Cryptic

[bergertron]

Hi All,

A new track I have been working on and trying to improve some basic mastering. How does it sound mastering wise ? Am I on the right track or is there obvious issues here. Any advise is much appreciated ?

What you think of the track also?

[A_K]

I think mastering-wise you're fine.

But something about the mixing or arrangement of the track grabs my attention the most. Bassline and main synth, I think, and the timing of the notes. I like the idea of using swing and different timing but for me it doesn't sound right in this track. I'm not quite sure what's going on here. It might be because of sidechaining or just the placement of the notes.

Also, if I was mixing this, I'd try to get that main synth sounding a bit more wide and in-your-face. I like to use Voxengo Stereo Touch and stereo impulse responses of speaker cabinets to get instruments sounding closer. Just some options, something to think about.

[bergertron]

I think mastering-wise you're fine.

But something about the mixing or arrangement of the track grabs my attention the most. Bassline and main synth, I think, and the timing of the notes. I like the idea of using swing and different timing but for me it doesn't sound right in this track. I'm not quite sure what's going on here. It might be because of sidechaining or just the placement of the notes.

Also, if I was mixing this, I'd try to get that main synth sounding a bit more wide and in-your-face. I like to use Voxengo Stereo Touch and stereo impulse responses of speaker cabinets to get instruments sounding closer. Just some options, something to think about.

thanks for the feedback appreciate it. I pretty sure I had this dilemma a few months back I had this track done a while and mastered it recently.

maybe I got a little too attached to it fix the slight offset even do I was going for a little offset if you know what I mean. Is there a certain timestamp where your hear this issue the clearest so I can look into.
thanks again

[karwa]

nice vibe. love what you did with the synths. the percussion is way too dry though. makes it feel a bit awkward mix-wise.

[bergertron]

nice vibe. love what you did with the synths. the percussion is way too dry though. makes it feel a bit awkward mix-wise.

Good man thanks. cool i shud definetly wetten up the drums. Note too self dont leave a track too long becoz i miss some obvious treatment

[Mattias]

Hard to say without hearing the original but to me it sounds like it lacks.

[bergertron]

Hard to say without hearing the original but to me it sounds like it lacks.

I added more reverb to the drums so above is unmastered
and below is mastered attempt.


appreciate the feedback

[macavoy]

the change in percussion sounds certainly added to the track. Like the sharpness of the closed hat. I was listening to this track for ages as I thought the combination of bass and synth sounded kind of familiar. I`m certainly not taking the piss when i say this, but it occurred to me that its similar to the opening theme from Airwolf. love it!!! Yeah, I`m old.

[bergertron]

the change in percussion sounds certainly added to the track. Like the sharpness of the closed hat. I was listening to this track for ages as I thought the combination of bass and synth sounded kind of familiar. I`m certainly not taking the piss when i say this, but it occurred to me that its similar to the opening theme from Airwolf. love it!!! Yeah, I`m old.

What the fuck is airwolf??
hahaha

I must listen to the theme song when I get home

[willemb]

youtu.be/NDsv-sZbulw

[macavoy]

Thanks WillemB, sadly the person who posted it doesn`t allow it to be played on other sites.

youtu.be/rO_LR4X-43Y

try this badboy.

[Lost to the Void]

Well, obviously when it comes to mastering I am going to be a very harsh critic.

The unmastered sounds miles better than the "mastered" version.

The original has life and punch and air, the "mastered" version is really flat, squeezed and dull in the highs.

Mastering is all about EQ, Most people think it`s about making stuff loud, but that`s just maximisation.

With mastering you are correcting the balance of the mix mainly.

So I would address the problems in the mix first, seeing as you have that opportunity being the producer of the music, as you have access to the individual channels.

Losing all that airyness from the original says to me that you`ve killed the highs with a limiter.

If I were to master the unmastered version, here is what I would do...
(honestly if you were a client I would say this isn`t ready to be mastered, but what follows are where I consider problems to be)

Kick and low end are fine, I`d just cut the low lows, mono the sub 80hz. Maybe the bassline can come up in the mix (something that would have to be done in the mix, so I would return to sender with notes). The kick is nice and punchy so there is room there to bring up the bassline.

The main high hat is quite thin. There`s not a lot going on in this tune, so to stop the mix from feeling empty it would be better to fill out some of the space with what you already have.
I would either change the high hat, or back it up with something that is less peaky and resonant, and fills up a touch more room.

This tune is like an extreme smile curve, if I was mastering this I would reverse that curve by pushing the mids forwards more. Both with EQ, and probably dynamically too.

In the mix you can simply bring your mid range sounds, the synths and so on, higher in the mix, in level terms.

Finally I would probably then go through the compression stages to bring up the overall level. I`d probably use 2 stages of compression, one fast, one slow, and then a little analog soft clipping to shave off a little and round out the trainsients. Then maybe a half DB of limiting at the end to clip those final peaks.

You could just as easily have a compressor on your buss and mix in to that, and then to get a louder level, read my home "mastering" guide on using a limiter to gain an extra db or so.

[bergertron]

thanks Steve that's quite helpful. appreciate it