Classical track mastering advice needed

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Todd129

Todd129

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Can one of the mastering gurus on the board please scope out my classical track (dropbox link to .wav below) and provide some feedback on what might need to be done to bring out the dynamic range, increase the presence and realism a bit.... also it sounds a little bit tubby. Yes, that's me playing. Many, many thanks in advance.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/krg6znyovk0l777/piccola_wet.wav
 
I'm at work, but if you want to bring OUT the dynamic range, use an expander? Or maybe re-record with more contrasting dynamics. To increase presence, boost hi-mids. 2k-5k is usually what most people refer to as presence. It makes it feel more upfront. Realism? Not sure what you mean by that. Unless its midi, than use real instruments.

Btw my advice has nothing to do with your recording since I haven't heard it. I just gave you instructions on how to bring out dynamic range and increase presence, whether its actually helpful in your context, someone else will have to chime in.
 
Thanks for your quick post -- the instrument is a period instrument with a narrow dynamic range -- pretty much it is what it is. Although I'd love to talk about what I might do differently on next takes. What concerns me is that when I listen to a professional CD of classical stuff there seems to be an immediacy and sense of immersion. Maybe that's the 2k-5k you mention. I read the mastering sticky on this board and there were examples of pre and post mastering tracks, I'm looking for what I should do next with my stuff when putting it all together on a CD.
 
I don't think mastering is what you're looking for. Sounds like something that needs to be solved in the mixing stage.
 
I also notice quite a bit of background noise. The kind that is introduced by un-clean preamps. What is your signal chain?

By the way, very nice playing! I would love to hear more.
 
Tell us how you recorded this. There are some things that can be done during mastering but they would be minor in comparison to your overall recording technique.
 
Hi guys -- thanks for your quick responses. Here are answers to your questions:

Regarding recording technique, I used an A/B condenser pair (Shure SM81s); one mic at about the 12th fret, the other behind the bridge. The mics were each about a foot away from the instrument, which by the way is a liuto cantabile. The mics went through mogami studio gold XLRs into a Tascam DR-680, and that's it. After that, the wav went to Cubase 7.5 where no eq was applied. A little REVelation reverb (large dark hall) was thrown on. Done.

Many thanks for the compliments on the performance; the bulk of my time is spent practicing and I am a recording noob. Any further advice that might improve the rendering of these performances would be deeply appreciated. If mastering is not the forum I need to be chatting in let me know. I was under the impression that there is little mixing and equalization to do in the classical genre, so I jumped over here to this board. I was under the impression that the mastering stage is for adding final polish.

All the best, Todd
 
Too late this time but I think the presence and realism on other classical recordings usually comes from the tracking stage, not mastering. Very typically the player in a nice sounding acoustic space and miking farther away than the close up recording you did. As discussed in another thread, I've even used a fire exit staircase in an office building--but preferred things like "borrowing" an old church.

Most aficionados of classical music would take a dim view of you playing much with the dynamic range BTW...and this applies to both compressing it out or adding expansion to put more in.
 
Thanks for your thoughts -- very useful. Completely agreed about not enhancing the recording much; my hope is to take some hard-earned lessons from my first takes, and at the same time make the most of what I've got so far. I'd hate to chuck this track -- same for a couple of others.

RE: church borrowing, bingo. Usually we're playing live in large churches, and so far I have three ensemble concerts recorded with omnis (SM80s). The problem is, you can hear the audience scuttling around. I don't think these recordings turned out to be useful for an album, which is the objective. A recording session in one of the better church spaces in exchange for a benefit concert is planned, so expect a post from me begging for pointers on those tracks in two months. :laughings:

RE: miking further away, agreed; I was experimenting and likely wouldn't do it again.

So there are imperfections in this track. I did post about removing artist noise in the mixing forum, got some good tips, and I'm in the middle of a little clean-up in that area.

After that, what should the next steps be to call this track "finished"? For example, I haven't touched the levels of the tracks at all. It's still right where it was when I recorded. How can I tell if it's loud enough for a CD? Would that level differ for an mp3?

PS - love the story about the fire escape. Must sound like Westminster Abbey in there.

Kind regards, Todd
 
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