The Master Mastered

[rayc]

Being that Joe, Gerry & Greg did such a grand job on this song I decided to get it mastered professionally to do justice to the extra effort the chaps put into it. This version is 'stem" mastered so the ME had more scope & flexibility to do the job. Here's a link to the s/click streamer:
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=10666595&q=hi
I've added an MP3 download link as the streamer crunches things somewhat & I had to use a 256 MP3 in the 1st instance as S/click won't take anything bigger than 10 meg.
If you're interested in a comparison with the original mastering job done by Greg L I've put up that link too:
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=10057240&q=hi
Greg did a trad mastering job on the stereo track so had less scope but did an excellent job to my ears. the differences simply highlight the difference between stem & stereo mastering.
...and finally the 320 MP3 of the stem mastered version of the song:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9427HHG9
Opinions, comparisons, anything?

DROPBOX links
Stem mastered:

Stereo track mastered:

 

[robgreen]

I remember hearing this one before. I think it's a good song anyway, but the stem mastered one just sounds so full and rich, even compared with the other two. Thanks for posting it rayc

 

[joeym]

The mastered version sounds awesome Ray, like vintage Bowie in 1978. Great work by all involved!

 

[jeffmaher]

Fantastic master. Were you looking over the pro's shoulder, taking notes? Share?? :^)

The onliest thang that tweaked me...in accordance with The Gospel according to Gerg.....was that the snare wasn't punching evenly with the BD.

Really great clarity and separation of parts.

 

[kcearl]

brilliant mate...worth the extra $$ for the master...outstanding track!

 

[rayc]

robgreen.
Thanks mate. the mastering was done by the same chap who mastered Ido1957's recent posts: Jan Ohlhorst. It was on the strength of his work with Gerry & on Joe Mizzi's album that I decided to give it a whirl.
Joe,
Methinks the awesomeness was imparted by you, Gerry & Greg & Jan's work just made it more apparent. Great work by all contributors indeed. Thanks Joe, Greg, Gerry & Jan. Special mention to kc who, behind the scenes gave a lot of positive vibes for this project.
Jeffmaher,
Ta! I can hear what you mean about the bass & snare drums & had I presented it for remix comments to the collaborators I'm sure it'd've been item #1. As it was I went with what had been a consensus mix & it's not 1/2 bad. Sadly I wasn't at the master's elbow for this - else I'd've blabbed to the world about which magical preset to hit (joke of course).
kcearl,
Fangs moit - you're kind. Thanks also for keeping my on course when the head winds were pushing me to come about or some such faux nautical reference. Is there a clown or renown in the UK who's visage you'll morph into whilst away?

 

[Bulls Hit]

Good clarity on the guitars. For some reason the drums on the 320 version are semi buried, but they're louder on the soundclick version....?

The link to Greg's original mix wouldn't work for me here

 

[Greg_L]

There's something screwy going on with those links. They don't work half the time and they sound weird. None of those linked above sound like the version I have on my desktop.

 

[heatmiser]

The links weren't working for me either, but I clicked on your soundclick link and played both versions off your song list and it seemed to work fine.

The new one sounds really nice ray. Very full & complete. I like what he did with your intro guitars. If you remember, that was an area early on that generated a lot of discussion. He managed to get rid of the sizzle, while still retaining the grittiness that I like. Well done.

 

[kcearl]

ize got da download

 

[ido1957]

Yep - this is a great great tune and the mastering just polishes it that much more. And the wav file is the best way to enjoy this

Jan @ finemastering.de has a great set of ears and the tools to produce pro results. I'll keep recommending him cause of his great work.

 

[rayc]

Hello Folks, I just checked all the links - the steamers are a little glitchy but come good after a couple of tries & the mega 320 link was fine. Sorry, SClick seems to have become a little more problematic.

 

[Greg_L]

Yo Ray, you can drag em into your dropbox and post the link.

 

[PDP]

Cool track,

Master sounds very clear, who played the lead guitar? Real nice phrasing and tone. Nice work all around!

 

[Manslick]

Hey rayc.

I listened to the 320 MP3 of the stem mastered version. Not sure what that means.

Sounds like some serious guys doing some serious music.

The snare does get lost, compare 00:24 to 00:31.
The bass and vox may be ducking it out. Just a guess, what else would it be?
I can hear the snare; it’s not as prominent as the toms and kick.

Overall a killer tune.

 

[rayc]

Here's two 320 in Dropbox as suggested by Greg.
Funny, hadn't thought to use that thing. It'd make life somewhat easier all round ...
Here's the stem mastered version:

& here's the stereo track mastered version:

Though you'll have to give it a chance to arrive (maybe 10 mins).

 

[rayc]

PDP,
Thanks. Ido1957 (Gerry) plays all the lead solo & noodling stuff. Greg L does the skins & wires 'n' JoeyM did the tonsilastics. I did the really annoying whiney jangly guitar you hear in the intro.
Manslick,
Stem mastering, in this instance, meant that I sent the ME (at their levels & panning placements as set for mix down) the bass as a sep track, the drums sans kick as a stereo track, the lead as a sep. track, the vox as a sep. track, the bvox as a sep track, the kick as a sep track, the rest of the guitars as a stereo track.
The ME then dealt with the "issues" of each & then recombined them into a unit at their predetermined levels etc. before adding the magic woofle dust that is stereo bus reverb & compression.

 

[maximusbs]

I remember this one. This was great collab. I'm not crazy about the song genre/style or even the guitar tone (very difficult to listen to in the beginning by itself). However, I can still appreciate the song, especially because it's mixed so damn well! The separation is just amazing...the drums and the bass are so crystal clear, the vox with their own space -all good. Aww crap! I just saw the dropbox links! I listened to that crappy soundclick one (the only one that would work) . Anyway, I'm not sure what role the mastering played in all this, but as a whole, its just so pleasant to listen to. It should be 'stickied' in the mixing techniques or here with a blurb explaining basically how it was done and how you should listen to this before you ask for mix advice! This is Mixing 101 material for sure

 

[rayc]

Maxi,
The mix was pretty well sorted before mastering but the stem process allwed the ME to clean & tidy around the edges. Jan did a terrific job with the magic woofle dust!
The reason the mix was/is quite together is that I had Greg L's excellent ears listening in for me & both Joe & Gerry had, naturally, recorded their parts superbly in the 1st instance. If you listen to Greg's master of the song you'll hear what I mean about his great ears.
Thanks for the kind words.

 

[karumba]

hey guys,

i'm jan, the chap that stem-mastered rays song. ray pointed me to the thread, so i wanted to thank you all for your comments regarding the mastering. if you have technical questions (e.g. what i did on which track), pls let me now. i'll try to describe. if there is interest (& ray gives me the permission), i could also provide all stem tracks separately unprocessed & processed, so you can have a more detailed view on what i did on the tracks. i can also give some description for each track. so, if there is demand, pls let me know!

just one further note: i'm not using "stereo/master-bus reverb", but reverb here & there on the stem tracks (if necessary).

thx + best regards,
jan

p.s. ray, thats a funny thread name =)