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+--- Thread: Mastering Xonotic music for 1.0 release (/showthread.php?tid=2968)
Mastering Xonotic music for 1.0 release - unfa - 04-27-2012
I have an idea that can make Xonotic sound better, more professional and pleasing when it comes to music.
If you don't know what is mastering and how it differs from mixing:
Mastering is about making a selection of recordings (songs, tracks) sound uniform and balanced together. It's about making loudness comparable and also playing with equalization to make all the different colors of the music make for a well-balanced painting. People often confuse mastering with mixing (and vice-versa). Mixing is a bit different - it's about placing sounds of a certain track (recording) in a space, balancing these sound together, regulating volume levels of different sounds in the mix.
Usually you do mastering on a set of mixes. And the result is a an album ready to be burned or uploaded.
If you don't know and don't want to know too much about audio production:
If we are going to left Xonotic music like this, players may sometimes get a feeling that the music tracks are obtained from different sources, and don't play too well together. It would also force players to frequently play with music loudness, as it can be inconsistent among different tracks. It could sound unprofessional and cheap.
I can master Xonotic soundtrack for 1.0.
I have some expirience (Backside Front) and I would love to gain more.
What would I need?
- Mixes of all tracks to be included in the 1.0 release.
- 2-4 weeks of time to get it all done.
What would I need for each mix (track)?
- 16 bits is acceptable, but I stronly recommend going for higher resolutions - after all the processing 16 bis may sound a bit noisy;
- Minimum (and optimum) sampling frequency is 48 kHz;
- Lossles or uncompressed audio files (WAV or FLAC);
- Maximum possible dynamic range - don't use limiters or compressors on the master bus. Make it quiet enough so no peak will hit 0dB or export 32-bit float WAV - it is safe from digital clipping;
- Don't cut the material too much. A long fadeout at the end of the track can help me making it loop seamlessly.
What would I deliver?
- Mastered and looped tracks for the game in any format and quality you like that I can encode. Prefarably Ogg (q6-8) and FLAC.
- Complete Ardour master session availabile for anyone to modify and learn from
- Soundtrack mastered as a standalone CD to be released on Jamendo or wherever if you want. We can release this on Jamendo later on.
RE: Mastering Xonotic music for 1.0 release - rocknroll237 - 04-27-2012
Quote:Maximum possible dynamic range
Thanks for including that. Compression levels are a joke these days!
RE: Mastering Xonotic music for 1.0 release - unfa - 04-28-2012
(04-27-2012, 11:37 AM)rocknroll237 Wrote: Compression levels are a joke these days!
Oh yes. There is almost NO dynamic range in modern mainstream music
But that's a different matter and another topic can be started elsewhere about loudness war. 
RE: Mastering Xonotic music for 1.0 release - unfa - 05-17-2012
I met a guy at some server he other day. He said that Xonotic has awesome music and that he wants to download an OST (soundtrack) from it.
I said I'm into making an OST, but no one seems interested here, in the community.
So, bumpicity bumps bumpily. Anyone wants this done, or not really?
RE: Mastering Xonotic music for 1.0 release - chooksta - 05-18-2012
it sounds good mate , but idk about the others , ill submit if needed , but ill have to find my stuff again and my cpu is all like FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU atm :/
i think my levels are ok , yes i use a limiter at the end of my seq , but thats what i like , sounds ok to me , but that said , im not everyone....
t
:^
RE: Mastering Xonotic music for 1.0 release - Mepper - 05-18-2012
I would love it if you could master the music
would be awesome.