Are there any tips to make the sound more like flat, even, “easy”, flexible so that anyone could listen to the recording without having expensive monitors so that the sound is approximately the same on different monitors?
Maybe the is some literature to learn if anyone post the link to some piano mastering book this will be fantastic
I believe you are talking about audio mastering for distribution (i.e. SoundCloud or Spotify)
Personally, I use iZotope Ozone 8 Advanced mastering suite: https://www.izotope.com/en/products/ozone.html
Be sure to use good quality studio headphones or studio monitors.
Here is what I do:
MIXING
1. Use an EQ on the audio track to cut out any off frequencies, and set Compression if necessary.
2. Set my reverb (here is a good tutorial on how to do that with Pianoteq: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIHkAF7FTal/ )
MASTERING
3. Place 4 plugins on the master bus: iZotope Ozone, iZotope Tonal Balance Control (comes with Ozone Advanced), Youlean Loudness Meter (free), and Sonarworks Reference 4.
4. In Tonal Balance Control, create a custom target curve from a folder of solo piano reference masters
5. In Ozone, select the EQ, Compression, and Maximizer modules. Set the Maximizer to True Peak limiting, with a ceiling of -1.0 db for streaming platforms or -0.3 db for CDs. Set the IRC mode to IRC II (this is a modern digital model, don't use the default IRC I it will sound TERRIBLE).
6. Loop your recording back during the LOUDEST section of the song. This ensures that Tonal Balance Control will give an accurate reading.
7. Using Tonal Balance Control, get your 4 frequency zones as close to center as possible with the EQ.
8. Compression at this stage is optional (for me at least), since you most likely have applied compression to the piano during the mixing stage.
9. Open Youlean Loudness Meter, and play back your song from beginning to end. Note the integrated loudness.
10. You want an integrated loudness between -16 and -12 LUFS. Adjust the Maximizer's threshold and then replay the song from the beginning. Rinse and repeat until you reach the sweet spot.
11. Make a final check of your master on multiple sources (i.e. stereo, computer speakers, headphones, earbuds). There is naturally going to be slight differences between each source. I usually listen to the song next to some solo piano tracks from other artists to give proper context.
12. Make final adjustments based upon your listening periods.
That's it! Hope it helps.
PLUGIN LINKS
Ozone 9: https://www.izotope.com/en/products/ozone.html
Tonal Balance Control 2: https://www.izotope.com/en/shop/tonal-b...rol-2.html
Youlean Loudness Meter: https://youlean.co/youlean-loudness-meter/
Reference 4: https://www.sonarworks.com/reference
Since at any engineering of my own I’m really a novice myself, I tend to use some of the affordable and readily available new artificial intelligence technologies. (However, many others may prefer to hire out only the most qualified professional mastering engineers.) Definitely, iZotope Ozone is a software that has recently been introduced as a technology which can automatically master your piano audio file for you. You get to review even whatever software changes made from the artificial intelligence before they go onto your audio, and from any of course you yourself can always learn. It seems amazing!
Once you learn, however fast or patient you are, and particularly if you’re into jazz or classical forms, you may become interested on piano to to try out from Sonnox, Oxford Limiter and Oxford Inflator plugins, but, with a hands-on approach. Just my opinion, they’re two (2) of the best befitting the genres, maybe a lot more than others might.
Though now if you’re really in a hurry, you may want to check out some credible online mastering services offered by an audio host such as SoundCloud, equally amazing. After a small fee it will master any audio and allow that downloaded and repurposed outside the service itself. Available at it already are demos, very convincing also!
For anybody interested further at this forum, I’ve examples of some extensive postproduction including phase alignments I performed on a factory default PIANOTEQ v.6 preset. In fact they are specifically from the default, before and after mastering processes and effects have been added. They at my topic post demonstrate over several varied differences postproduction can make on a single default piano preset and from the original PIANOTEQ software application file export.
If you decide to visit the thread and do check them out, please leave your comment at it:
Engineering Pianoteq Steinway B Close Mic Preset
I’m truly looking forward to some discussion that’s engaging about anybody’s postproductions.
I believe you are talking about audio mastering for distribution (i.e. SoundCloud or Spotify)
Personally, I use iZotope Ozone 8 Advanced mastering suite: https://www.izotope.com/en/products/ozone.html
Be sure to use good quality studio headphones or studio monitors.
Here is what I do:
MIXING
1. Use an EQ on the audio track to cut out any off frequencies, and set Compression if necessary.
2. Set my reverb (here is a good tutorial on how to do that with Pianoteq: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIHkAF7FTal/ )
MASTERING
3. Place 4 plugins on the master bus: iZotope Ozone, iZotope Tonal Balance Control (comes with Ozone Advanced), Youlean Loudness Meter (free), and Sonarworks Reference 4.
4. In Tonal Balance Control, create a custom target curve from a folder of solo piano reference masters
5. In Ozone, select the EQ, Compression, and Maximizer modules. Set the Maximizer to True Peak limiting, with a ceiling of -1.0 db for streaming platforms or -0.3 db for CDs. Set the IRC mode to IRC II (this is a modern digital model, don't use the default IRC I it will sound TERRIBLE).
6. Loop your recording back during the LOUDEST section of the song. This ensures that Tonal Balance Control will give an accurate reading.
7. Using Tonal Balance Control, get your 4 frequency zones as close to center as possible with the EQ.
8. Compression at this stage is optional (for me at least), since you most likely have applied compression to the piano during the mixing stage.
9. Open Youlean Loudness Meter, and play back your song from beginning to end. Note the integrated loudness.
10. You want an integrated loudness between -16 and -12 LUFS. Adjust the Maximizer's threshold and then replay the song from the beginning. Rinse and repeat until you reach the sweet spot.
11. Make a final check of your master on multiple sources (i.e. stereo, computer speakers, headphones, earbuds). There is naturally going to be slight differences between each source. I usually listen to the song next to some solo piano tracks from other artists to give proper context.
12. Make final adjustments based upon your listening periods.
That's it! Hope it helps.
PLUGIN LINKS
Ozone 9: https://www.izotope.com/en/products/ozone.html
Tonal Balance Control 2: https://www.izotope.com/en/shop/tonal-b...rol-2.html
Youlean Loudness Meter: https://youlean.co/youlean-loudness-meter/
Reference 4: https://www.sonarworks.com/reference
Could you provide some of your Pianoteq recordings pls? I wish I could hear the final result
An idea would be allow adjust to equalization and dynamics for each channel, each virtual microphone.
Some digital pianos, especially the older ones, have speakers good for their onboard sounds, but not so good for external sounds, probably due the onboard sound samples, or perhaps a filters, turn the left key range sounds more prone to bass and the right range keys more prone to trebble.
For example my old Roland it's this way. Have very powerfull loud bass for piano, but if I connect pianoteq or any other piano software (and turn off onboard sounds), the bass got less powerfull.
Could you provide some of your Pianoteq recordings pls? I wish I could hear the final result
Here are a couple of recordings I mastered:
https://soundcloud.com/user-76019685/an...-high-demo
https://soundcloud.com/user-76019685/daybreak-demo
Hope it helps!
Definitely, iZotope Ozone is a software that has recently been introduced as a technology which can automatically master your piano audio file for you. You get to review even whatever software changes made from the artificial intelligence before they go onto your audio, and from any of course you yourself can always learn. It seems amazing!
Though now if you’re really in a hurry, you may want to check out some credible online mastering services offered by an audio host such as SoundCloud, equally amazing. After a small fee it will master any audio and allow that downloaded and repurposed outside the service itself. Available at it already are demos, very convincing also!
I agree, Ozone's Master Assistant (and AI mastering in general) is amazing!
I wouldn't trust it for commercial recordings, however.
What do you mean?
What do you mean?
A.I. mastering can still be very unpredictable in it's results. There are several youtube videos out there by audio engineers that show this.
If I were just making songs to share with family and friends, I would definitely use A.I. mastering. It's quick and easy, and sounds way better than just exporting a mix.
But for release on streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon, I just prefer to have total control of the master. I can get a more professional master that way.
Hope it helps!
It sure does help. Thank you so much for all the information you shared. I believe these final steps can be a limiting factor when attempting to achieve a decent final product (even for friends and family). Many, like myself, are lost when the red light goes off and you have a final demo.
And I really enjoyed your music.
Could you provide some of your Pianoteq recordings pls? I wish I could hear the final result
Here are a couple of recordings I mastered:
https://soundcloud.com/user-76019685/an...-high-demo
https://soundcloud.com/user-76019685/daybreak-demo
Hope it helps!
thanks a lot
thanks a lot
No problem! One thing I'd like to add:
7. Using Tonal Balance Control, get your 4 frequency zones as close to center as possible with the EQ.
In Tonal Balance Control, more or less ignore the "High" frequency range. Solo piano recordings have little to no spectral information there, and when they do it is usually mic noise (which Pianoteq doesn't have, maybe we'll get it as a feature soon )...
This process took me quite a lot of trial and error to develop, but it was worth it!
Glad to be of help!