Mastering for music libraries

[Abswave]

Hi,
I am looking for some advice regarding mastering production music tracks for music libraries for tv shows, promo videos, corporate events etc. Tracks are usually submitted to these libraries with multiple versions of the track. Is each version of the track mastered separately? Or is the full version mastered and then are the other versions bounced down from the same session and using the exact same settings on all the mastering plugins? Also do producers usually master the track themselves or is it sent a professional mastering engineer?

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[kenose]

This can vary between libraries... if the composer is writing an entire album, perhaps some libraries ask for the composer to handle the mastering. This is more rare with the higher end libraries, and I imagine even more rare when the library is producing albums that have various contributing composers.

In my experience with the libraries I work with, I send all the mixes, stems, and cutdowns without any processing whatsoever on the mix bus-- so the stems all sum to the exact full mix. The libraries then handle mastering for all the files.

If a library is requesting that you master the tracks yourself, they would likely provide specific loudness targets to hit. (If they are serious.)

 

[JohnG]

The library usually handles the mastering.

I agree with @kenose in that "if they are serious" they will handle the mastering so they can control the quality of the music that they are putting out there.

If the library doesn't control the mastering and, thus, control the quality, maybe look for another library? That would seem amateurish to me and it's not worth throwing your music away to a half-baked company.

 

[Abswave]

What about for producers who are starting out and have never submitted any tracks to libraries. They maybe can't get their tracks to the higher end libraries and would be submitting tracks to the lower end libraries which maybe don't master your tracks. In that situation would you hire a mastering engineer to master your track or would you ever do it yourself? Wouldn't it be expensive to get multiple versions of the same track mastered? As you know when you first start out producing music for libraries, it takes time before you get paid so if you have to keep hiring mastering engineers it can get really costly.

When libraries master your tracks, do they master each version separately?

 

[kenose]

If you're talking about royalty free sites that don't have any role in producing or curating their content, then yes you should simply master the tracks yourself-- the quality of master you'll be able to achieve is likely good enough for those types of situations.

The composer should never be footing the bill for a mastering engineer, and no respectable libraries would ask that of their composers.

To try and answer your question about the mastering of versions-- it would generally be done like this:

- Main fullmix master chain is set up
- Alt mixes/cutdowns are bounced with the same master chain
- Stems are bounced with the same chain, except there is a limiter on each stem with a sidechain input (like FabFilter Pro-L 2) being fed the fullmix. This is to retain the same dynamics processing across the stems, so the stems sum to the mastered full mix.

This is at least how I would go about it, and it is how I deliver cues that need to be mastered.

I think there is some merit to understanding how to achieve a decent master yourself. In library/production/trailer music though, it is a good idea to learn how to achieve a great sounding mix without any mix bus processing-- as when you start working with more serious libraries, they will want cues delivered without any of that stuff.

When I deliver, I try to ensure my mixes are already very well balanced dynamically and generally the library's master is just throwing on a limiter to push the level-- I'm not relying on their mastering guy to clean up my messes. Shooting for really clean and clear mixes is key for this sort of stuff.

 

[jcrosby]

That's not necessarily true about libraries that don't cover mastering. Most of my backend comes from a broadcast library that doesn't do any mastering but place an ungodly amount of music in TV, (many times more than another library I've worked with that does handle mastering and also focuses on broadcast). I also work with trailer libraries that handle the mastering, and have strict guidelines about the files you deliver so it really depends on the library.

Trailer libraries are more adamant about handling the mastering because they're competing at the top of the industry, and competing against companies that emphasize production quality just as heavily as quality of music... They're also competing for one shot per film. Basically it's a niche market with tight competition whereas the amount of music in a TV series is in the hundreds per series. Just because a library doesn't handle the mastering does not make them any less viable in the market as long as they take the actual curation process seriously... Basically getting your production chops tight will serve you well regardless of who you're writing for, what level etc.

As far as cut downs, I do everything in the same project... Once I've exported the full version I copy it down stream and start my cut downs, all tracks being exported with identical processing since they're originating from the same project... The same would apply for a trailer library having their tracks mastered by a facility. Set any processing around the full version, edits and stems being exported with the same processing so stems sum up to sound identical and cut downs sound the same.

 

[Abswave]

That's not necessarily true about libraries that don't cover mastering. Most of my backend comes from a broadcast library that doesn't do any mastering but place an ungodly amount of music in TV, (many times more than another library I've worked with that does handle mastering and also focuses on broadcast). I also work with trailer libraries that handle the mastering, and have strict guidelines about the files you deliver so it really depends on the library.

Trailer libraries are more adamant about handling the mastering because they're competing at the top of the industry, and competing against companies that emphasize production quality just as heavily as quality of music... They're also competing for one shot per film. Basically it's a niche market with tight competition whereas the amount of music in a TV series is in the hundreds per series. Just because a library doesn't handle the mastering does not make them any less viable in the market as long as they take the actual curation process seriously... Basically getting your production chops tight will serve you well regardless of who you're writing for, what level etc.

As far as cut downs, I do everything in the same project... Once I've exported the full version I copy it down stream and start my cut downs, all tracks being exported with identical processing since they're originating from the same project... The same would apply for a trailer library having their tracks mastered by a facility. Set any processing around the full version, edits and stems being exported with the same processing so stems sum up to sound identical and cut downs sound the same.

Regarding the mastering of the alt versions where you say you they are all exported with identical processing. Do you do the same as Kenose and put a limiter on each stem with the sidechain input being fed the fullmix?