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July 5th, 2011

Using Reference Tracks for Mastering Your Productions

Jacob Friedman :: Mixing Vocals

What’s the point of a reference track you ask? Well one of the best and easiest ways to learn new techniques is to listen to the masters, and then “reproduce” (a.k.a. copy) their sound. It’s a quick and easy way to add a whole new array of tricks to your tool box

In this tutorial, we’re going to use a track (Eric Prydz – Pjanoo) as a reference to recreate a similar track by sound and composition. We’ll use a variety of techniques like song composition and chord progression as well as mastering tools like frequency analysis, amplitude analysis, headroom, and limiting to achieve a damn close mix and composition. The techniques we use will also apply to any mastering of any track – all you have to do is read – and listen – closely.

Eric Prydz – Pjanoo (Free Man’s Partial Remake) by The Toronto Collective

In my mastered track, the high-ends are more airy than they were previously. Listen to the piano stabs and you’ll see what I’m talking about. There’s also a lot less bass on my mastered track; the mid and high-end elements pop out because of this.

The Reference Track

Reference tracks are named as such because we tend to refer to a sound to replicate or imitate in your productions. It’s useless to reinvent the wheel; many techniques mastering engineers use are a core set of rules. Check it out:

Using Reference Tracks (Step by Step)

Step 1: Listen. Listen. Listen.

The first step when using a reference track is, obviously, to listen to the track many times over. Get a feel of the instruments and sounds that are used both when and where. Try to pick out the chord progressions (if you’re imitating a composition). If you can’t, guitar tablature sites will usually give you the chord structure.

Step 2: Import your reference track and check out the waveform patterns.

Monkey see, monkey do: Analyze the track from a songwriter’s perspective. How many bars is the intro? How many bars is the breakdown? When does the lead come in, and does it get louder as the song progresses? Writing these patterns down will help you recognize where elements are usually placed (tip: buildup and breakdown placement patterns are always recognizable and cherished by listeners; a sonic foundation, so to speak). This exercise will also help you lay drum patterns over the base track.

Step 3: Mimic the elements

Usually for popular tracks you can download sound packs that carry the same sounds as in the original production. Vengeance Pack sounds are used frequently in the electronic music genre, as are the Roland TR-909 and 808 drum machine samples. If you’re unable to mimic a certain sound, pick a similar instrument or even research the track on forums. Gearslutz usually features new releases and the members are always discussing mixdowns and sonic features.

Step 4: Measure the RMS Levels of the reference track.

Turns out my max RMS is the same as Eric Prydz's. But check out the Average RMS dB..(Root Mean Square Decibels).

Let’s get into the heavy lifting – these next steps are part of Mastering 101. RMS (Root Mean Square) Levels are the calculated volume levels of your track. Most audio editing programs are capable of this calculation, but I’ve used RMS Buddy and it’s a wicked (and free) tool, equipped to do RMS calculations. There are two types of RMS levels:

  1. Max RMS Power / Continual Peak (gives the volume (decibel) reading at the loudest part of your track
  2. Average RMS gives the reading of the overall volume of the track. Usually, the difference between of the Average RMS between your song being mastered and the reference songs provides an indication of how much your levels have to be raised or lowered to sound more alike.

Step 5: Apply a Limiter (Max-Volume effect) accordingly.

From -12 to -14...I would have used a -2dB limiter but -4db gives me more potential volume to work with for later EQing

What a limiter effect does is pull the volume down and disable it from going over a certain level. Usually, your mastered mixes should be, at the loudest, -10dB RMS. Commercial mixes usually come in at around -14dB. So if the Average RMS of your track is -15dB and you import your track at 0dB, the limiter’s threshold (max dB level) should be -5dB… remember with decibels we use relative, not absolute values. Save these limiter settings and export your track.

Step 6: Technical Tone Analysis: Analyzing waveforms and frequencies

mAutoEqualizer’s a great tool for Technical Tone Analysis, and you can download a free trial of it for this tutorial. Its purpose is to provide a platform of understanding for waveform frequencies both at certain instances of your track or on average, just like RMS Power and Average RMS.

Here's the average frequency calculation for the reference Pjanoo vs my own. "Easy on the bass, Free Man". Plus, I need to boost my highs.

Now, we know the general frequencies of cymbals are between 2k and 7k with a very “present” 6 or 7k. mAutoEqualizer will show a waveform pattern for cymbals around this area when a crash cymbal sounds. Check out the initial crash on the analysis tool on both your reference and production tracks at a point in time. Are the graphs close? If not, fine-tune your trusty 8-band Equalizer to boost frequencies so they sound similar.

Tweaking the final EQ to match the reference track dBs

As for the Average RMS, mAutoEqualizer is also able to cumulatively analyze a track and show the average EQ values. Use an EQ to tweak your production so they begin to look the same.<.p>

You’re Done, right?

Export your track, but you’re not done until you get a friend to listen. Always use a different pair of ears to tell you what’s going on, or leave for your lunch break and come back to do it again. Your track will never be perfect compared to the reference, so you can always give it some extra attention. Remember: there’s a science to using a reference track, but your ears may tell you otherwise.

Still Not Satisfied? Good

If you really want to get in depth, have a quick read of ‘Creating Music by Listening‘ – Tristan Jehan

Jacob Friedman

Free Man: Jake

Jacob Friedman is a Radio and Television Arts student at the University of Ryerson, Producer, and of course, member of the Toronto Collective

Jacob Friedman
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One Response to “Using Reference Tracks for Mastering Your Productions”

    Bridging the divide: “DJ or Producer”? « AudioAcademy.fm says:
    September 13, 2011 at 8:38 am

    [...] your frequencies in mind so the instrument’s sound doesn’t clash (Refer to the reference tracks post and apply the principle to samples of the track and the prefab instrument if you have [...]

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