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?
Dec-10-2009 09:53
tehlord
Supreme tranceaddict
Registered: Jan 2009
Location: Windsor
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.
Dec-10-2009 10:40
kitphillips
is actually a guy.
Registered: May 2006
Location: Sydney, Australia
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.
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.
Dec-10-2009 12:08
DjStephenWiley
Supreme tranceaddict
Registered: Jun 2002
Location: Columbus, OH
quote:
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)"
Dec-10-2009 12:09
tehlord
Supreme tranceaddict
Registered: Jan 2009
Location: Windsor
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)
Dec-10-2009 12:18
tehlord
Supreme tranceaddict
Registered: Jan 2009
Location: Windsor
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
