Another mix and mastering tip(s)

  • Thread starter Thread starter BeatsBuY
  • Start date Start date
I think these days a lot of the newer ME's go digital, but the guys that have been in the biz for a number of years probably do a mixture of both. After doing analog so much they prob have their goto outboard gear that they've been using for the past decade or so and have always got great results. Just my guess though.

I'm in no way a ME, and still a novice mixer (compared to some) but I would probably prefer to stay ITB because damn it's easy to click Edit-->Undo :D LOL!
 
Ya, digital is faster and easier. I have been getting into the outboard lately. But, with all these new plugins emulating classic outboard gear, guess I'll stay digital...

So mentalattica, tell me a little about what music style you like and what you do...
 
tone_aot said:
Now, i think about eq and compression and all that and it's harder for me to concentrate on the music. I can hear so much more stuff now. It's so bad for me that when i'm in the car, i can't listen to the radio/cd player unless i've got the eq how i like it! :
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This is so true. I have had the same problem. It got to the point that when I finished mixing and mastering an album for a client, I would have to not listen to it for a month. Cause I would hear every little edit, plugin, and effect I did. I just want to hear it as a new person hearing it for the first time.

Do you hear music on the radio and think, "Oh, they used this effect, used this plugin, had this amount of compression", and so on? Or hear a sound sample and know it came from a Reason refill, Triton, or sampler? I do...
 
BeatsBuY said:
So mentalattica, tell me a little about what music style you like and what you do...
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I really can't say I like a certain style better than another, I just love hip-hop in general. I'm not really feeling a lot of the southern rap right now, just too much of the same thing for me.

The top 5 CD's in my ride currently are as follows (I would like to know what yall riding to also):

1. Kanye West (Late Registration)
Took me a while to actually like Kanye because of his cockiness, and in a old Vibe article he had the nerve to say he "invented" the sampling of old soul and r&b music. I would have gave him "made popular" in mainstream but not invented. Saying he invented it was a slap in the face to the people before him, early hip-hop was built on sampling. But I finally looked past all that and love this album.

2. T.I. (Urban Legend)
To me his best album, I don't hardly skip any songs.

3. Jay-Z (Blueprint)
My personal fav. Jay-Z album. IMO his best also. I wasn't feeling him until this album (except for reasonable doubt back in '96).

4. Common (Be)
I stopped feeling Common for a while until this album, he got a little strange to me...lol

5. Goodie Mob (Still Standing)
Not as popular as Soul Food to most, but it's my favorite. I don't really like Goodie Mob as a whole, just Cee-lo. LOL...I still fast foward to his verses on this album.

These aren't the only CD's I ride to but most played. So I don't have a paticular style I like, I just like what catches my ear. I also like my boy Asheru, he did the theme song for The Boondocks. I didn't know it was him until I talked to him 5 episodes into the season lol.
 
An as far as what I do, I just make music that I hope people want to hear. I sacrifice skills sometimes for the "catchy" song, making me hypocritical I suppose but hell I'm human. I'm don't consider myself a Producer, I'm more of an artist but I do make my own beats but I'm starting to feel more like a producer these days. Started rhyming real young, started making beats around 98 or so. Now I have a Budget studio that I record all my stuff in.

Pictures of the studio, gear list, Songs etc... are all on my website.

www.expressionmusic.com
 
I was planning on buying a digital camera so i could post pictures of my "studio" in the thread i started the other day, but after pics like this, i don't know if i wanna post mine! :D Mine is incredibly simple looking. I can get a great sound, but there's not much visual appeal. Yall are killing me with that!!! I have to buy my stuff one at a time. I don't have alot of money! :(
 
yeah, my music has been said to be "quality" or "studio" sounding... but it's just a clothing closet, an MXL 990, and all the wires run to my computer. gh-e-tto! lol.... looks arent everything, right?



bless.
 
I really don't think my setup is visually appealing compared to cats like Carter or anyone else with a control room and seperate vocal booth...lol

I just have basic stuff right now. My next purchase is most likely gonna be an Avalon 737 (no time in the immediate future). Hopefully next year we can get a house so I can dedicate a whole room to my studio rather than it being a bedroom/studio...lol that gear and Auralex makes it HOT as hell in my bedroom. I would love to have a whole basement, but being in New Orleans houses really don't have basements because of flooding issues.

What gear are you working with Tone?
 
Change of POETS said:
I guess I'm different than ya'll. Mixing to me, is easy. Especially vocals. Not sure why, but it is... My biggest issue is samples. When producers use samples, I have to EQ the life out of them to eliminate a kick or a snare that's interfering with the track. That really pisses me off sometimes.
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I've heard your work and have seen progress in your mixing. I was reviewing different tracks on the HM comp and I compared "16 Tears of A Man" with "Within My Eyes" and I can tell big difference in the way it was mixed. I like how you did that mix (and some other songs I checked out) but all of your newer tracks, vocals always are right on point.

Fiev.
 
I got a few ?s.
1. I been lately recording a verse saving it.
2. Go back eq,compress,hard limit,use ozone vocal treatment.
3. listen and change things as needed.
4. final mixdown and save

Is this proccess bad or good? What am I leaving out?
I have a slow cpu so I do one or two things at a time and mix it down 3-4 times. Am I degrading the audio quality this way?

I rarely use hum & hiss removal, noise reduction, gates, deesser. Or I end with noise or distorted sounds.
I have ozone and t-racks.
 
there's no right or wrong way to process your vocals, if it sounds good then it's fine. but I have to ask, is there a paticular reason your limiting your vocals?
 
mentalattica said:
What gear are you working with Tone?
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Sorry it took so long for me to get back at ya dude. Here's my gear for right now:


Computer with 40 gig int HD, 160 gig ext HD, 768 Mb Ram
M-Audio Audiophile Sound Card

Behringer :eek: ub1002 mixer
Studio Projects C1 Microphone with SP Litz Cable
Nady scm 950(rarely used)
2 Dynamic Mics
Behringer :eek: B2031A Truth Monitors

Triton Le(from my church)
Yamaha Psr 540
Guitar
Saxophone
Recorder(still have the one i used in elementary music class :D )
Fruity Loops w/Battery(Drum Programming, etc.)
Acid Pro(recording/sequencing songs/mixing)
Adobe Audition(editing audio)
Waves Plugins
Bunch of free plugins and vst instruments
Foam by Mail Foam in diamond patterns on walls
 
BeatsBuy, let me get this straight.. are you affiliated with THE foundation Unit, as in the group that features Skwirm, The Beholder, and Soul Mechanix? I love their music. Very soulful stuff.

Well, right now I'm recording on some pretty cheap material. I have a corny 30 dollar computer microphone and a sound blaster soundcard. Yeah, I know, pretty bad.. but my problem is that I'm in a situation where I can't currently work, so I'm forced to use this shit. I've been trying to read as much as I can about recording and mixing, but it seems like a hell of a lot that you have to know in order to produce decent work. It seems like a long mountain to climb. Feels like you have to be a physicist or knowleadgable in chemistry just to do the right things.
 
Fieva said:
I've heard your work and have seen progress in your mixing. I was reviewing different tracks on the HM comp and I compared "16 Tears of A Man" with "Within My Eyes" and I can tell big difference in the way it was mixed. I like how you did that mix (and some other songs I checked out) but all of your newer tracks, vocals always are right on point.

Fiev.
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All the tracks I submitted are well over 2 years old at this point, fam. I should hope you can see the progress...lol..

There's a reason why record labels are paying me to mix and master for them now. And it's not because I suck at it. :D
 
Change of POETS said:
All the tracks I submitted are well over 2 years old at this point, fam. I should hope you can see the progress...lol..

There's a reason why record labels are paying me to mix and master for them now. And it's not because I suck at it. :D
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Yes, Yes! That's what I like to hear. Progress and getting paid... ;)
 
mentalattica said:
there's no right or wrong way to process your vocals, if it sounds good then it's fine. but I have to ask, is there a paticular reason your limiting your vocals?
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mentalattica are you trying to get a hard tube sound? Limiting vocals is a lot... I used to limit vocals when I first started, but it made the vocals way to load and upfront. I like vocals natural...
 
No, I never limit vocals here. I just wanted to know the reason why he did. With recording in 24 bit there's really no reason to limit vocals, or compress either unless your looking for it as an effect. I compress lightly on the way in most of the time and compress ITB more after that if I need to. The most I do to my vocals is compress, eq, delay, reverb, pitch shift. But that's if any of it's needed.
 
oh and lol on that rep I hit the wrong person beatsbuy...lol ignore the message... but take the rep...lol :D
 
BeatsBuY said:
Yes, Yes! That's what I like to hear. Progress and getting paid... ;)
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It's a wonderful thing to get paid for doing what you love to do.

It's even better to make a profit off it if you can. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. I at least try to break even.
 
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