DIY Mastering Clinic #2

  • Thread starter Thread starter mshilarious
  • Start date Start date
OK, here's my first go.
Think the bottomend is a little too heavy and maybe the topend too but only did this in about 10 min right before bed so monitor levels where a bit lower then normal...



Dogman, so far I think your's sound pretty good, I'll have to wait till tomarrow and listen with "new ears"

punkin, I think your just trying too hard.
 
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ds21 said:
OK, here's my first go.
Think the bottomend is a little too heavy and maybe the topend too but only did this in about 10 min right before bed so monitor levels where a bit lower then normal...



Dogman, so far I think your's sound pretty good, I'll have to wait till tomarrow and listen with "new ears"

punkin, I think your just trying too hard.
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Thanks man. I like this tune.
Yours sounds good and punchy. Nice tones all around.

gatorjj, yours sounds really good too. It has more high end, but that's not a bad thing. Sounds really cool.

Punkin....your last one was really bright...lot's of highs. I think if you decrease them, and see what the low end sounds like, it will be more balanced. The first one was smashed a bit too much....

gullfo, cool FX, but it sounds muddled. Maybe back the FX down some and see if it sounds cool still.....

chb2001....Sounds good, but I think the 128k mp3 hurts it. Cymbals don't ring right. Maybe a higher bitrate would fix that, as the rest seems to sound pretty good.

Fun to hear all the different versions. I might try another one this weekend. At least I will hear the tune again.... :D
 
Dogman said:
gatorjj, yours sounds really good too. It has more high end, but that's not a bad thing. Sounds really cool.
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Thanks Dogman! I have zero experience with this genre (mastering or listening) and don't know if it's appropriate. But I figured eh, what the heck, let's open the blinds and let some daylight in.

I will comment the mix sounds very solid and I did way more to it than I should. I think I took it down 3db in the Mid, added a slight curve of compression, and some subtle eq tweaking +/- in the 1-2K range with a 4db boost over 13K. No backwards speaking demons though! :D

J.J.
 
Dogman said:
gullfo, cool FX, but it sounds muddled. Maybe back the FX down some and see if it sounds cool still.....
At least I will hear the tune again.... :D
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yeah... i was thinking that the effect is cool but if I slope the volume a bit, then the initial notes will come through and then the reverse reverb will wash up into the gaps (if i play with the time delay and duration a bit... ;-)
 
Well, I had hoped to hear from some of the pro's - maybe this week???

Anyway, here is my version that I did at mixdown (slight eq, comp, limiter - on the master buss).

Let me know how you think it compares.



:D
 
NL5 said:
Well, I had hoped to hear from some of the pro's - maybe this week???

Anyway, here is my version that I did at mixdown (slight eq, comp, limiter - on the master buss).

Let me know how you think it compares.



:D
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Sounds pretty good man....you might be able to add a bit more highs in there, if you're careful. Something to add just a touch of air. Sounding fine though man.... :D
 
punkin said:
Great thanks!

Here's my shot at it...I've never really put any effort into "mastering". I prefer to hand over the tracks and let the pro's do it. Oh well...lemme have it...take your best shot. :D

http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=3366
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man Oh man; I don't wanna be harsh, but WHOA! That is the most painful sounding thing I have ever heard. I mean, you must have a really fuXed up monitoring environment or something. Sorry. I'll put one up soon for people to rip apart.


Edit: Ok WTH....now it sounds different, but the second one posted sounds all crazy like I remembered.
 
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It's cool. I've never spent anytime at mastering. Everytime I've tried, I seem to make decent/good clean tracks and hose them up. Seems like I always end up going back to liking the raw tracks better than my feeble mastering attempts.

I'm coming to grips with the compressor and the parametric EQ...just givin' it a go...it's tries like this that remind me why I always recommend sending the tunes off to a pro. ;)
 
In all fairness to punkin, he did a fair job considering the original tracks were far from perfect to begin with and he did what he did within his enviroment. All of this is just so subjective. Let's hear what Reggie comes up with.
 
punkin said:
It's cool. I've never spent anytime at mastering. Everytime I've tried, I seem to make decent/good clean tracks and hose them up. Seems like I always end up going back to liking the raw tracks better than my feeble mastering attempts.

I'm coming to grips with the compressor and the parametric EQ...just givin' it a go...it's tries like this that remind me why I always recommend sending the tunes off to a pro. ;)
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Hell, throw another up man...it's the only way you're gonna learn.... :D
 
Well ok then...my first shot was joke, the second time I tried to bond with the multi-band compressor and the parametric. This time I tried to lay off the compressor as much as possible, spent more time with the EQ and a little of the stereo field. The worst thing of it is, I'm starting to hear all the words and I'm kinda diggin' the tune. :eek: Do you think I'll go to hell for it? :D

Have a listen, http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=3478

Again, honest feedback always appreciated.
 
Rule #1: never go on vacation :o

OK, I am sufficiently caught up to listen to everybody's stuff tonight. I have not tried to master this one yet myself, that will have to wait a few more days :( Somehow I decided that building cheap mics for profit would be fun :rolleyes: and that is taking much of my time :o

Reviews to follow shortly!
 
Dogman: A nice light touch, kinda reminescent of '80s metal. The floor tom jumps out at me, maybe it needed a harder whack with the multi.


NDL: crunchier than Dog's, more controlled low end. I think I'd prefer a compromise between the two.


punkin #1 . . . uh, I'll just skip to your v3 :o However you might want to listen to that until you can hear the compressors pumping.


gatorjj: OK, I should say another word about NL5's track. When he stripped off his processing, it didn't really sound like on of his finished mixes, which isn't really fair to him, but he's a good sport :) Your master sounds like a mix that is ready to be sent off, so I think you fixed the obvious stuff. Now listen to your version and see what it needs to really shine. Start with the sibilance range (3-5kHz).


gullfo: the verb is cool, but too wet and overused. A spot or two . . . but that is really beyond the scope of this thread. Nothing wrong with havin' fun though :cool: Other than that, it's boxy, and I think the verb causes phase problems in a number of places.


chb2001 #1: very crunchy, to the point of sounding heavily distorted. Mix elements are out of whack, listen to the hat vs. the snare and kick.


ds21: you always turn in good stuff, but this time I think the Dog ate your homework :eek: Your link isn't working for me :(


Reggie: Sounds OK but please post a download--I'm never comfortable with streams since I can't control all the variables. I have a few comments but I'll hold them for a download.


NL5: Snare sounded muffled, high mids to presence range needs some taming. Low end isn't quite kicking my butt yet.


punkin #3: wow that's lots better. Good on the vocal clarity.



OK I'm officially fried for tonight on this tune. In general, I have one comment: WHY ARE THESE MASTERS SO QUIET? Seriuusly, most of the entries on Dog's tune were hotter. Also most of the entries left me gasping for air, and I'm also still looking for that kick in the butt.

See, this is great, I haven't even tried this tune, so I have no idea what is really possible. Wait and watch for me to have to eat my own words in a few days :eek: :D
 
Punkin, that version is much better sounding than your other attempts. You had me worried for a sec...And yes, you are gonna burn. Mastering metal music=satan worship.

I tried posting my mp3 on lightningmp3 like 3 days ago, and I still haven't seen the confirmation email. Maybe I try again...


Okay, it came through this time:
http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=3480

I can't believe no one has mentioned the bassbomb yet! :D
 
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punkin said:
Well ok then...my first shot was joke, the second time I tried to bond with the multi-band compressor and the parametric. This time I tried to lay off the compressor as much as possible, spent more time with the EQ and a little of the stereo field. The worst thing of it is, I'm starting to hear all the words and I'm kinda diggin' the tune. :eek: Do you think I'll go to hell for it? :D

Have a listen, http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=3478

Again, honest feedback always appreciated.
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Much better man..way punchier.
 
Thanks Doggie and Reggie. I seriously had a hard time listening to the tune at first. It's not what you might call my cup of tea but the more I listened to it the more I could hear what was going on with the group. After hearing it a dozen times or so, it didn't sound as thick as the first shocking listening session.

I'd still like to get the highs up a bit but this has been good practice. Hats off to the listeners, participants and who's ever idea this was. It's good fun.

Thanks again for the kind words there Dogman.
 
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