ladyraven_69 wrote:
> I have a question. I am getting close to finishing up a project that
> I am working on with my band. The CD consists of songs with
> transitional pieces that I have recorded in the field(birds, crickets,
> weather, etc.) Some of the songs, themselves, also have these
> nature sounds as part of the tracks. As I get closer, I am
> beginning to wonder about the issue of mastering. Are there
> particular issues to keep in mind while mastering natural
> sounds as opposed to straight songs? Do any of you have any
> suggestions, or know folks whom might do a good job with the
> dual nature of this project? I do not have a big budget. I will be
> pressing probably 500 to 1000 cds.
Recent experience here leads me to say that you should verify the CD at
all stages. Most places are not familiar with natural sounds and may get
things mixed up. We had a entire pressing have to be redone here when
this happened during the final process. For the redo we checked at each
stage, including having a copy made from the final setup and verifying
it before the run.
Nature recording is usually not compressed in dynamic range, something
that's all too common in music recording where the entire dynamic range
may be compressed in just a few dB at the top in some to increase the
apparent loudness. You will have to come to terms with what you wish to
do in a mixed CD like yours. It's your CD, make it sound the way you want.
You should also investigate the sound you get with traditional silent
breaks between tracks vs continuous sound via crossfading. If the tracks
are carefully chosen nature recording lends itself well to crossfading.
I'm no expert at the mastering stage. I can produce one off CD's that
sound decent.
Walt
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