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The Mastering Discussion + The Mastering Game
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| Rob |
This post is a bit of a discussion and "let's take part" in some mastering. I've always been a bit dissapointed with a few of the CD's I've purchased in relation to mastering, because some tracks sound bland, others sound thin, one track might sound amazing while others are just too dull.
So here's what I want people to do:
Download this short "Mastering Demos" MP3 HERE. The MP3 has 4 clips off the Gatecrasher Expereince CD2, with each clip being 8:750 seconds long. Take one of your existing tracks (exactly 8:750 seconds from it, NO MORE!), and try and master it in relation to the short samples, then add it onto the end of the "Mastering Demos" MP3 and upload it so the next person can add theirs.
What I and you will hopefully get from this excercise is an idea of how people would master tracks when compared to comercially avaiable CDs, and how your track would sound stacked up against commerically available stuff.
Now the tracks are as follows:
Hemstock & Jennings feat. JOOF - The Nazarean
NUNRG - Dreamland
DJ Wag Life on Mars
Mauro Piccoto - Bangkok
What are peoples thoughts about ALL the clips compared to each other? I find that The Nazarean is dull compared to the way Dreamland was mastered. Perhaps Dreamland was ment to stand out more in the CD, or was one of the highpoints, hence the reason for making it more predominant. Life on Mars again seems to be mastered like The Nazarean (dull) while Mauro Piccoto's Bangkok has prominance in the percussion. The last track is mine with some random vocals thrown over it.
What are peoples thoughts about the clips?
Oh, and don't forget to add one of your own tracks. |
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| Allen&Bream |
I seriously cannot tell the difference between unmastered and mastered.
Can someone send me a sample of unmastered...then mastered? |
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| Subtle |
i think the J00F track sounds the best.. Dreamland does stand out more.. DJ Wag does indeed sound dull, the Picotto track is even of lower volume than the others..
but, i think u should make this better bitrate.. as all the tracks already are ruined of the bitrate.. |
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| Rob |
They're not ruined by the bitrate, but the mastering of the CD. The difference from my original WAV rip straight from the CD compared to the 192k mp3 is unnoticeable. So it's the CD, which in my opinion sounds like because the peak average of each track seems to be around -8db.
PVD's policits of dancing is a bit "hotter", but nothing like top 10 commercial CD's like Avril which have the absoloute compressed out of them and have a peak average of around -0.5db:nervous:
But come on, if this is how CD's sound, "dull and ruined" then maybe us amature producers have a chance with our "dull and ruined" tracks :toothless |
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| Subtle |
| what tha hell? u ripped them straight off the CD in 192? omg i didnt notice i though it was in 96 kbps... I opened it in WaveLab, the wave was half as big as it is supposed to be.. that CD must really suck, cause that was LOW, in volume, and in quality.. |
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| Rob |
Ronk, your track is almost twice as loud as all the other tracks and is as hissy as hell. I had a go at trying to get it close to the references and updated the MP3. Still a bit off but check it out and tell me what you think.
And whether it sounds is debateable considering it's off a commerical CD, a well selling one at that. |
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| ronk |
I understand what you did, but I thought the whole mastering idea is to get your track as clean and as close to 0 db as possible (correct me if I'm wrong :)), and that's why my track was so loud (somewhere between -0.4 to -0.1)
btw why did you lowered the high freqs so much? :conf: that's why it sounds like a 96 kbps mp3. |
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| Rob |
Well if all the other tracks are clean and close to 0db, then yes, the goal of mastering is get them clean and close to 0db, but that isn't the case with the tracks on this CD:)
I lowered the high frequences that much because that's the frequency fall off and tonal balance(roughly) the other tracks had, and the majority of commerical CD's have.
I'm relistening to what I did to your track, and okay, still a bit off compared to the other tracks. Will fix. |
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| DigiNut |
No offense, but I think you're missing the point.
Electronic music is mixed and mastered in order to be played on club PAs. It's ideal for it to be fairly loud, but since it's going to be played on a 50,000 watt sound system, it's more important for it to have clarity as well as soft spots (so people can rest their legs and the DJ doesn't go deaf).
Pop music is expected to played on the radio, and mastered accordingly. It's a well-known fact that the loudest radio stations tend to draw the most attention and get people to listen. That's why the stations themselves use heavy-duty compressors - so they can squeeze every dBm of volume out of their broadcast signal, and when listeners are channel surfing, their station will stand out above the others.
In the world of radio, louder is better. Dance music and electronic music in particular is an entirely different beast. The mastering process must be customized for both the genre and the destination material. Classical and orchestral music will have hardly any compression at all, because the dynamics are the most important thing in the whole recording. And a lot of heavy metal music, despite what people may instinctively assume, tends to have much more moderate compression and levelling than standard rock music.
Maybe it would be better to have an actual open-ended discussion about mastering technique as opposed to starting out with preconceived notions about what is good or bad and proceeding to engage in mindless criticism.
Also, try to have a little more respect for the other producers on this forum - it's just plain tactless to say to someone that their track is "hissy as hell". There is such a thing as constructive criticism. |
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| Thois |
| quote: | Originally posted by DigiNut
"hissy as hell". There is such a thing as constructive criticism. |
I dont see whats wrong with that |
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| don_q |
I like Rob's idea (the thread topic), just a bit compliacted for my contribution :toothless But I have contributed to this topic on other places. You'd be amazed what you'll find if you keep looking; at other stuff also
Allen, surf the net for (help on)your answers. You have much to learn, if you're interested..
I aslo agree with diginut and w'ld like to tack part in that discussion; could be on the sticky I guess? |
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