Highpass the master channel: Almost every channel you have WILL need an highpass filter, so you won't save that much, you may even be wasting.hookey wrote:So you have this dnb tune peaking at -6db so the engineer has a decent amount of headroom to push it to 0 the right way. The question is: How do you get the most of those -6db? I mean, there are tunes by big name producers that sound louder in the intro when it's not yet peaking at 0, more like at -3db (the classic dnb intros with the drums and some effects in the background before the actual mid-sub action starts) that are sounding louder than your tunes at the most bussiest 0db moments. How do they do this? I guarantee all the non-needed frequencies are low/high passed. I high pass the sub at 30hz (btw, it's ok to just put a 30hz high pass in the master so you guarantee there are not frequencies under 30hz instead of adding an EQ on every channel wasting CPU resources?) I low pass everything beyond 22hz (same, is it ok doing this on the master channel?) then I individually threat my reecee/bassline it individually on 3 parts (low-subs 30 to 140hz, mid 140 to 5000hz, high 5000 to 9000hz) are those ranges making sense? I tend to cut at 9000hz because the high frequencies from the reeces start clashing with the hi-hats and cymbals which start at around those frequencies (8000 to 15000hz), is this ok? It's one of my big questions aswell: How do they manage to get those reeces/growls/whatever sounding bright at the same time leaving space for the hi hats for that nice crispy touch? I always tend to think "this reece is lacking top end..." and I end up cranking it too much beyond 9000hz and it starts mudding the hi-hats and top end percusison sounds. I can't seem to find a balance there. I high pass my kicks at around 80 hz, snares at around 120hz, and EQ wise don't do much more really. I used to over do EQ'ing by putting notches on everything and I endeed up with a thing sound with no midrange. So to not extend this a lot more: -What are some strategies to get your shit sounding phat maintaing a -6db overall peak? (I end up putting a limiter on everything to control the peaks, so im sure it's not peaking beyond I don't want to, and try to get as much sense of loudness within that range, but I usually end up over-using those "enhancer" features like on the Sony Limiter one. Is this ok?) -How do you go about having a reesee/growl/whatever sounding full and without being forced to cut the higher frequencies too much so it doesn't collapse with your hi-hats stuff?
Loudness: You should ignore loudness. If you want to do an A/B comparison, lower the volume of the mastered tune until it SOUNDS (ignore the meters) as loud as yours, then you can compare. What gets the loudness up is the mastering, but first you should worry in getting a perfect mix (without any plugin on the master). Let it peak at arround 6db. When the mix is perfect, you can try mastering yourself.
Resses and High hats: Does it lack higher frequencys in solo or in the whole mix? With or without high hats? If you want to keep the high frequencies with the high hats, you have a couple of tricks:
1) Sidechain EQ: Google or youtube it. Put the EQ in the reese channel in a way it gets lowpassed (or turns a notch on, or lowers some parametric EQ) when the hats hit (so Reese gets EQd when triggered by the hats).
2) Notch: Put a small notch in the fundamental frequency of the hats (should be one of the loudest, try a spectrum analyser). With you ear, adjust the width of the notch till you don't hear clash (or you hear both well).
3) Automate EQ: Does the same as 1, but manually.
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