budget mastering setup...

[dankface]

how hot would you run your signal through a vcr to get some nice tape compression?

[3za]

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

[logic pro]

ok loudness really isnt the problem here.

but perceived lodness over the spectrum could be.


check for resonances, seems that somthing eats up your headroom....

perhaps you have extreme transients in something, or bass is too loud (!?!),

or too much sub-sub rumble etc....

onto brightness: if i mix itb with vsts
i tend to use a lot of high shelfs (sometimes even on the master.) or exciters

like 1-3 db + at 400 hz upwards

because i feel vsts dont have that high frequency content you get from analogue....


it helps me a lot hope it helps you .

edit:
ah and dont get cheap hardware, in my world most of the gear that really has more or diffrent charachter is expensive (buy some vsts instead..)

[phrex]

ok...

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

i do it like that: proper mixup. master volume at half. convert it into wav. then i open up a new proiject fix the bpm at the amount my track is, import it without warping (for ableton users) and then i put 2 limiters on the master each about +3db gain. just try out to reach the maximum level without cutting too much of it.

[FSTZ]

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.

yeah thats the thing...

I cant remember what I did to get them to sound that loud LOL

[logic pro]

loudness shouldnt really be the problem....

run you saturation, exciters, limiters just a few gains more in that case....

edit (just listened, they are loud enuff mang)

[FSTZ]

ok loudness really isnt the problem here.

but perceived lodness over the spectrum could be.


check for resonances, seems that somthing eats up your headroom....

perhaps you have extreme transients in something, or bass is too loud (!?!),

or too much sub-sub rumble etc....

onto brightness: if i mix itb with vsts
i tend to use a lot of high shelfs (sometimes even on the master.) or exciters

like 1-3 db + at 400 hz upwards

because i feel vsts dont have that high frequency content you get from analogue....


it helps me a lot hope it helps you .

edit:
ah and dont get cheap hardware, in my world most of the gear that really has more or diffrent charachter is expensive (buy some vsts instead..)

quality advice...

thank you

that is very helpful

[macc]

Gear won't do it for you, analogue or not.

EQ it right. That's 90% of it.

[FSTZ]

taking all of this in and putting it to the test

thanks everyone

[Sharmaji]

Gear won't do it for you, analogue or not.

EQ it right. That's 90% of it.

this is true for sure. wanna drive me crazy? send me something to master that's a generally dark mix, but has a super-bright hihat.

[FSTZ]

getting some great results

downloaded Voxengo Span and its helping

biggups dsf crew

thanks

[Mad_EP]

Gear won't do it for you, analogue or not.

EQ it right. That's 90% of it.

this is true for sure. wanna drive me crazy? send me something to master that's a generally dark mix, but has a super-bright hihat.

Needs more cowbell.

[HALP]

i dont know much about mastering but in my opinion (based on the little knowledge i have) all you would have to do on the master is turn op the volume with some slight limiting

[nowaysj]

You'd be crazy to go to vcr. I would use vcr for individual drum hits, maybe as a parallel drum buss. The vcr is fucking noizy, not noizy like hiss (hmmm....) but noizy like em interference, and wheels grinding, and just general gnarly electro noize.

Now, a legit reel to reel, ...

I checked the date of your first post here like three times, to make sure we were in the right decade

Minor, minor threadjack - anyone remember those dinosaur mastering plugins, trex I think they were called. R they any good, or is it a joke? Dinosaurs on your mastering gui can't be a good thing?

[HALP]

dinosaurs on the master must be a good thing
i remember a friend of mine using them and his tunes sounded pro, like 2 years ago so i wouldnt know
but i imagine a lot of plugins can be good as long as you have ears

[paradigm_x]

the uad fatso is sublime for making things just sound bigger, and/or increasing RMS. And the Precision Maximiser, or sonnox inflator native (didnt like the sonnox myself tho tbh).

totally agree with eq etc tho as above.

Maybe some acoustic treatment if youve not got, thinking outside the box, realted to the eq.

[Mad_EP]

Sorry for the earlier joke reply.. I had just woken up.

But on a serious note - I have to concur: driving a VCR hot is great for individual hits - or maybe even a bassline or drum buss...
but NOT for a master.

I would try to convince you not to get worried about your loudness versus others - not only am I in a similar boat (my shit is rarely as "loud" as anyone else), but I can tell you as a DJ & listener, I have never been annoyed by someone's track being too quiet. But I HAVE been annoyed at shit that was too loud and squashed.

However, if you are set on getting louder - you gotta look at your mixing (which again, is usually about turning everything down... and bringing everything up at the end). Create your space, don't let sounds compete for headroom, etc etc.


(if that still doesn't do the trick... I found the Sonalksis MaxLimit to be a bit of a secret weapon. When I trialed it, I found it to be rather true to my original mix, but just made it louder & punchier. I really loved it, and the only reason I didn't buy it is because I was worried that I would start using it on everything... but it still tempts me)

[JFK]

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.

Great advice.

[legend4ry]

Lets just remember whos asking the question - fstizzle knows how to mix down .


I would maybe invest in a UAD, everyone I know whos looking for something awesome on the cheap, copped one!

[paradigm_x]

im aware i do bang on about them all the time, but ive never bought anything thats such a radical improvement.

Not cheap but the quality and ease of use (def this, i used to spend hours demoing and fiddling, now can just insert an eq, twist for 30s and sorted).

The fatso is an uber beast as well, one smacking the drum bus and one subtly lushing the master is phenomenal.