Getting the Best from the MTK Presets

Major record labels and professional recording studios spend thousands of dollars to have their final mixes mastered in expensive mastering labs. Mastering is an art in itself. It can take years of practice, patience, and experience to learn how to do it properly.

One great thing about the VS-1680 is the MTK presets. These presets have been pre-configured by Roland engineers and professional soundmen to help you put a high-quality mastered finish on your mix. There are 19 preset MTK patches that are all configured for a different type of mix. The MTK patches are as follows :

• P210: Mixdown

• P211: PreMaster

• P212: LiveMix

• P213: PopMix

• P214: DanceMix

• P215: JingleMix

• P216: HardComp

• P217: SoftComp

• P218: CleanComp

• P219: DanceComp

• P220: OrchComp

• P221: VocalComp

• P222: Acoustic

• P223: RockBand

• P224: Orchestra

• P225: LoBoost

• P226: Brighten

• P227: DjsVoice

• P228: PhoneVox

The best way to use the MTK presets is to finish mixing your song first and then run the tracks through the Mastering Room. While your song is playing through the Mastering Room, insert different MTK patches to the Mastering Room's Effects bus. The cool thing about this process is that the VS-1680 allows you to do all this in real time.

While the song is playing, you can audition all of the MTK presets and then decide later which one you want to use. You may find that you are able to use many of the MTK presets "as is." Sometimes, you can start with a good-sounding preset and then tweak it by going into the preset's editing functions. This way, you can customize the preset to fit your song's specific needs.

MTK Preset Tweaking Caution

Be careful when you are tweaking the MTK presets. The processors in the MTK are very powerful and can drastically alter the sound of your mix. If you are not careful, you can potentially tweak your mix to the point where the end result is much worse than the original.

If that happens, you can select another MTK preset, then go back to the original preset. This restores the original preset back to its default settings, giving you a chance to start over.