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Remastering a digital release of a track made in the late 90's

Anybody ever done this before or knows how to do it? The most obvious weakness is the kick which needless to say needs to be brought up to today's standards. The rest of the track really isn't that bad but it seems to have a very non-crisp sound (if that makes any sense) - I was thinking perhaps multi-band stuff, RBass, or something. Any ideas out there?

I'm by no means a mastering expert but Ozone 4 has some very tasty multi band exciters and M/S EQ on it.

Yea. I'm going to obviously have to take a multi-band approach but I was wondering if any had done this in the past or have a good idea of how it should be done. Advice is very much appreciated.

Hmm... Well, I would think some compression in the low end would be a good option, try and widen it out on the high mids a bit using a m/s eq maybe...

I'd be curious to hear if anyone else has any other ideas. Why specifically are you remastering it? There obviously aren't any go-to settings for this stuff, you need to know what problems it has in the first place.

I can only really comment about what i'd do in Ozone 4 but the main culprits would be some narrow Q EQ around the place you want to boost the kick (obviously) and also the multiband exciter and loudness maximisers. The bands are adjustable in a similar way that the Q on an EQ is so you can zone in in whatever frequncy you want to manipulate.

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Originally posted by tehlord I can only really comment about what i'd do in Ozone 4 but the main culprits would be some narrow Q EQ around the place you want to boost the kick (obviously) and also the multiband exciter and loudness maximisers. The bands are adjustable in a similar way that the Q on an EQ is so you can zone in in whatever frequncy you want to manipulate.

I prefer RBass over Ozone when it comes to raising lower frequencies. I've tried to filter sweep across the lower ends to find the kick but I was having a hard time. Keep in mind this was a track originally mastered for vinyl and later released in a digital format without digital mastering.

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Originally posted by kitphillips I'd be curious to hear if anyone else has any other ideas. Why specifically are you remastering it? There obviously aren't any go-to settings for this stuff, you need to know what problems it has in the first place.

It's for a release compilation. For what it's worth, it is "L-Vee - Look Inside (Fire & Ice Remix)"

Well being mastered for vinyl is most likely why there's less crispy top end!

It might be a faff timing wise but i'd try layering a new kick on there if I was doing it.

that's a damn good idea. maybe just putting the deeper punch parts of a kick in there would sound good. I wonder if it'll sit good in a mix. Def. gonna try it out.

As for the high's, yea, that's analog for ya. I'm not worried about anything past 2khz. It's just the lower end is not up to par with today's standards (although it was superior in its release era)

DDMF do a decent (and cheap) M/S EQ plugin. I've got the IIEQ Pro and it's excellent on the master for a bit more top end. It's also (again) worth noting that Ozone 4 has a pretty handy mastering reverb that works in M/S as well. It'd allow you to add a tiny amount of reverb to the top end L/R while ommiting it from the centre frequencies.



*disclaimer - I do not work for Izotope, nor am I affiliated to them in any way

Watch out for odd phasing and flangy issues when introducing a new kick.

I'd eq the old one out as best as possible to start with!

Bass line may need similar treatment.

Good luck with this.

I'd be VERY careful introducing new elements. It could end very badly. Aside from which, it seems a bit disrespectful...

Don't touch it. Unless you got real mastering equipment you will be ruining an already mastered track and making it sound like ass.
The key here is what is doing the volume pushing. The digital threshhold is zero db. Try to push it harder in the digital realm and you will be making it sound like ass. With a real compressor for example you can exceed zero db and get away with it. And you can really push a track with out making it sound like ass. But with software you are looking at 4-5 db gain reduction max before it starts sounding like hell and that is good software. And stay away from multiband limiters too. These can really really fuck a track up. Finilizers ect are a big no no no. The cure is a lot worse then the disease. If all you want is a mix cd do it like the big boys do it. Import all your tracks into a single song and put them on different stereo tracks. Fix the timing. Ableton is easy for that but you can always use traktor. Draw your long fades and eqs changes filters ect. Then put a Waves L2 over the master and pull the fader down a LITTLE bit to give it some volume so the whole CD sounds a bit more consistent in volume. As you can understand the limiter will only work if A louder part kicks in by bringing up the softer tracks and evening the thing out a little bit. Your cealing should be -0.5 to -0.1 db. 0 can cause distortion in consumer cd players. Then bounce and export the whole 74 minute file and edit down the tracks so there is no gap when the new track starts. Burn the cd down send it to the duplication house.

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Originally posted by Existo22 Don't touch it. Unless you got real mastering equipment you will be ruining an already mastered track and making it sound like ass. The key here is what is doing the volume pushing. The digital threshhold is zero db. Try to push it harder in the digital realm and you will be making it sound like ass. With a real compressor for example you can exceed zero db and get away with it. And you can really push a track with out making it sound like ass. But with software you are looking at 4-5 db gain reduction max before it starts sounding like hell and that is good software. And stay away from multiband limiters too. These can really really fuck a track up. Finilizers ect are a big no no no. The cure is a lot worse then the disease. If all you want is a mix cd do it like the big boys do it. Import all your tracks into a single song and put them on different stereo tracks. Fix the timing. Ableton is easy for that but you can always use traktor. Draw your long fades and eqs changes filters ect. Then put a Waves L2 over the master and pull the fader down a LITTLE bit to give it some volume so the whole CD sounds a bit more consistent in volume. As you can understand the limiter will only work if A louder part kicks in by bringing up the softer tracks and evening the thing out a little bit. Your cealing should be -0.5 to -0.1 db. 0 can cause distortion in consumer cd players. Then bounce and export the whole 74 minute file and edit down the tracks so there is no gap when the new track starts. Burn the cd down send it to the duplication house.

I know how to make a mix, lol.

Thanks for your input/opinion. Will trust my ears and go with what I hear (or don't hear) - You may be right in that I am wasting my time but I'm going to try. And I am of course not going to be making the track available to anybody if I do any editing without talking to the original producer AND label first.

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Originally posted by DjStephenWiley I know how to make a mix, lol. Thanks for your input/opinion. Will trust my ears and go with what I hear (or don't hear) - You may be right in that I am wasting my time but I'm going to try. And I am of course not going to be making the track available to anybody if I do any editing without talking to the original producer AND label first.

Just out of curiosity what are you planning to use to ''re-master'' the record?

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Originally posted by Existo22 Just out of curiosity what are you planning to use to ''re-master'' the record?

Are you going to mix the record with the cdj-200s you got in your sig for extra authenticity and DJ street cred?

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Originally posted by DjStephenWiley It's for a release compilation. For what it's worth, it is "L-Vee - Look Inside (Fire & Ice Remix)"

The thing with that kick is that the transient of the kick peaks in the middle of the kick, which gives it a kinda boomy sound.
I think you should use the track as it is. I doubt you can "fix" this with mastering.

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Originally posted by Subtle The thing with that kick is that the transient of the kick peaks in the middle of the kick, which gives it a kinda boomy sound. I think you should use the track as it is. I doubt you can "fix" this with mastering.

Mastering is a bad word here I think. I probably misspoke there. I'm not trying to re-master the track as a whole. I just want the kick to hit so it can "mesh" as much as possible with its predecessor and successor in the mix. To take it a step further, here is the 3 track sequence if it helps!

8. Cantus - Campfires At Dusk (Joost Glazenburg Remix)
9. L-Vee - Look Inside (Fire & Ice Remix)
10. Roy Hayumi - Sanative Way (Aurosonic Weekend Mix)

"Audio editing" would fit better here. I probably should have said I can easily get in contact with the producer at any time but the project file is not available, so there is obviously nothing he can do to help me except give the best advice as possible to the best of his ability. I'm going to do this, but I figured others might have done this before, and would have some words of wisdom. Or others would chime in with their opinions, which is what has happened so far. I appreciate everybodies input. Obviously some differing opinions and suggestions which is good.

I think editing a mastered track will do more harm than good tbh

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Originally posted by Existo22 Don't touch it. Unless you got real mastering equipment you will be ruining an already mastered track and making it sound like ass. The key here is what is doing the volume pushing. The digital threshhold is zero db. Try to push it harder in the digital realm and you will be making it sound like ass. With a real compressor for example you can exceed zero db and get away with it. And you can really push a track with out making it sound like ass. But with software you are looking at 4-5 db gain reduction max before it starts sounding like hell and that is good software. And stay away from multiband limiters too. These can really really fuck a track up. Finilizers ect are a big no no no.

You truly reveal your mental deficits more with each passing day.

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Originally posted by kitphillips You truly reveal your mental deficits more with each passing day.

Stephen, I would try layering another kick over it, but make sure it's completely EQ to be within a tight band (i.e. if it's just more "click" that you want out of the kick the bandpass it and leave the rest out etc.).

The problem you're going to have is getting it sit perfectlyand I would suggest using two things:

1, A multiband comp to take the levels down ever so slightly of each band (so you're not going above 0dbfs when adding the kick) and this will also give you the option although somewhat limited to rebalance the bands.

2, A simple, subtle compressor over the output from the multiband and combine the kick - I'm basically suggesting a glue compressor so they sit together.

The main thing is to be incredibly surgical with EQ (sharp rolloffs, paramtric in nature and equally subtle with compression.

Remeber if you're having trouble layer a new kick on top of the old one, try to EQ out the old one as much as possible, so it's a replacement rather than a extra - this does avoid phasing and frequency clashes.

It's not prefect and could be more trouble that it's worth but I've done it with decent results in the past when I've found tracks I love that just don't have the right drive in terms of the kick.

Hope this helps.

Just leave it alone
Hope this helps.

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Originally posted by DJ RANN Stephen, I would try layering another kick over it, but make sure it's completely EQ to be within a tight band (i.e. if it's just more "click" that you want out of the kick the bandpass it and leave the rest out etc.). The problem you're going to have is getting it sit perfectlyand I would suggest using two things: 1, A multiband comp to take the levels down ever so slightly of each band (so you're not going above 0dbfs when adding the kick) and this will also give you the option although somewhat limited to rebalance the bands. 2, A simple, subtle compressor over the output from the multiband and combine the kick - I'm basically suggesting a glue compressor so they sit together. The main thing is to be incredibly surgical with EQ (sharp rolloffs, paramtric in nature and equally subtle with compression. Remeber if you're having trouble layer a new kick on top of the old one, try to EQ out the old one as much as possible, so it's a replacement rather than a extra - this does avoid phasing and frequency clashes. It's not prefect and could be more trouble that it's worth but I've done it with decent results in the past when I've found tracks I love that just don't have the right drive in terms of the kick. Hope this helps.

Surprised you replied with a reply like that Tom, i thought you'd say to forget the task altogether somehow.

If you think ahead to the mastering, which will inevitably need to be done, you're gonna master a file which has already been mastered, basically the quiet parts are gonna be lifted(AGAIN), this may end up one very noisy mix, just my thoughts and something to think about, not a rant at all

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Originally posted by DJ RANN Remeber if you're having trouble layer a new kick on top of the old one, try to EQ out the old one as much as possible, so it's a replacement rather than a extra - this does avoid phasing and frequency clashes.

The kick's low frequencies will overlap to some degree with the low frequencies of the bass. Using EQ could quickly become quite messy.

I must admit, my first thought on reading the original post was that it's going to be like when people remaster classic albums and make them sound "modern" - overcompressed, all the dynamics, all the beauty gone.

I really liked the L-Vee and Fire & Ice tracks back in the day, and don't mind at all that they don't have the same sound as today's trance. They sound great the way they are.

If you had the time, I'd say a better option would be to get someone to create a new modern sounding remix rather than trying to add a kick over the top of an already mastered song (which may throw out the kick/bass balance).

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