Un-masterred

  • Thread starter Thread starter Doug H
  • Start date Start date
Doug H

Doug H

I'll be there
Another version of the tune "Breathless" I've been working on for ever. I've already posted this twice, so there's not a whole lot new if you've already heard it.

This is pretty close to the final version altho the vox may need some hand holding still. I managed to get them to sit a little better at higher volumes with some pretty serious low cuts, and there's a new guitar track that isn't nearly as sloppy as the first one, which was really just a scratch track copied and pasted together.

I also discovered pre delay this round which I think adds some clarity to verbed tracks, expecially distorted guitar.

Finally, and rather timely considering some of the recent threads, there is no mastering to speak of on the stereo bus. Typically I add a hint of verb on the low end to give the kick some depth and spread the bass around, and then some combination of limiter/compressor/saturator to squeeze a db or two extra out of the mix. I tried for ever and couldn't live with any of the results so I just mixed it fairly hot through a soft cliipper and did a bit of sample by sample editing on the final mixdown to smooth out the odd rough peak.

Breathless

Doug
 
The guitar has a heavy overdrive feel that's kind of distorting too hard or loud.

It could be the soft clip.

The mix sounds distorted instead of just the guitars
 
"It could be the soft clip. "

It's just sound of my amp and the mix. It may be some low cut artifacts on the guitar and vox. I mixed down at half the master bus gain to check this out and compared the waves. They are almost identical except for a handful of spots where there are more severe summing spikes on the quieter mix.

Thanks for checkng out this tune again.
 
Hey Dough, I like this tune man..i heard it a while back. Still has that Robin Trower(sp?) vibe to it for me... I would add some more highs back in, vocals seemed washed out or just to much low cut, couldn't understand them like i wanted to..damn good singing though. What's the chain on the lead guitar? I love how you played it, i really like that style. vocals really the only nitpick I got, I wanna hear them. Great song man..I dig it.
 
Groovy, thanks for the kind words.

"vocals really the only nitpick I got"
This is the sort if thing I ilke to hear, hopefully it means the rest of the tune more or less sounds like a song.
LGC strat (neck PU) - Marshall 4210 - sm57 into mixer (which will remain nameless lol).

The vocal track is so hacked up I should enter it in the audio engineers inverse olympics "...Canada's hope for the gold in the gruelling vocal track fubar event.." the compressor adds more bass, then the eq brings back some dynamics, then the compressor adds some more bass etc...
 
The rythym guitar is a bit loud, and the vocal is not loud enough.

But you knew that, didn't you? ;)

The mix as a whole is very flat. Too compressed sounding. Open it up and let it breath!
 
Guitar in the left side needs to come down and the vocal needs to come UP.....I realize you are going for the sound of the speaker breaking up on that distorted guitar in the left side but it's almost to the point of being abrasive to the ears......this is a kickin tune.....nice guitar playing....nice feel to the solo.....like the feedback at the end.
 
I've heard previous versions and this one is much smoother. Good work.

The left guitar, while having a very cool tone, may be a little too distorted to fit nicely in this mix. Maybe if you bring it down like others suggested it might not be an issue. There's still a couple spots in it that sound off because you might have been over ambitious with the strumming. 2:18 and 2:25 are examples.(it especially stands out to me because it's one of my own problems).

The snare seems a little too choked.

I like the vocals a lot. I like them right where they are in the mix which means they probably should come up a little (I tend to like vocals buried).

Great guitar work, and great improvement on this mix.
 
M.Brane
Thanks for the feedback. I hear ya. I think a lot of it has to do with the rythm guitar, I think I'm going to really try and get "the sound" next time I track it.

Kramer
"I realize you are going for the sound of the speaker breaking up "
Pretty much, I want the guitar to have a solid presence in the mix. Thanks for checking it out and the positive feedback.

fprod south
"I like them right where they are in the mix which means they probably should come up a little "
lol, ya, i tend to bury them too. Ideally I want them Just loud enough so the listener doesn't have to strain to make out the words.

"ambitious with the strumming"
Ya, I can beat the guitar sometimes, and that take wasn't as laid back as the earlier scratch track. I couldn't really make out exactly what you were referring to at those times tho. I'll have to give it some more listens.

"great improvement on this mix."
Thanks alot, this is great to hear.
 
Hey Doug,

Not bad. I think the vocals are a little buried in the mix and could use a boost. When the guitar really kicks in, I was getting quite a bit of distortion on my end...don't know if it was just my computer or not.

Good playing overall. Keep it up!

:)
 
the distortion is a little harsh sounding......in the sense that it's a little too abrasive sounding (just the right channel guitar)...........i think you need to up the vocals, they sound good, but they're still buried pretty bad........

the snare could use some work, it actually sounds fine when the music is playing, but it sound very weak during the bass and drums intro........

nice song, i like the vibe
 
boydrj
It plays clean on my headphones and speakers unless I really cranks the phones. I think it's the melodic guitar part and it's verb since they are so hard panned. I think I'll bring them in a bit.
Thanks for listening.

powderfinger
I gonna set a bigger room for the snare verb, I've been thinking it needs a bit more tail.

Thanks for checking it out.
 
the drums could use some ambience. that snare is especially dry.

you are the master of the slow groovy gritty guitar. i really like that stuff.

vocals are tough to make out in the mix. guitar is dominating.
 
I've got the snare mixed into a printed verb track at a slightly lowered volume as well as a dedicated snare verb track <sigh>
I was using too small a room on the snare I think because any louder and it sounded like crap to me. I think with a crisper vocal track I can rearrange some stuff a bit and get it all a bit more balanced.

"you are the master of the slow groovy gritty guitar. i really like that stuff."
:) where do I send the cheque again?

Thanks for listening
 
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