generally need help with everything.

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funbox

New member
Hi there,

I'm new to both the forums and recording in general and was wondering if I could get some advice.

I'm trying to master a (currently) instrumental grunge/heavy blues track with the intention of putting some vocals on later. all of my attempts however are ending in the mix sounding midscooped and overcompressed. I'm looking for more of a gritty, dirtier sound but at the moment it's just too empty and clean for my liking, even before compressing the whole mix (should i even be doing that?!)

is this a mastering problem? or was the eq/tone on each track wrong in the first place? or just musically not deep enough?

it's probably obvious that any help at all would be greatly appreciated, because at the moment its like the matrix 3 made more sense than this.

thanks in advance

ps. i'll upload some files when i've gotten through the mighty task of making 5 posts.
 
funbox said:
is this a mastering problem? or was the eq/tone on each track wrong in the first place? or just musically not deep enough?
Click to expand...
First, funbox, welcome to the forum. :)

Second, if your mix doesn't sound right then go back and fix it in the mix, not in mastering. Waiting until after you have mixed down to fix the mix is just closing the barn door after the horses have already left. You apparently have an idea in your head of what you want your side to sound like. Th earlier in the production process you can achieve that sound - or at least get things as close as possible - the better off you'll wind up being.

Back off on the gain and the distortion on your guitars when you record. You need less of that than you think. Record in a decent-sounding room. Use compression during the mixing process as needed instead of automatically.

And, as someone brand new to this board, please tell us just where you personally learned your definition of mastering from; what were the sources of your information. I'm not picking on you personally, funbox, it's just that this field is rampant with newbs who have the idea that mastering is all about correcting the mix, when in reality, it should have nothing to do with that. I'm just curious as to where this misinformation actually comes from and who's spreading it, because it should would be nice to cut some of this misinformation off at the source. :)

G.
 
thanks a lot glen,

we have also been experimenting with different sounds out of the guitar. we have completely redone the guitar tracks. we though maybe if we used my friends broken amp it could get a rawness we needed. but as u had said, it sounded overly distorted. funny how it sounds a lot less distorted when u do it live. maybe if we have a nice relatively clean guitar tone and a rumbling bass or sumthing mixed in with clean bass. i dunno its all trial and error so far. but your advice seems to be coming true before our eyes. less distortion seems to be the key. also compression as i hear, but i dont like compression. mainly coz i dunno how to use it properly. well get it one day. but for now...FunBOX AWAAAYYYYYYYY.
 
And do, please indulge Glenn (and the rest of us) with where you found your definition of "mastering." You are mixing - You are not mastering - The two are generally unrelated, individual processes (that more or less need to be done in a specific order if anyone wants anything to sound right in the end).

And as he mentioned, we're not "picking on you" -- Many of us are genuinely curious as to where the definitions of so many things have been skewed so drastically over the last few years...
 
If you don't know how to use something as common as compression in your mixing then you might want to start from scratch and read a book. My recording school used Modern Recording Techiques by Huber & Runstein. Don't use forums or searches on the internet for sources of basic info cause there are some out there that have no clue what they're talking about, and you'll get a million different answers which can be frustrating. Use the internet to hone your skills and pick up tricks. Start with a decent refrence.
 
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