Hello and Newb Question

R

Relativity1

New member
Hi all.

20 years ago I was a professional studio assasin in Chicago for a well known DJ. I played professionally, had access to studios then life took me in a far more rewarding direction. Long story short, I recently took up bass guitar , immediatley Im surpassing anything Ive ever done on a technical skill level and have got myself in with people who do really awesome bass and drum videos on Youtube.

So like a guy on a desert island, 20 years being out of the recording area...alot has changed.

I was analog and digital anything had the green LCD display and rotary click knob.

SO I read up and studied. Being Im not made of cash, I wanted to be smart.

So I tried some free studio softwares..REAPER ....Audacity realizing I just want to see what its about and understand it which surprisingly , Im actually pretty good getting really down and dirty with alot of the deep toys included in those.

But then I found "Latency". I hate "Latency". Despise it. Felt it sucked all the fun out of recording. Dont even want to waste my time with it. Im not upgrading sound cards...adjusting anything. Screw that, Multitracks eliminate it. No ASIO4ALL !!!So I got myself A Fostex multitrack to record. No latency. More fun.

I love the thing. No issues with quality and the stuff sounds mindblowing.

No here is the issue......

I do use Audacity or Reaper to post mix.

Once I master to two channel OR send all my tracks individually to either, I bring it in, get an idea what its going to sound like on Youtube, then maybe add compression or whatever.

Its then it gets synced with a video and uploaded. I do realize Youtube adds compression , but when it gets there, its nowhere near what I just heard on my PC and sounds more flat and less dynamics. Yet I do hear wonderful sounding videos on Youtube.

Do you guys have any and i mean any input about recording and getting to Youtube in general?

Im looking around this forum still exploring and other sites but Im losing ALOT of quality in that whole upload process. I need more then just slapping a condensor infront of an amplifier then uploading. I need the sound recorded and maybe a quick edit for a bum note.

Its not the recording thats the issue, its the mix to youtube part. Any tricks, or input would help.I dont think its an Audacity or Reaper issue.
I read alot on this forum thats already helped me and thought Id go from lurker to poster.

One last thing...if someone convinces me a particular software or gadjet is the miracle cure for sound quality on the internet...Im all open to an example and input to such a device.

Im looking for depth to jump out of the internet to peoples PC and cellphones for simple bass guitar and drum videos and feel Im not grasping or understanding how recording and internet playback works yet.


Thanks!

Thanks!
 
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I don't think anyone on this forum despises latency more than me, but it's easily solved. The advantages of recording direct the the computer make it worth solving.

I'm not sure what do do about your main question. You aren't going to MP3 at any point in your process, are you? Any time you apply data compression to something twice or more you get substantial loss of quality, like copying cassettes but worse.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
I don't think anyone on this forum despises latency more than me, but it's easily solved. The advantages of recording direct the the computer make it worth solving.

I'm not sure what do do about your main question. You aren't going to MP3 at any point in your process, are you? Any time you apply data compression to something twice or more you get substantial loss of quality, like copying cassettes but worse.
Click to expand...

Hi bouldersoundguy.

No Im shooting WAV tinto the PC with optic cable. THe loss there is still minimal as I do playback on my PC and it sounds dynamic. The issue of flattening really happens in uploading. Ive tried no compression but then the mix seems to change. Ill look for an example.

Its almost like the overall sound loses bandwidth if that makes sense. Im gonna try Soundcloud and see what happens.
 
Any time you go from lossless (wave) to lossy (mp3, YouTube, Soundcloud etc.) you lose something. I don't feel like my YT videos sound all that different from the original, but they're not exactly the same.

How loud are you mastering?
 
Hello Bouldersoundguy,

I want to thank you for coming back with some ideas. It seems I kind of stumbled on my issue here:

https://www.izotope.com/en/communit...14/06/mastering-for-compressed-audio-formats/

Dithering seems to be my answer. The article above please keep for your reference. Im sure Ill have other questions but this basically describes how to mix for Youtube which changes its audio occasionally. Hope this article helps someone else out.

I am taking your comment that there is stuff out there that latency isnt an issue so Im spec' ing software. Something decent and paid. But this seems to be exactly what Im encountering..

THanks man!
 
I doubt dithering is the problem. I didn't notice anything relevant in that article except "The quality of stereo audio playback depends on the user selected streaming quality setting..."

I didn't say that latency isn't an issue, I said it's solvable. But you may have to adjust your settings or methods as it won't just solve itself.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
I doubt dithering is the problem. I didn't notice anything relevant in that article except "The quality of stereo audio playback depends on the user selected streaming quality setting..."

I didn't say that latency isn't an issue, I said it's solvable. But you may have to adjust your settings or methods as it won't just solve itself.
Click to expand...

Had a huge improvement tonight. Maybe not dithering but here is what I learned about Youtube and Soundcloud:

1. BIT RATE! Youtube and SC are 32 not 44 like I was giving them. They will reduce but never increase sound Quality.
2. Limitor is -1db to allow spacial degradation from whatever they do on their end. I was kind of going a bit nuts with the limiter and comp before. Tonight was easing back but still , I think next test will be lighter.
3. I upgraded about 30(Im not joking) plug ins for Audacity which are a hundred times better which goes back to something you didnt say but alluded to gently..you get what you pay for.Im not using all the plugs but will eventually weed out what works for me. A am experimenting with the hi and lo pass filtering next.
4. Compression was one of these and the Audacity comp is crap compared to one I found called C3 Multiband.
5. I went to dynamic EQ.
6. Added spatial and stereo expansion to the master process.

My chain was mixing the stereo spectrum for balance and height,EQ, EQ, EQ and EQ, Normalization, then spatial and stereo expansion. I think Harmonic excitor, comp then limitor. My mixes are ultra low noise and usually slight gain but I give myself a few db before the distortion starts as its in your face funk music.I might dial that back another db or two though to give more head space. In the links below Im heavier in mix and the other guy is lighter.

So no dithering but final product was somewahat cohesive and warm and I thought defined. Better then where I was 48 hours ago.

I did this as a sound test/test run but here is where Im at.Its intentially low note bass playing. My prior ones where rather hideous.

Keep in mind Im looking for magical low end , defined bass that stands out as it goes to other bass players on laptops, phones or PC. Sometimes drums, sometimes guitar but I want to build up from drums and bass which are recorded same way all the time.Video of me actually playing will come once I get the sound perfected. But tonight was a step forward. Not perfect but I need to understand how to use all this stuff.So many hours in the day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlYSfvEJemM

Now here is what I need to aspire to.I say this is the competition I have but hes actually a collegue. His channel is active. Mine is not until they are ready to premiere me.Other bass players watch these. He felt Im good enough to be added to the web site but he shares very little as Im supposed to have my act together! He helps but only so much. Hes the one who got me out of musical retirement. He claims he saw an old video I did in 1989 when I was professional and he saw it many years later and it made him think about bass.Keep in mind Ive only been playing for three months after 25 years off...but this is what I need to at least be near.So technology is my current learning curve and a huge distraction as I want to be able to be setup, go in my little man cave and whip out a video of hot jams and have it up in a matter of a couple of hours. Think you get the point.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrB3Q2uvP8Y

Enjoy.Lots of cool shit and bottom line...Im having FUN! I still want to :
a. Lighten up the mix. Make it more transparent yet bold and defined.Right now Im "heavy".
b. Adjust the mix so bass and drum is always the same but guitar or keys just need their own adjustment and bass drum do not need to be adjusted if they are added to the mix.Guitar and keys adjusted around the rythm section which always carries the same signature sound.

BTW The episode your avatar is from is freaking hilarious. Carry On Wayward Son.
 
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Oh yeah another thing...I am guilty...100% guilty of overprocessing . I kept things a bit more real tonight and used my ears.

Actually my transperancy seems to be workable with where I placed the bass in the stereo image. Some light panning an Eq twek brought up the drums crisp and lightened the bass without compromise to low end.

Think Ill be okay with some further experimentation.Seems my root problem mostly was understanding the bit rate stuff. I was being a bull in a china shop just hoping anything I threw up on youtube would be okay.


Thanks Bouldersoundguy for the replies.
 
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