budget mastering setup...

[FSTZ]

ok so, no matter what I do, I cannot get the loudness and oomph other people are getting when mixing ITB so...

I have this JVC SVHS deck sitting around and I am debating using it for mixdowns

should I just try to record straight into the deck, or should I get an ART Tube compressor or something?

remember louder, brighter mixdowns are my goal

your thoughts?

[phrex]

hmm... somehow it works out with me without any mastering. the more i produce the more i realise that mastering isn't that important. might be the good luxury you get when you get a release...
at least it's for me like that.

[deadly_habit]

honestly the art tube compressors are decent for the cost, not that much analog color to em unless you change out the tubes in em and drive em pretty hard imo. you'd be better off reading that bob katz book and practice practice practice
i tend to be more worried about a good mixdown rather than the loudness wars cause i can always crank up the gain knob

[egoless]

your thoughts?

I think you should concentrate in perfecting your mixing, I feel like, the better mixdown is, the louder it can go without loosing the "punch" ...

You should work on getting your drums more stand out (based on what I listened to soundcloud) , give them snares more punch (around 200hz) , make the drums loudest in the mix and melody underneath... and stuff like that...

[FSTZ]

ok...

just seems like I can follow all the advice, direction, have good dsp plugins but my shit is still too quiet

maybe I am not pushing my limiter / compressor hard enough

gah..

fuck knows

thanks for the tips

I fink you guys are right

[Depone]

Wanna give me a shot ?
(http://www.dubstepforum.com/a-leg-up-idea-t146243.html)
or are you trying to do it yourself steez?

[egoless]

ok...

just seems like I can follow all the advice, direction, have good dsp plugins but my shit is still too quiet

maybe I am not pushing my limiter / compressor hard enough

gah..

fuck knows

thanks for the tips

I fink you guys are right

You use some Freq analyser like Span? In most of them you have the RMS and PRMS meter where you can see how "loud" is your tune...

[SunkLo]

Try a bit of bus compression in addition to your master compressor and individual track compression. Many small layers of compression will be more transparent than one big master limiter whacking the mix. Bit of upward expansion might help too.
Make sure your mix is eq'd and sitting well before you even bother thinking about how loud it is. A clear mix can be made louder very easily. A muddy mix will just sound shittier and shittier the louder it gets.

[FSTZ]

Wanna give me a shot ?
(http://www.dubstepforum.com/a-leg-up-idea-t146243.html)
or are you trying to do it yourself steez?

yeah man, this is for my own knowledge / tunes

but I'll use your help in other capacities

[Sharmaji]

you kidding me? trick my trick and the old greg one are loud as hell.

I'd stay away from anything not ITB w/o having really high-quality conversion.

[Depone]

just a tip, i have been finding lately that without a compressor on my master buss I have been making louder mixes, i know loudness war waffle etc... but i only feel the use of compression these days to make things 'punch' not loud (does that make sense?) also i would use compression on rogue resonant synths to 'calm them the funk down!'

[deadly_habit]

yea even when self mastering i try to leave my master buss as clean as possible and do everything on individual channels
i used to look at my tracks compared to like noisia or raiden ones i dug, the spectral shit looked different but i found on a few of em my rms level was higher so more perceived loudness. was def an eye opener

[FSTZ]

yeah I don't go crazy with compression or anything

those of you who know my tunes know that I'm no noob fishing for fundamentals...

just a little "push over the cliff"

one louder

[deadly_habit]

yeah I don't go crazy with compression or anything

those of you who know my tunes know that I'm no noob fishing for fundamentals...

just a little "push over the cliff"

one louder

[trench]

I know people on all the production boards tend to have a close minded view of the so called "all in one" mastering tools, but.... I've heard some amazing results come out of creative use of Izotope's Ozone.

[spencertron]

this is a good tutorial on mastering...

http://www.simonv.com/tutorials/mastering.php

[FSTZ]

YEAH SEE...

I have really a really nice plugin suite for the powercore 24/96 DSP mastering

I am not looking for a plugin

I am wondering if it would be a decent move to buy an analog tube compressor and mixdown on a VCR

[FSTZ]

this is a good tutorial on mastering...

http://www.simonv.com/tutorials/mastering.php

werd...

thank you

[trench]

analog tube compressor's are the shit... if I had the $$ i'd buy one.

[trench]

you could run all you drum kits through it as well... beef'em up