My first master

M

mattymacnj

New member
Hey what's up guys,

This is my first post on the forum and I'm excited to take a look around. It looks like there is a ton of good information floating around here.

I'm currently working on my next album and I just wanted to get opinions on my masters. I recorded everything in my home studio (not really a studio, more like a room with instruments in it lol), and I mixed and mastered the audio using Reaper. I still have scratch vocals on both of these tracks, and I think I could probably squeeze another 2-3 dB out of them but I don't know if I want to do that yet. Just looking to get some feedback to see where I'm at before I move on to the other tracks.

I have attached the mp3's but if you prefer the full quality WAV files here is a link to them via Google drive.
https://drive.google.com/folderview...05STNsV2ViWW9PSzNIYVpSNDNoUE40RFE&usp=sharing

Thanks,
Matty Mac
 

Attachments

  • Outta_Here_TMAS1_MP3.mp3
    3.9 MB · Views: 11
  • Wake_Up_TMAS1_MP3.mp3
    3.1 MB · Views: 21
Snare sound is weak and 'roomy' and the cymbals/hi-hat are low in volume as is the bass guitar generally. Strange panning in places - like the low tom way over on the right. Why would you 'master' if you don't have the final vocal tracks done? Maybe you are misusing the term? In 'Outta Here' the high vocal harmony panned left is another strange effect.
 
thoroughly enjoyed both tracks,very refreshing ... great writing and musicianship .. i bet your bloody great live !!!


defo gonna listen to these again :D






mix wise theres a few things i would like to improve on, but they carry well as is :)
 
Okay thanks for the feedback!! I wanted to mix the drums as if I was playing them, so sitting down at the kit the low tom would be pretty far to the right that's why I did it like that. To address you question about mastering and the harmonies, I am just trying to figure out if it will be worth it for me to pay to have them professionally mastered, or do it myself. Since I'm not actually tracking the final vocals until next week I figured in the meantime I could try to get some feedback. I had already planned on rewriting the harmonies on Outta Here and they definitely wouldn't be hard left and hard right as they were in that mix. Thanks again!

*EDIT*
I didn't know if this would reply to each comment individually or not so this portion is directed at cakewalkKaked (If there is a way to tag someone please let me know)

thanks for the comments! This album was originally supposed to be an acoustic album and then the musician in me took over haha Hopefully it sounded like a full band and you couldnt tell that this was all played/recorded by one guy. Thanks again, I will let you know when the rest of the album is finished!
 
You've mixed and mastered with scratch vocals?
You haven't finished recording and you've mastered?
Oh, hang on you're planning to rewrite & rerecord harmonies and you've mastered?
You need to rethink your strategies.
Lots of people throw something on the master bus before posting to ask for mix advice.
This often masked issues in the mix.
It would really be worth you while to post your mix with nothing on the master buss.
 
Biggest thing for me is the kick. Just a bit too prominent on both songs, I feel. And slightly on the clicky side. Bass on both songs could be fuller also. But I do like your clarity and separation otherwise.
 
Yea i just noticed the same issues with the kick yesterday, and it seems like the main consensus is that the bass is weak so I will work on both of those. Thanks!

@rayc
This was more of a way for me to check where I am at with my mixing and mastering. I wanted to see if the volume and quality was up to par, and I figured if it sounded like it came out of a low budget, basement studio you guys would tell me right away. So yes there are things that I am going to change for my final product, but I was looking to get feedback on what I did with the tracks that I have. Whether it is a scratch track or a final vocal, that shouldn't affect my skill level as an audio engineer. Even if that was the best vocal take I have ever done, I would've ended up mixing it with a similar ratio of vocals to music and that is what I wanted to check. idk maybe im wrong. I just wanted to practice the whole process and see what other people thought of it.
 
sammydix said:
Biggest thing for me is the kick. Just a bit too prominent on both songs, I feel. And slightly on the clicky side. Bass on both songs could be fuller also. But I do like your clarity and separation otherwise.
Click to expand...

I agree with this completely. Sounds really good though. Well done. Pretty freaking good scratch vocals :).
 
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