Hey!
So I'm working on an album, and I'm getting somewhat close to the point where I'll send the tracks off to get mastered.
Reviewing the mixes as a whole, I'm noticing some inconsistencies in the way the tracks are balanced.
On the one hand, it seems somewhat reasonable to think "The songs all have different parts, and therefore they fill the EQ in different ways. Why should they all be arbitrarily wiggled into a similar EQ profile?"
On the other hand, I can't help but worry that it sounds sloppy, or will make the job of the mastering engineer harder. - But then again, isn't that what the engineer is for? I know the tracks aren't perfect, that's why I'm sending them to get mastered... because "someone else has a better idea how to fix the balance than I do."
But then again- it's probably easier to adjust the balance on my end, because I have all the individual tracks and stuff, right?
I guess my specific questions are:
- Is it okay if the vocals don’t always occupy the same EQ spectrum in the mix? Should I try to make this more consistent? Sometimes they center around 250-500hz-ish sometimes 1k or even 2k ends up being where the meat of the vocals sits.
- What about the low end? Should I be adjusting my mixes so the low end always peaks at exactly the same level?
- What about the high end? should I try to keep my album at a consistent brightness before mastering?
So I'm working on an album, and I'm getting somewhat close to the point where I'll send the tracks off to get mastered.
Reviewing the mixes as a whole, I'm noticing some inconsistencies in the way the tracks are balanced.
On the one hand, it seems somewhat reasonable to think "The songs all have different parts, and therefore they fill the EQ in different ways. Why should they all be arbitrarily wiggled into a similar EQ profile?"
On the other hand, I can't help but worry that it sounds sloppy, or will make the job of the mastering engineer harder. - But then again, isn't that what the engineer is for? I know the tracks aren't perfect, that's why I'm sending them to get mastered... because "someone else has a better idea how to fix the balance than I do."
But then again- it's probably easier to adjust the balance on my end, because I have all the individual tracks and stuff, right?
I guess my specific questions are:
- Is it okay if the vocals don’t always occupy the same EQ spectrum in the mix? Should I try to make this more consistent? Sometimes they center around 250-500hz-ish sometimes 1k or even 2k ends up being where the meat of the vocals sits.
- What about the low end? Should I be adjusting my mixes so the low end always peaks at exactly the same level?
- What about the high end? should I try to keep my album at a consistent brightness before mastering?