WHATS THE TRICK TO MASTERING A TRACK

EQ is your friend.
If the levels are in the red use the 'soft clipper' effect on the master channel.
Start by cutting the volume of all the channels to fifty percent and slowly use parametric eq and bring up the levels until you get the balance right whilst still keeping the decibels in the green.

Of course mastering gets a whole lot more complicated than that, that's why I google tutorials on the subject to try and get a grip on it.
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http://flstudio-tutorials.com/tutorial.php?tut=clear_mix

This one's a good one.

http://www.computermusictutorials.com/filemgmt_data/files/eqscreen800x60...
And this.

I've put some links up to some good tutorial sites in this thread.
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No worries dude.
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I agree with all the comments!!!
Mastering is a science thats never complete....You just have to get it to a point where you, as the artist, FEELS it.

We all have our own techniques, thats what gives our signature to our sounds. After using and learning different techniques, You will develop your own thru trails and errors and hopefully share that information with the rest of us. "cause dats wut we do here"!
Ya feel me!

Good Luck on that quest! I'm still searching and learning....

EmergeX....On Dem BEATZ!

http://www.myspace.com/dukecityhustlers
www.isound.com/emergex

I found a site that might help some learn a little more about mastering.

http://www.tweakheadz.com/mastering_your_audio.htm

Dont know if it will help or not.

Hey Sorry Frank...I'm not implying you or anyone here on MakeTunes dont share info. I'm just saying to someone that learned a new trick or two, might think everyone allready knows that information, and just wouldn't post it, or they would be shy about posting it.

Oh no not another flamefest! These really get outta control on MakeTunes. :oP lol
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Yeah that's an important point.

For example if on your effect channel you load a reverb and then a delay, you will be adding a delay effect to the reverberated sound, which can sound a little wierd.
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mastering is all feel .Sometimes I'll render a track three or four times, just checking how the effects have influenced the finish.and make changes in that space. so far i'm with u guys. EQ-compression-gain or peak. Yes. But to reiterate. It's all feel. render listen,render again.

http://www.isound.com/itnocab
ITNOCAB : iSOUND.COMâ„¢
http://www.showcaseyourmusic.com/Itnocab

VERY VERY True about compression!!! I've messed up a lot of trax with over compressing them. I now only use it as a last resort, after viewing the over all track, making notes of the peeks and valleys.
I mainly use the default compressor in Audacity to clean up any type of wave files that I'll use in a beat.
I use other filters in the Audacity program to help clean them up as well....

The cleaner the sample sounds used in a beat, the less work one has to do to master it later.

Like everyone says...It's all about listening over and over again, set it aside for a day or so and then listen to it again a few more times. Compare your sounds to a Industry made CD to see if you captured that HIGH QUALITY stereo sound.

Many times a slight reverb on each channel (one more than the other) can give this sound, from what I've noticed.

The first thing i have to say is MASTERING is a very very difficult and specialist skill which should be left to those who do it for a living, Mastering engineers. These guys have specialist knowledge, years of training and experience, specialist tools and precisly engineered rooms for these specific tasks. So my advice is if you want something Mastered for Commercial release pay the cash and get it done professionaly, there is NO substitute for a fresh pair of objective ears (your ears are never objective to your own stuff) and years of experience.

ON THE OTHER HAND !!!

If you just want to make your tunes sound the best you can at home there are a whole host of tools for the job, here they are (in no particular order)

1. SHIT IN = SHIT OUT (if the samples, sounds you start with are crap quality DONT expect to make them sound better IN THE MIX - it wont happen)

2. EQ (Eq is youre best friend, and also your enemy - dont rely on eq for clarity of sound, again rule 1 applies - Also you may find that CUTTING instead of BOOSTING is more helpful - whenever you use EQ be aware that changing/adapting 1 EQ frequency will DEFINATLEY effect other frequencies - When CUTTING use a small Q when BOOSTING use a large Q)

freq chart : http://www.recordingeq.com/Subscribe/tip/tascam.htm

3. Multiband Compression/EQ (Use this sparingly also - great for manipulating different frequency bands at the same time with different settings - quite complex)

4. Compression (Use sparingly - check out transparent compression)

5. Limiting (use sparingly - can be used to increase loudness but also to tame wild peaks etc)

check this site for many many tutorials on all things mastering as well as others :

http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

these are just some of the tools used by mastering engineers, there are many many more.

Here are some links to software and hardware tools.

http://www.uaudio.com/products/uad-dsp_menu.html

http://www.waves.com/content.aspx?id=90

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/

http://www.rogernicholsdigital.com/plug-ins.html

http://www.sonnoxplugins.com/pub/plugins/home.htm

I hope this helps you guys out some :)

cheers

SM

"When the path is laid out in front of you in Glorious colour and definition, dont be surprised if temptation attempts to remove you from it, and in the same breath, realise that the path is adaptable, manouverable and constantly evolving and may be wrong