Important Please Help!!!!

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Smoke

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i just joined this forum and it seems really helpful but i have a question i really need help with. i have a bunch of trax i want 2 burn and send out the only problem is that all i have is the finished mp3 and they need 2 b mixed and mastered. is it possible to do this once its mixed down? if this is a dumb question i apologize but i really need 2 make these sound better. if it is possible could someone please give me a few tips (i use cool edit pro)?? mostly i need 2 get more bass and lower the snares. any help is greatly appreciated. thanx alot--
 
If all you have are mixdowns and have no original individual instrument tracks, then you are already past the mixing stage and there's no turning back. There is no way to "un-mix" a mixdown.

It is possible to do some mastering - defined in this case as "doing what can be done to make the mixdown sound better than it currently does", but based upon your description the quality of the results will probably be quite limited for two reasons:

First, if the song(s) do need re-mixing like you imply, mastering can't help that. The best that could be done in that regard would be to perhaps apply some EQ to try and emphasize one instrument or de-emphasize another, but more times than not, that won't sound all tat good.

Second, MP3s are useless for engineering; they should only be used once a song exits the engineering environment, and even then only when necessary (when used on an MP3 player or for Internet distribution.) Your MP3s can be converted back to WAVs for the mastering process, but they'll still be missing all the sound that was lost when they were originally converted to MP3, so the WAVs would be of an inferior grade to start with.

The fact that you say you use C.E.P. implies to me that at one time at least you had the original WAV tracks, or at least some of them. If so, those are what you want to work with. But if when you say all you have are the stereo MP3s, then the above description applies.

HTH,

G.
 
Why do I suspect this is a hip hop project? :)

What you want to do isn't an easy fix because you are working with a mixdown.

You can't mix a mixdown. Although you could attempt a fix by eq and compression but that is a major compromise. Based on what you said I'd look at raising the low end a bit and looking for where the snare is most present at--3k, 5k or 10k and taking that down a bit. Heck, you may be a candidate for multiband compression in this particular case. Ugh!

Plus you mentioned that it was an mp3? Mp3's are compressed data so you are losing portions of the audio already.

What I'm trying to say is you might be able to polish the turd... but I doubt it. Working conditions are less than optimal.

You need to go back and get the *ORIGINAL* tracks in a non-mixed down state so you can apply individual balance, panning, compression, eq, reverb and whatnot to it. Then you can actually do something with it.

So who's got your original tracks?
 
Cloneboy Studio said:
Why do I suspect this is a hip hop project? :)

..careful, you could start a real war like that around here.....haha


..as far as the question at hand, I think ^^these guys answered it well.
 
I agree. Without the mixdowns all that's really available is eq's and compression and with an mp3 that's a hell of a compromise. And no need for a rocker/hip-hopper war (again). We're all musicians and this guy is a newbie asking a question that needs good info. We should all be capable of that.
 
metalhead28 said:
..careful, you could start a real war like that around here.....haha

Hey, when I'm not doing real work I'm a rap prodouca too. :)

Actually, I'm in the middle of a huge hip hop production--I was commissioned to write all the songs, I've recorded all the music and currently working on the vocal arrangements for some of the guest singers. Once the tracking is done I'm mixing it as well. Literally, this project is like my entire month and the cash is a major windfall. I've been logging 40 hour weeks on this project alone at the full studio rate. It's AWESOME! (Plus it keeps me away from the pop punk posers for a little while....)

Man, I've grown cynical since I quit my day job.... hahhaha

I don't mind doing hip hop if it's done RIGHT. There are just too many untalented mooks buying fifty dollar beats and mumbling over top of it calling themselves artists.....

However, the project I'm working on now isn't like that at all.
 
clone, have any samples of your work (hip-hop or otherwise)? I'd love to take a listen.
 
helppppppppppppp

hi there..i juz got a new mp3 from ebay....it workz for a couple week then i wont work no more.....it onlii workz when the usb is plug in to the computer or charger......does ani1 no wutz wrong w it????...plzz i need help real bad.....does ani smart peepz in hurr no wut to do????......
 
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