Took my mix, a song, to studio for mastering and was told.....

[nonreversebird]

Well , I dont know what to think. I was told that my music , mix, would be no problem and in fact it would sound great when they were through with it. They play me some sample stuff of what I might expect. I must say if it sounds like what I heard and I can afford it I will be very happy. So I guess those who are doing your own mixes if you go listen to mine on my website listed in my sig then I guess you are on the right track. I did spend over a month to get those mixes I will tell you that.

The owner took my song and put the wav file on his computer, Real nice setup, and he turned it almost all the way down in volume and then up rather loud and was apparently able to tell me based on that that my mix was good enough to master well and QUICK. The quick part about it is what has me wondering.

Anyway I will let those interested what the results were.

[FALKEN]

def.



damn the 10 character minimum!!

[Harvey Gerst]

Originally Posted by nonreversebird

The owner took my song and put the wav file on his computer, Real nice setup, and he turned it almost all the way down in volume and then up rather loud and was apparently able to tell me based on that that my mix was good enough to master well and QUICK. The quick part about it is what has me wondering.

It's a handy trick, used frequently by mastering guys. If you can turn the mix way down and most of the instruments and vocals stay in good relative balance, AND it still hangs together when you crank it, it means that you're not gonna hafta screw with the basic mix too much. Maybe a little compression and some light eq and it almost masters itself. It was a compliment on the quality of your mix.

[nonreversebird]

I was very pleased with what the Engineer did. I wasnt expecting a job like 100 grand recording since what i did was done in an apartment on cheap gear and old gear. For me it was that which helped me write the particular songs I did. But this studio and Engineer really did a great job at bringing out the music and removing the parts of the audio that were undesireable. Like particular frequencys. Its got the gain I wanted and I really love what he did with my drums. Which in fact are not played by a person. Its all midi that I wrote played through a DM5. I think that with his work it will be a CD worth selling. So I should have the entire CD done within the next 2 weeks. I wont be giving away the mastered tracks though, My mix is fine for free mp3s. If someone purchaces my CD then the get the real mix. I mean I am selling my Mossberg for this and some other property. I am broke. Anyway thats it. I do now agree it is better to have some fresh ears do the mastering rather than the musician. I am worn out and just am blank now anyway. Its really a relief to give the job to someone else.

[volltreffer]

...and that honest comment gave you a rep point

I would be very curious about how the sound ended up, as I had the impression that the drums were a little buried in the mix and there was a little conflict with bass and drum and/or guitar... What I really liked was your middle and high end... really nice (aside the nice songs...)

But my monitors are just JBL control media... so my comments on mud might be shite...

aXel

[nonreversebird]

Yea, I went through so many changes to the mix. A lot of focus was put on the drums and bass. Your right the guitars and even the vocals seemed to be realitively easy to mix in there but the bass. I had to find a level that just seemed right for the style of music. To be honest I wish it was just one notch louder now that I have heard what mastering will do to it. But it is too late. Its not bad, I mean its going to sound different on everything you play it on. I looked at it this way. Most young people (my audience) have stereos that are usually set with their bass hot so I wanted them to be able to listen to my music LOUD with out to much EQing on their end. That was my idea as far as not having the bass more out front. Now the drums. All I can say is when a human isnt playing them its tedious and very time consuming to get them to sound right. I finally found a velociy setting for both the snare and kick that I felt wouldnt blow out someones speakers when it was cranked. You see most kids and younger people are listening to heavy bass music and what happens is the guitar gets washed out. No high frequencies at all. I feel that that is not what the guitar is about. I have been playing lead guitar for many years and I think it should be out front. Thats me though. Now a days the Guitar has almost become an extension of the Bass in Rock music. Harder Rock music that is. Anyway lastly I just wanted my mix to sound Old Skool and I think with it mastered it gets damn close to exactly what I would want if I paid 1000s of dollars to do everything.

Man, mp3s wont let you hear what this guy did. I can tell you that I could hear harmonics in the guitar that I did not even know were there and that was really cool. The kik is solid but not too much. The bass is the only thing that I wish could be better but thats my fault. I just cant remix it so Im going for it now.

[ecktronic]

Your recordings sound cool apart from the snare sounds a bit gash ad the cymbals are terrible. KILL MIDI DRUMS for this type of music.