I used separate tracks, with each track lined up finish to start, so if all tracks were enabled then it would play the full album.ScuzzyEye wrote: ↑01 Mar 2022Did you use just one audio track and overlap the songs to create the cross-fades, or did you put each song on a different audio track for each song?
It can definitely be done, either way in fact, just it isn't as easy or as obvious (when using the one track per song) to create the cross-fade points as it is in dedicated mastering tools that are set up from the start to do this.
Each track had the Selig Gain where I was fading in or out the track.
I used Blocks as markers too - just a visual aid really.
Back then (2019), I mastered each track and exported it. So in the Reason mastering project, each track was basically individually mastered, and the purpose of the Reason mastering project was track leveling and crossfades, and to be able to export the continuous mix. On the master bus I put metering tools to check the loudness levels (though I still found myself using my ear).
I'd do it a bit differently these days. Each track would be pre-masters (mixed as well as I could) and then in the mastering project I'd have all the mastering plugins - probably with some EQ and light compression on each track, and a limiter and metering on the master bus. Doing this I feel would have given me the chance for better tonal matching across the tracks.
Just on the metering, I really like https://www.masteringthemix.com/products/levels - worth checking out.