Limiting is the way those guys get it louder. If you want to maintain your dynamics, you won't be able to achieve this...you can't have it both ways. The idea behind compression/limiting is that in less than perfect listening conditions (driving in a car where there is road noise) it is impossible to set really dynamic music to be heard comfortably. If you set the volume for the loudest part, then you won't hear the soft parts over the road noise. If you set for the quiet parts then the loud parts are painful. This is why some people compress. It is highly debated which is preferable - some do and some don't. Limiting just drops the peaks down a bit so that the overall thing can be made louder...usually much louder. The L3 by Waves does this about as well as anything. There are lots of compressors to try out and many companies offer demos. Try Waves, Wave Arts, Elemental Audio, and PSP for starters.