Mastering demo tracks - help + advice needed

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jukeboxbreakdow

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hey !

right, my band have finished recording our demo, its sounding good through our monitors (alesis m1 active mk2 if thats important ??) but we're aware that is likely to differ on different systems and also that it does need some attention anyway

were after some advice on how much work you think needs done to bring it up to scratch

theres a clip at
www.jukeboxbreakdown.com/jukeboxbreakdown_test.wav


the wav is a bit hefty mind

should we leave it in the hands of the pros and pay someone to do it or , as amateurs, are there things we can do within our capabilities ??

what sound are we after ?? umm, just a big wall of high impact but nice sound, lots of depth, and trying to keep a little of a brashy live bite

I burnt a cd and checked it thorugh regular stereo and it just sounded really dull and flat, I was gutted

we're using cool edit pro and have various plugins to assist, if theyre any use.


you guys have been super helpful so far, hope you can help out here
 
I'd definitely suggest sending it to someone who does mastering for a living. If you're in a city, find someone locally so you can sit in on the session. You're interested enough in the process, you'll get a lot out of it.
 
The only band that's ever mixed their own cd and actually had it sound good was Strata in my opinion. I would highly suggest sending it out to someone. I record and am also in a band, but I won't mix my own tracks.
 
You can mix it yourself, just don't MASTER it yourself. Big difference.

BC
 
I notice you call it a "demo". What is the purpose of the demo, how good does it need to be for it's intended purpose and how soon do you need it?

If it has s deadline looming, or needs to be spot perfect, I'd say send it to the pros. If there is no big rush and/or it doesn't have to be just so-so, I'd say work on it yourself, study and learn while you are doing it.

We all have to learn sometime. :eek:
 
thanks guys

yeah it is essentially a demo, which we will be sending off various places

but we do want it to be the best possible quality as we'll be selling it at gigs

will be doing some research following your advice

cheers again
 
Echelon said:
The only band that's ever mixed their own cd and actually had it sound good was Strata in my opinion. .
Click to expand...

How about Boston?
 
I'd say get the mix sounding better before worrying about mastering. The better the mix, the better the mastering. This mix sounds very compressed and "contained". By the sounds of it, you've got some work to do as it sounds to me like it was not tracked through the greatest of chains - though you could just have some overuse of plugins. I've heard much worse, though. This could satisfy your fans, but is not likely to make much of an impression with industry folks.

On another note, if you're "sending it off", the intro is way too long...but that's not the point of THIS forum.
 
I don't think there's anyone in the history of music who is still proud of their first mastering job. I know I thank god I didn't put my name on the first disc I mastered. It would have sounded better if I put it out unmastered, for sure.
 
thanks for the further feedback

re: intro length - im not sure that's relevant, but if the industry folk or whoever have a problem with a lengthly intro then theyre not for us anyway :) . We don't believe in a rule book for songs... its not the opening track anyway. But yeah thats another discussion topic but your opinion appreciated!

re: the contained sound, we've actually only used compressed vocals and bass, and we've hardly used any plugins. How do we rectify this crappy contained sound ? ?

next up: recording chains.... um... :confused: sorry dude, we are total amateurs here, what do you mean ??


what are your suggestions for improving the current mix ?
 
What about vocals, guitar, drum mics, and bass. How were they recorded?
 
ok vocals, straight into CEP, Rode NT1 mic.
vocals we have messed with plugins, antares mic moderler - neuman U 87 gold splatter, + compression, + reverb

guitars recorded straight into line 6 riff works via a pod XT pro, guitar tracks are untouched

bass, direct into CEP, plugins - waves R Bass, + compression

Drums - ok this is where you get to laugh... but you have to admire out initiative ! drums were recorded live, to a click. however, because we have no gates and are limited with mics we recorded different parts of the drums in different takes, so all toms and cymbal sounds came through the nt1. the snare and bass and hi hat however have been replaced using nicer (in our opinion) drum sounds with drumagog apart from drumagog replacements the drums are untouched

so far we have only messed around panning tracks and sorting our volumes
 
well, as far as the chain goes, you didn't mention the mic pre you were using with the Rode...or the converter. That's likely to be the problem. There is no substitute for a dedicated mic pre and converter. On one hand, it can set you back a little cash, but the time and frustration you can save would be enormous.

Otherwise, maybe you should mic some cabinets instead of taking everthing direct. That could help a lot giving some life to the guitar tracks. The Rode, while not my favorite mic in the world, should do a decent enough job with the vocals, guitar, and bass. Does it have a pad? You may need it close mic'ing an amp. Good luck.
 
sorry if we sound like idiots

were just a band who cant afford decent studio time who are eager to learn and help ourselves

everything that was direct went through a Tascam US122

I appreciate that our actual recording techniques are probably far from ideal - but we know that for next time

As we are up against a kind of deadline and cant afford to start over with this one, how can we make the best of the recording we have

is what we have of reasonable quality to bother paying a pro to work with it and make the best of it ??
 
Your mix sounds weird....it almost sounds like the drums aren't on cause of the drumagog tracks. Also...there is a mess up...a noticeable one...you really can't afford to send that to record labels. Reason being: Say you send this cd...they hear the mistake and they figured "hey these guys didnt even fix their mistakes!" well...once you do get those mistrakes corrected you'll be all excited and will put out a better product. You'll send that cd back to the same labels that you sent to before. They might just recognize the name and not even listen to it remember your past cd. Just something to think about.
 
HangDawg said:
How about Boston?
Click to expand...

I agree, Tom Scholz did a wonderful job. Their debut album is the only basement-made demo in history to sell 17 million copies! :cool:

If you don't own that one, you need to buy it. :)
 
I cant download the song to listen. are they up somewhere else?

without hearing it, you might try playing the mixes or parts out through your speakers and recording the room sound. blend this with the original parts.

and 2 mics is fine for recording drums. stick them on the floor out in front of the drumset or do one a few feet over the snare and one out front. if the drummer is balanced, the sound will be balanced.

Will
 
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