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I'm having a bitch of a time mastering this
http://maplifiers.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2975
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Author:  Unstrung [ Thu Aug 07, 2014 11:40 pm ]
Post subject:  I'm having a bitch of a time mastering this

We're holding the recording to a really high standard, and my masters just aren't cutting it. Maybe it's my lack of real monitors, maybe it's my ears... Anyway, if anyone feels like giving it a shot go ahead. If you do I trust your judgement to make this sound the way it ought to (it's pure frickin grindcore)... my only stipulation is that it be loud. You would of course get credit for your work.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/1bjhq ... stered.wav

Man I wish MetalFanatic still came around, his metal masters were always super aggressive.

By the way if anyone is curious... it's me and a guy from the bands Pussy Vibes and Virulent Gestation. It's his project and I came in on drums and mixing, backup vocals.

Author:  Unstrung [ Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:28 am ]
Post subject:  Re: I'm having a bitch of a time mastering this

No takers huh? Well, can't say I blame you. Asking for a free master is kind of a dick move.

Well I feel pretty good about the master I did tonight. Gave a Variety of Sound mastering EQ a try, I think it's pretty nifty.

Hopefully it's loud and agressive and shit, like the music. I wouldn't mind if at least you guys could give a critique, if you don't mind the angrysounds for a moment.

Download it: http://www.mediafire.com/download/sf6e1 ... Master.rar

Author:  chris_d [ Wed Aug 13, 2014 6:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: I'm having a bitch of a time mastering this

I downloaded the first one when you poasted it, but i haven't even gotten to listen to it without folks around yet. Not that you would want me to master it anyhow... :red:

Eventually/soon, i will be able to listen to the all of it.

Author:  Unstrung [ Wed Aug 13, 2014 8:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I'm having a bitch of a time mastering this

Okay. :D

Author:  chris_d [ Fri Aug 22, 2014 2:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I'm having a bitch of a time mastering this

"Eventually/soon" didn't account for a week of family visitings, and then the inevitable coma-tired state that tends to follow in the wake of such visitings. :red:

I dig this sound. What guitar shit?

Aslo, the vocals? Wat mic/chain? I like the sound of 'em, especially for them being pretty high in the mix and me not usually being into that.

Your master sounds good to me. I only played with the unmastered one a little. I ended up, surprisingly, running it through dirt and too much compression, the end result of which i will spare you. :lol:

Author:  Snaxocaster [ Sat Aug 23, 2014 4:30 am ]
Post subject:  Re: I'm having a bitch of a time mastering this

I totally forgot this forum exists and didn't see this until earlier. :lol:

I actually gave this a shot for the hell of it just to see what I could do with the thing, but there's no way I can get it as loud as you have it. At least not without the thing sounding like hammered ass. :idk: About -12dB RMS seems to be as loud as I can get things in general. Obviously there are people who can master "loud" records and still have them listenable, but I am not one of them. The louder I try to push it or the more compression I add to the thing, the muddier it gets.

I'll post it here for the curious, but it probably sounds more old-school than you'd want: https://www.dropbox.com/s/pzay08t790n1plm/Geoff_Metal_Master.wav?dl=0

Author:  Unstrung [ Sat Aug 23, 2014 4:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I'm having a bitch of a time mastering this

Downloading your master Snaxie.

For the longest time I've been doing all my mixes with Klipsch PC speakers, totally hyped, and it's made mastering my stuff really hard.

I finally got some monitors, picked up some Behringer Truth B2030A from a friend. Not great speakers but it's a big step up.

I did master that I'm happy with now. It also has a few more tweaks to the mix.

Author:  Snaxocaster [ Sun Aug 24, 2014 1:06 am ]
Post subject:  Re: I'm having a bitch of a time mastering this

Y'know, a friend and occasional collaborator of mine has a set of Behringer somethingorother monitaurs, and I thought they sounded alright, at least for a playback system. I've never critically analyzed them in any way with reference material or tried to mix on them, but stuff sounds alright played back on them, and we could dial in sounds pretty effectively during tracking. I think his have 8" woofers? Loud bastards, too, which can help, as he's the one I've worked on the metal stuff with in the past. :lol: I've appreciated their presence when tracking, especially with improvised amp booths. (Read: stuff the very loud amp into the other room and close the door.)

That being said, he's always struggled with the low end on his mixes and has a tendency to mix bass-heavy. The frequency range, not the instrument. He's been checking on headphones a lot more as of late and tends to mix the instrument louder, with clearer mixes. Might just be the room though, as he moved a while back, and different rooms really do change one's perspective. For whatever that's worth. I'm always fighting with low end too, so whether that's speaker related or not... :idk:

I've run into a few 8" monitors in pro studios I'd rather not use at all, and I found the big Behringers usable. :idk: I'd take them over most things I've heard that say KRK on them, except the VXTs, and I wasn't floored by the Mackie 8-inchers, either. The KRKs have been too boomy, and the big Mackies lack something in the mids to my ears.

The bang for buck inexpensive monitaurs these days seem to be the JBL LSR 305s and 308s. Chris from Garda is picking up a pair as payment for some singer-songwriter sessions whenever said sessions are finished, and I have to say the things may be preferable even to the Yamaha HS or H series, and cheaper, to boot. Those are some clear-ass speakers. He felt he'd have to spend over $1k to find better, at least just listening to the things. He might be right, too. We were both unimpressed by the F-series ADAMs; I felt they didn't hold up to the As at all, and Chris was never so hot on the As no matter how much I gushed over the top end. The only ADAMs he likes cost as much as his damn Diezel. The Yamahas are nice, and our bassist has a pair (along with some really killer sounding KEFs which I'd be curious to try and mix on as they're nothing if not detailed, though nowhere near flat) but the JBLs may be a bit nicer. I digress though. Yer new speakers should definitely improve the situation, even more so once you've spent some time with them.

Author:  Unstrung [ Sun Aug 24, 2014 11:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I'm having a bitch of a time mastering this

Snaxocaster wrote:
Y'know, a friend and occasional collaborator of mine has a set of Behringer somethingorother monitaurs, and I thought they sounded alright, at least for a playback system. I've never critically analyzed them in any way with reference material or tried to mix on them, but stuff sounds alright played back on them, and we could dial in sounds pretty effectively during tracking. I think his have 8" woofers? Loud bastards, too, which can help, as he's the one I've worked on the metal stuff with in the past. :lol: I've appreciated their presence when tracking, especially with improvised amp booths. (Read: stuff the very loud amp into the other room and close the door.)

That being said, he's always struggled with the low end on his mixes and has a tendency to mix bass-heavy. The frequency range, not the instrument. He's been checking on headphones a lot more as of late and tends to mix the instrument louder, with clearer mixes. Might just be the room though, as he moved a while back, and different rooms really do change one's perspective. For whatever that's worth. I'm always fighting with low end too, so whether that's speaker related or not... :idk:

I've run into a few 8" monitors in pro studios I'd rather not use at all, and I found the big Behringers usable. :idk: I'd take them over most things I've heard that say KRK on them, except the VXTs, and I wasn't floored by the Mackie 8-inchers, either. The KRKs have been too boomy, and the big Mackies lack something in the mids to my ears.

The bang for buck inexpensive monitaurs these days seem to be the JBL LSR 305s and 308s. Chris from Garda is picking up a pair as payment for some singer-songwriter sessions whenever said sessions are finished, and I have to say the things may be preferable even to the Yamaha HS or H series, and cheaper, to boot. Those are some clear-ass speakers. He felt he'd have to spend over $1k to find better, at least just listening to the things. He might be right, too. We were both unimpressed by the F-series ADAMs; I felt they didn't hold up to the As at all, and Chris was never so hot on the As no matter how much I gushed over the top end. The only ADAMs he likes cost as much as his damn Diezel. The Yamahas are nice, and our bassist has a pair (along with some really killer sounding KEFs which I'd be curious to try and mix on as they're nothing if not detailed, though nowhere near flat) but the JBLs may be a bit nicer. I digress though. Yer new speakers should definitely improve the situation, even more so once you've spent some time with them.


Yeah they sound alright. They do reveal a lot of things missing in the middiest mids, which is exactly what my Klipsch were hiding. They lack high frequency detail, but that's okay for me. I have other ways to hear that.

Author:  metalfanat1c [ Wed Apr 22, 2015 2:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: I'm having a bitch of a time mastering this

My "masters" were always Waves L1 maximizer on top of the mix. Nothing else, no EQ, no extra compression other than the usual compression on the master bus, no fancy stereo enhancer bullshit. Just took the mix I had and made it louder. I have no idea how to master in the traditional sense.

Author:  Unstrung [ Tue Apr 28, 2015 9:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I'm having a bitch of a time mastering this

Well I always liked your mixes Curtis, specifically the guitar tones. You always had a fucking badass midrange going on.

Author:  metalfanat1c [ Wed Apr 29, 2015 1:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: I'm having a bitch of a time mastering this

Thank you, sir.

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