Getting the Mix/Mastering right

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Burnzy
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Re: Getting the Mix/Mastering right

Post by Burnzy » Tue Nov 22, 2022 11:31 am

If was too low, might not be the mix, but the mastering. I send out some things for pro mastering, but often I use CloudBounce, which is somewhat tweak able auto-mastering. Have had several forwards using this with no complaints.




Darran wrote:
Fri Nov 18, 2022 5:59 am
Hi Guys,

Firstly I apologise for the lengthy post.

I'm fairly new here and have submitted to a few listings however, this time round I have n't has yet had a forward, but I feel I'm getting closer (Ever the optimist ;). The main issue is my mixes. I do understand the feedback. I can hear the difference but can't figure out how to fix them. Which is very frustrating.

I've watched hours and hours of You Tube clips but too be honest sometimes I can't actually hear (Even with headphones on) the adjustments that they make :(

My last two rejected submissions were for solo piano so I'll use them as examples, mainly because if I can get them sounding better there is a current listing that I can re submit to ;)

Solo Piano was returned because its mixed too low. on a positive note I was told it was super close to getting forwarded

https://www.taxi.com/members/fIwjZ9ccQt ... solo-piano

As I Remember It Again Close too be forwarded wasn't bright enough

https://www.taxi.com/members/fIwjZ9ccQt ... emember-it

When I record I'm using sample Piano sounds (Spitfire audio and Kontakt The Gentleman) I EQ and add a couple of DB compression on each track (Though I can't always hear the difference) I then EQ and compress the stereo out and bounce the track. Once bounced I reopen the single audio file and work on increasing the loudness. Most of the time I'll also add Ozone 9 which does seem to clear up the tracks and widen them up somewhat, yet I don't seem to have the clarity, the clean sound of the reference tracks and when I match EQ it just doesn't sound right.

So I guess I'm asking guys...What's a good step guide, as in how do you do it. from start to finish? I hope the question makes sense and thanks in advance for all replies :)

Darran

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Re: Getting the Mix/Mastering right

Post by Darran » Tue Nov 22, 2022 12:56 pm

Hey,

Thanks for the heads up. I'll check that out

Darran :)

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Re: Getting the Mix/Mastering right

Post by FredGuggenberger » Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:22 am

Hi Darran!

This is a very GENERAL Answer, but I hope, it help you in some way ...

I have spent tons of hours trying to get my mixes sound great and ... a lot of times I felt like a dog chasing his tail ... running in a circle and no end in sight ...

Anytime this happened, the solution was to be found in two areas that were absolutely not about "mixing":

1) The recording
2) The arrangement

A lot of times, I recorded things and then tried to make it work by using EQ ... and Compression ... shit, doesn´t sound great. Maybe reverb will help .... another reverb ... another reverb ... Oh, DELAY will work better!!! Still sounds bad ... tape delay? Or maybe a second reverb ... a plate!!! That´s it!!! Still sucks ... Lord, I need compression on the master bus!! SSL Compressor!!! Still sucks ... sounds like shit with "glue", still shit .... and the vintage delay turned my crappy sound into crappy sound with a vintage delay on it.... Maybe another EQ.... 1073 is cool!!! Hours turned into days... days turned into weeks ... and at the end it landed in my "collection of garbage that could have been cool"...

I could have saved me a lot of time by maybe just muting a few instruments that messed it up .... or pay more attention to the recording...

Then I had this magical moment: I recorded a friend that wants to do an acoustic album.... I recorded his guitar with two mics and spent some time with finding great positions for the mics... His songs are great and what a great player he is! His vocals: Amazing!

At the end, I was sitting there with the recordings, moved the faders a little bit to find the right balance.... did a little panning... and added some reverb and delay to create some background ("adding depth"). It sounded so great!! And yes, the nerd in me thought: "But I have to eq it now.. .and I need compression!! How can it sound great without EQ and compression????" I started with doing my "everyday crap" and noticed, that I was just killing, what sounded great before... At the end, I stayed with a TINY bit of compression on the guitar and that's it.

It happened ore than one time since that day. My big realization is, that if it sounds great from the beginning (after setting levels and pan) I am on "winners road". If not, all the plug ins will not help anything.

In my humble opinion, we live in a time, where we have ANYTHING in our hands, which is not always good. Because not that we have it, we want to use it. When people went from 8-track-tape to 16 tracks, they used 16 tracks. Then 24... There was a time, when it was amazing as hell to have 4 microphones in a studio ("look at that high-tech-studio. They got FOUR microphones!!!!"). Today, some people use 16 mics to record a drum set, because they can... And we can record 120 tracks for a 3 minute pop single, so we do it! And somehow we fall into that trap, that mixing and a collection of 426 plug ins will fix any problems. But there is still something happening in front of the microphone (or audio interface...) that may be great or not. If it is great, anything will become easy....

Would we put 24 kinds of salt and pepper on our food just because we can?


PS: There are days, when I wish someone would give me that advice, because I totally forget it and still mess it all up. :lol: :lol: :lol: It feels like my mixing journey has just started. But at least, it doesn´t sound as crappy as last year. What a great sound I will have in 2025! Or maybe 2030.... Hey, I could be the next Chris Lord Alge in ... 70 years or so? Damn it.... :lol:

PS2: I remember when I did some guitar recordings. I was hopping from phone calls to checking e-mails... and the door was ringing ... and another phone call.... running to my computer to hit record... running to the guitar to play... while my head was still stuck in the last phone call and stress... Every note I played sounded exactly that way... Nobody could fix that in the mix ... I recorded the guitar again hours later around midnight .... I was relaxed.... somewhere between awake and sleep ... and I got one of the best guitar recordings I have ever made .... Sometimes a walk in nature, relaxation and a cup of tea are the best recording and mixing tools in the world. ;-)

Again: This is not specific to what you asked, but I hope, it may help you in general. Let´s rock the house! :-)

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Re: Getting the Mix/Mastering right

Post by RobRaede » Tue Dec 06, 2022 12:34 pm

I have taken, and can enthusiastically recommend Joe Gilder's course on mixing. Easy to follow, down to earth guy, and immediate results. Took me about 2 months spending maybe an hour a day, like 5-6 days/week. I probably took longer than some b/c I would go over various lessons multiple times, depending. I have already gotten many positive comments on the improvement in my mixes. Reasonable price as well.

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Re: Getting the Mix/Mastering right

Post by SteveR » Sun Dec 18, 2022 7:43 am

Great original post. I’d like to add a second word of thanks to the seasoned pro’s who responded with guidance and advice.

I’m also new to TAXI and I’m also new to production music. I’ve been an amateur recording artist for decades while working a career outside music. I’d really like to do something with music as well though and have decided to give it a proper go. But wow - the standards are high! Broadcast quality is nothing short of perfection.

I’ve had a few returns and the feedback I’ve received is justified. I look at it on the bright side because it’s valuable feedback from professionals with expert ears. I now know some areas I need to work on and having some clear direction is exactly what I need.

I’ve had the familiar “Instruments sound outdated.” “Mix needs improvement.” “Stiff, or over-quantized.” And I also made the noob mistake of not paying enough attention to the references and missing the mark on that. I’ve seen Michael’s webinars on that topic, and read the FAQ’s about it too - so I’ve definitely learned about that mistake!

I’m on the learning curve with Cubase 12 Pro and already my workflow and results are fast improving. Since the mid 90’s I was able to produce pretty well on synth workstations (by the standards of the day). I tried DAW in mid 2000’s but got put off by numerous PC glitches/compatibility issues and latency that caused headaches and killed creativity fast. It seems those days are thankfully over now, thanks to powerful computers and incredible software. I’m thoroughly enjoying working with and learning Cubase so far. I’m going to check out that book which Mark recommended earlier in this thread, “Mixing Secrets For The Small Studio.” Maybe take on one of those online courses too. I’m in it for the long game and I realise I’m very much at the beginning in terms of modern production. Looking forward to the journey.

Thanks again to those who have shared the great tips above. I’ll keep my eyes open for more.

All the best.

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