Proper Mix B4 Mastering!!!
- Thread starter LDB
- Start date
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Beat This!The next Beat This! Competition is from November 27-28th!
UNORTHODOX
Father Timeless
good call on the disclaimer. thnx
No I didn't sir
I had actually forgotten about them.....I used some peeps out in L.A where the label is.
Post the link to them again. I lost it some how.
God
Creator of the Universe
ill o.g.
LDB - are you doing this as a resume builder?
I know labels are in the shitter and cut costs where they can. It's pretty good that you have a mastering engineer who's willing to work with you on making a good mix. I can't imagine some of the other individuals in the process who would do that. They would call the A&R and bitch about it.
He must be feeling the pinch too.
I know labels are in the shitter and cut costs where they can. It's pretty good that you have a mastering engineer who's willing to work with you on making a good mix. I can't imagine some of the other individuals in the process who would do that. They would call the A&R and bitch about it.
He must be feeling the pinch too.
Well releasing a semi successful single or two will get LRT x'd out the picture and will present us the possiblitity to sign directly with Fontana Universal.
This co-op thing only means shared promotion once a single and or album is is ready and approved by LRT. They then send it to Fontana Universal for a release date along side the artist that are directly signed to Fontana Universal. The deal is non exclusive so if we have a semi successful song when can then by pass LRT for direct signing to the mother label. Until then no real budget.
On the mixing song thing, I'm mixing a couple for training and a resume building but most will be mixed by a already trained mixing engineer that I've been working with for a couple years on various projects. That's all he does so he has a better ear, more "know how" and an actual mixing facility.
God
Creator of the Universe
ill o.g.
So the mastering engineer is critiquing your "practice mixes?" The post came off like you were working with the guy on getting your final mix correct and he was the mastering engineer - I think I have to re-read the post to get the true gist of it, I'm sure I missed something.
You first said that you weren't using a professional mixer due to budget constraints. Now you are? Is he just helping you on a budget? I'll head back to the first post and read it over. I wish you the best. Gotta run.
Hope it works out for you.
Hypnotist
Ear Manipulator
ill o.g.
LDB,
If you have rung out your room before, and you have a consistent reference level to work with, then by all means, leave it the way it is. But... I can relate to what he's saying about 300Hz. As you probably already know, there's always the opposite effect, because you compensate for the dip at that frequency. My boy had these shitty monitors once, which didn't reproduce 7-12k very well, and dude's hi-hats could make your ears bleed.
When you have time, what I would do is: adjust your room by using a frequency analyzer, a good omnidirectional microphone, and a good EQ. But once you correct the problem to be flatter, now comes the hard part: Open all your old tracks that you've mixed in that room, and re-familiarize yourself with them. It's like you'll have to train yourself to get used to your room again. Although this sucks, it's like learning that your favorite artist that you've listened to for years does lip syncing. You'll get used to the new setup pretty quickly, and in the future at least you'll be listening to the truth, and not some rolled off sound at 300Hz to which your ears have become accustomed.
Also, nowadays everyone ultramaximizes and L2s the hell out of their tracks before mastering. It doesn't sound like this is your practice. It's good to hear that he said your mix was 70%. Usually I hear people complain about their mastering guy being too harsh, like, "Dude, you should really hire a mix engineer, I can't do anything with this." So this is a start at least. But if it's going to be mastered, back off a little on the stereo compression, and it usually helps. A great engineer will use no compression across the stereo bus. But even great engineers need it.
With that said, it's good that you know to keep everything at -6dB. Doesn't have to be -6, but if that works for you, then go with it. Although it takes up more space and processing, make sure you're at 24 bit. It gives you all sorts of headroom that 16 bit can't afford, and you get a much better signal to noise ratio if you have to back off to -8 or even -10 on some channels.
Anyway, hope this helps, good luck!
If you have rung out your room before, and you have a consistent reference level to work with, then by all means, leave it the way it is. But... I can relate to what he's saying about 300Hz. As you probably already know, there's always the opposite effect, because you compensate for the dip at that frequency. My boy had these shitty monitors once, which didn't reproduce 7-12k very well, and dude's hi-hats could make your ears bleed.
When you have time, what I would do is: adjust your room by using a frequency analyzer, a good omnidirectional microphone, and a good EQ. But once you correct the problem to be flatter, now comes the hard part: Open all your old tracks that you've mixed in that room, and re-familiarize yourself with them. It's like you'll have to train yourself to get used to your room again. Although this sucks, it's like learning that your favorite artist that you've listened to for years does lip syncing. You'll get used to the new setup pretty quickly, and in the future at least you'll be listening to the truth, and not some rolled off sound at 300Hz to which your ears have become accustomed.
Also, nowadays everyone ultramaximizes and L2s the hell out of their tracks before mastering. It doesn't sound like this is your practice. It's good to hear that he said your mix was 70%. Usually I hear people complain about their mastering guy being too harsh, like, "Dude, you should really hire a mix engineer, I can't do anything with this." So this is a start at least. But if it's going to be mastered, back off a little on the stereo compression, and it usually helps. A great engineer will use no compression across the stereo bus. But even great engineers need it.
With that said, it's good that you know to keep everything at -6dB. Doesn't have to be -6, but if that works for you, then go with it. Although it takes up more space and processing, make sure you're at 24 bit. It gives you all sorts of headroom that 16 bit can't afford, and you get a much better signal to noise ratio if you have to back off to -8 or even -10 on some channels.
Anyway, hope this helps, good luck!