Film score (Musical Soundtrack) Mastering

[akirawithv]

Hey subsekters!

I'm starting to do some film scoring gigs and have been wondering if there should be any difference mastering a regular track or one for tv and/or movies. My question here is if there is any rule for loudness and metering. How many dbs should my track be at the end. If u guys have any other tips that I have forgotten regarding film scoring mastering I would appreciate a lot. Also any different techniques or plug-ins that I should know.

Thanks!

[Lost to the Void]

Well if you are a mastering engineer then you should know this shit already.
If you are thinking about mastering your own music for film, don`t, for many reasons.

The audio engineer for the film/production will do all the audio mastering, especially for the score.

Basically you need to deal with EBU R128 compliance which is fast becoming the international broadcast standard (already present throughout europe)

- Assure Programme Loudness Level of your content is normalised to a Target Level of -23.0 LUFS. The permitted deviation from the Target Level shall generally not exceed ±1.0 LU.

- The audio signal must be measured in its entirety, beginning to end, without emphasis on specific elements such as voice, music or sound effects.

- The Maximum Permitted True Peak Level of a programme during production must not exceed -1 dBTP (dB True Peak), measured with a meter compliant with both ITU-R BS.1770 and EBU Tech Doc 3341.

The fact you are asking this leads me to believe you should leave it up to the mastering engineer for the production.

[akirawithv]

Yeah you've guessed it I'm not a mastering engineer. I'm a beginner producer. I came up with this question because I've been asked to produce the soundtrack for a low budget movie (Nothing big at all, is a short film for a friend). The production probably won't have a mastering engineer payed for it and I'll have to end up doing it myself. Do u suggest me to give up and pay some professional mastering engineer for it? Or is it possible to try it myself?

thx for the basic info anyway!

[Lost to the Void]

Well, mastering is something that takes years to learn. 10 years production work generally.
Mastering for broadcast media is quite a complicated process, as it involves more rigid compliance than audio realm.
If you are beginner I wouldn`t even trust your audio mastering, let alone mastering for broadcast.

I recently mastered a documentary (about the street art movement in Buenos Aires), it took ages. There is no real offline way to calculate program LUFS, so it takes fucking ages, and the tolerances are slim.

For the bare minimum I would suggest compliance to -23 LUFS, but obviously mastering is a lot more than just setting the final level of audio.

[Mattias]

Make the music and leave the rest to the post production team until you accumulated enough experience would be my advice.

[Resin]

Technically there is no mastering in audio post-production for film.

Where is it going to be played? Film festivals, broadcast, DVD release or web?

[intrusav]

I'm gonna take a stab and assume there is no post-production team (sounds more like you're doing the soundtrack to a mates youtube video?)
Still, interesting question.
I rarely go to the cinema these days but once or twice I was shocked at the poor sound. I have a sneaky feeling it's down to the cinema in question being set up really really badly, like someone fucked around with an eq and hadn't a notion what they were doing.
Really takes away from enjoying the film ..

[akirawithv]

Thanks LTTV and Mattias, I'll explain these matters to the film producer. I was really lost about how I would do this and now I understand is not time yet.

Replying to Resin and intrusav, yes is a non comercial web video.

Thanks for the tips guys!

[Lost to the Void]

At the very least someone with some skill needs to do post production audio mixing.

[akirawithv]

Yes I'll tell them about this!

[Resin]

Okay for web I wouldn't worry too much. There are no rules, web projects range from -15 to -20 LUFS. Just make sure to keep down your dynamic range.