How to prepare your songs before professional mastering?

Cubase
1

I’ve got these 9 songs almost ready, recorded on Cubase artist 7.5. When they will be fully complete I will get them online mastered.
So the questions are: How do you prepare the songs before mastering? Do you just export them? Do you add any plugins in the stereo out channel like the uv22hr?
Thanx in advance!

2

hi there,

first you have to make sure your don’t have a high output on the master fader channel.
2. your mix has to be in -3 or -5 db because IF the sound engineer has a professional studio he will have more head room to work with your final mix… IF your mix is to loud you will limit the mastering.

  1. do not put anything on the mixdown IF you like how it sounds. you have to alter the mix as less as possible.
  2. your audio engineer will tell you how he want;s the mixes he should give you a list.
3

  1. That’s not accurate. You don’t want to clip too much - in fact, if you don’t clip at all, that’s not a bad thing. But you can in fact have a “high output on the master fader”.

  2. No, your mix does not have to be at -3 or -5 db.

  3. IF you like how it sounds, yes, leave it alone. If you need to alter the mix, go ahead. Do what you need to get the mix sounding as good as you can BEFORE you send it to be mastered. And if this include putting EQ and other plugs on the op bus to achieve what you want, then by all means go for it. Do NOT give the ME a sub-par mix, thinking that you are going to get back something that sounds awesome. You want to give the ME the best possible mix.

  4. Agreed. Contact your ME first, and give him what he wants. And if he wants the mix in the -3 or -5 db range, that’s what you should give him.

Cheers.

4

Ok thnx for the advices…I’m reading some articles about this and all seem to say that you have to leave the stereo output track “naked”, without any possible effect.
So I don’t think the suggestion of one of these 2 guys to add eq or other effects to the mix is totally correct…instead I totally agree with the suggestion both gave me to ask to the Me all the setups I have to follow in order to obtain the best mix.