I need some advice on where to take the mastering on this track. It was performed entirely by the guitarist in my band for his girlfriend. The project was quite relaxed and I've been using it as an opportunity to do some experimenting.

I tracked and mixed at 88.2 kHz, which was a first for me. Mixed entirely ITB, no outboard used at all, although the vocals did hit the Distressor on the way in. The first time through we were a bit pressed for time, so I didn't get to do as much as I would have liked. The project was completed over a month ago, and I have some time now to go back and revisit some things.

I'm not really satisfied with the mix on this track and will probably remix it at some point. But I've never spent any real time on my self-"mastering" skills, and I thought that would be a good place to start. I'm posting the raw mix (normalized so I could compare it more easily to the mastered versions) and two mastered versions.

Mix

Master 1

Master 2

The files are 192kbps MP3, but I can put wav files up if needed.

For one version the chain was

Pro VLA -> UAD-1 1176 -> UAD-1 Precision EQ -> UAD-1 Precision Limiter.

For the other, the chain was

Waves Renaissance Compressor - > UAD-1 Precision EQ -> UAD-1 Precision Limiter.

I won't say which is which, although I think it's pretty obvious. I'm not satisfied with either but there are qualities of both I like. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Richard

Anyone?

What exactly is your question?

I can be mistaken, as I have no idea how UAD sounds, but I will take a wild guess & say that V1 is with VLA, V2 no VLA.

I don't think there is too much you can do as a mastering engineer for that, obviously you could cut some of the mud in low mid/low area & boost a little air & add more presence, but that wouldn't do much IMO. On the other hand you could work on the mix a lot. That's my point of view, if it counts.

Nice ac guitar sound BTW.

I'm just looking for some mastering input. I guess something along the lines of "if you were to master this, what direction would you take it in?" Also, out of the three versions posted, which did you prefer (did my attempt at self-mastering make it worse)?

I agree that the mix could use a lot of work, and I do intend to go back to it at some point. All of the tracks are rather muddy and need cleaned up significantly. Past that, I'm not sure what to do with this. I was thinking of messing with a delay or effect on the vocals, but I'm not sure what. If anyone has any mix suggestions, feel free to post those too. Like I said, this is relatively informal and I'm using it for experimentation.

Funny you mention the acoustic sound, it's my least favorite sound in the track .

quote:

Funny you mention the acoustic sound, it's my least favorite sound in the track Big Grin .

Yea....... not that I'm surprised or something, but still...

I hope you don't mind me doing this, I ran your mix mp3 trough EQ & a bit L2(2db reduction), I'd be interested to know what you think too. Unfortunately SF is always full to post anything so I uploaded it on my server, let me know I'll delete it as soon as you want me to.

http://www.dizero.com/studio/mix2.mp3

That's the direction I'd take it. I did it very quickly, like 5 minutes, but probably that's how long it should take anyway.

Out of 3 versions I like v1 a little bit better.

Mix suggestions: some reverb on panned guitars & less hi mids on el guitars overall.

yeah, version 1. It's more natural sounding to me. i guess version 2 sounds cheaper.

aside from the slight timing issues, i like the recording. i think you could automate the vocals down a little until the last full-on hoorah at the end, where they sit very well after being mastered. I'm not really fond of the acoustic tone, except that it adds to the humble feeling I get from the band. that and the imperfection of the vocals. the drum room actually sounds cool for this song. i wouldn't crank the room mics any more, though. they're just right.

maybe the guitars could have a lightly enhanced/extended mid-low range, but I'm enjoying what you already have.

just for fun, i thought I would take a crack at mastering your mix. this one came out a little louder, and with some more high end clarity.
FYI:
Waves LinMB > Samplitude Variverb > Voxengo Crunchessor > Voxengo Elephant 2

the only preset I used was on the Crunchessor, appropriately called "Mastering Compression."

I don't mean to impose, but here you go.

Well, Master 1 was done entirely with plugins, Master 2 was run through the Pro VLA first. I like what the VLA did to the dynamics, midrange, and cymbals, but I think it might have been a bit much for the entire mix. Although it might sound a bit more open, I really hate the high end on the all-digital version, and the dynamics suck. Bottom line, I think it needs a remix before I'll be happy with it.

To nbarts and Discolightning, thanks for taking the time to play with the mix, I appreciate it. I like bits of both, but at the expense of other parts, which is why I'm leaning towards a remix. Did you convert from mp3 to wav to process, and then back to mp3 to post?

what's the guy's name? I have the song on my mp3 player.

Will Alvarez.