Master Is Frustrating me!

Joe Hadfeld

New member
Im a somewhat noob in this recording world, but i have recorded a few things that turned out great. Im working on a song with a buddy of mine and everything sounds great in the mix... everytime i master it, it comes out sounding like its in a tin can. Treble from hell. What am i doing wrong?!?

www.myspace.com/wearelastcall the song is called "Realize"
 
Im a somewhat noob in this recording world, but i have recorded a few things that turned out great. Im working on a song with a buddy of mine and everything sounds great in the mix... everytime i master it, it comes out sounding like its in a tin can. Treble from hell. What am i doing wrong?!?

www.myspace.com/wearelastcall the song is called "Realize"

OK, I'm going to be Captain Frickin' Obvious here, but........Could it be your adding too much treble to the master bus during "mastering"???? What else do you think it could be?

What exactly are you doing to the mix when you "master" (plug-ins, setting, etc....)? The more detail you give, the more chance of people helping you with your problem.
 
Like i said... i cant figure out what it is. And also like i said, im new at this. Basicially all i did was got it sounding good in the mix. Them opened it in a master track, compress it a little bit and use a "Maxim" plug-in from my pro-tools. It sounds great in the monitors... but through anything else it sounds way trebely. I guess maybe my monitors aren't sufficient, but i dont think thats the whole problem.
 
Like i said... i cant figure out what it is. And also like i said, im new at this. Basicially all i did was got it sounding good in the mix. Them opened it in a master track, compress it a little bit and use a "Maxim" plug-in from my pro-tools. It sounds great in the monitors... but through anything else it sounds way trebely. I guess maybe my monitors aren't sufficient, but i dont think thats the whole problem.

Oh, Ok...this may be a different problem, then. You say it sounds good in your monitors but not other systems. This sounds more like a room/monitoring problem. This is not un-common.

Have you checked your mixes on other systems BEFORE "mastering"? Because if it sounds thin on other systems, but not on yours, then it's definitely your monitoring and/or room that are causing the problem.
 
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I have checked my mixes on other systems... i thought it sounded good. A little difference but nothing i was concerned about. Ill figure this out one way for another lol. Thanks for the help tho... its much appreciated.
 
Them opened it in a master track, compress it a little bit and use a "Maxim" plug-in from my pro-tools.
That's the source of your problems right there - you're probably trying to push the mix too hard. Lay off the maximizer plugs a few dB.

Additionally you're not trying to adjust the mix to anticipate the problems that the over-compression are putting in your mix. You can't always just take a passable mix, crush it with compression/limiting, and expect it to come out sounding the same except louder. The compression/limiting will tend to make the quieter parts of the mix relatively louder compared to the louder parts. If you have an excess of low-volume treble, much of the compression/limiting will tend to emphasize that, making it sound too trebly at the end.

Back off the volume crunching. Go by ear, not meters. When it gets too loud ans bad-sounding, back off - regardless of what you meters say. and if you absolutely insist on making it louder that that (think about it before you do it), them remove some of the low-amplitude treble frpm the mix before smashing it.

G.
 
I have a little test that works great.
Listen to a couple of your favorite CD's that come close to what you want.
Then listen to your music in:

1. computer monitor
2. good car stereo cd
3. cheap jam box cd

Go back. Tweak. Take a day off. Go back tweak again. 1 more day. Tweak-RUN.
 
...Them opened it in a master track, compress it a little bit and use a "Maxim" plug-in from my pro-tools...

Do not use any factory presets in your plug-ins. Instead learn what every setting does and only apply tweaks that the song actually needs. The "factory" can't possibly know what tweaks your song needs.

But I agree with Rami. Based on what you have told us, it sounds like your monitors are lying to you. Are the tweeters working properly?
 
It sounds great in the monitors... but through anything else it sounds way trebely. I guess maybe my monitors aren't sufficient, but i dont think thats the whole problem.

That is a grade-A, classic room problem. Are you finding yourself cutting low end when you mix?
 
Accept my criticism with grace. The middle is crowded with a bunch of mid heavy emphasis. I have a similar problem but I make things too wide and ultimatley "disconected". Maybe a revisit to the mix stage to create more space. I fall down in the pre-mastering stage by going for too much punch and volume when I should have spent a bit more time carving out Eq space to allow the vocal to pop out and yet blend in. Caveat: these guys here know more about this than I but thats is my .o2. Thurgood, Be well All.
 
Ultimately, the limiting (you're not really "mastering", just limiting, it seems) is simply going to make problems that are already there more prominent... So you're getting some good information there! :)

As already suggested, it's probably best to go back and address those problems in the mix. Alternately, if you're happy with the mix and feel like you've taken it as far as you can, you can enlist a seasoned pro to add some experience and finesse in making your mix translate better.
 
I have a little test that works great.
Listen to a couple of your favorite CD's that come close to what you want.
Then listen to your music in:

1. computer monitor
2. good car stereo cd
3. cheap jam box cd

Go back. Tweak. Take a day off. Go back tweak again. 1 more day. Tweak-RUN.

..................And, thirty years later Viola! A great sounding CD
 
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