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some levels are off
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| jetflag |
i recently finnished a track & got sum comment considering the mastering. normally spoken my track clips a lot so this time i tried to avoid that problem..after sending it in the a & r man said to me that the clips problem was solved ,but some levels are off
"some levels are off":eek:
^what does he mean by that? i listened to the track & i cant figure out what he means by that exactly
i was wondering if any of u guys explain to me what the therm means?
i would really appriciate the help
forward thanx
jetflag:) |
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| Storyteller |
your mix probably isn't balanced well enough.
Interfering frequencies (due to poor eq-ing), no sub roll-off (bad eq-ing again), clashes, cancellation, standing waves. EQ EQ EQ.
Levels are off is mostly volume based I guess. This means you should carefully listen if you lead isn't to loud compared to your beats. Do this for each element until you've obtained a proper mix which sounds well balanced. |
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| Atlantis-AR |
| Yep, turn the volume down and listen at around conversation level, perhaps even lower at times. Particularly take note of the level of the cymbals, which might start to sound too dominating after a while, in which case they need to come down. Also, if you notice an instrument is overpowering the mix where it shouldn't, turn it down. You should be able to hear everything with more or less equal priority, with maybe a focus on the lead, for instance. It's really important you do this with the volume at a low to average level. If you can hear everything equally and clearly at a low level, the mix will most certainly translate well at a higher level. |
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| armanivespucci |
| You might need better monitors. Consider upgrading- and if you have good monitors, consider getting acoustic treatment for your room. |
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| Rob |
Best way to get your levels right is to A/B comparison your tracks against pro tracks. Listen to a pro track for around 30 seconds, then compare it to yours. You really should be able to then instantly spot if your track has:
Too much bass
Not enough bass
Too much midrange
Not enough midrange
Percussion's too thin
Percussion's too dominant
Percussion's too hissy
Percussion's too resonant
Kick's too bassy
Kick's too snappy
Kick's too dominant
Kick's too quiet
Clap's too....
etc etc
OR, you could just post a sample of your track.:) |
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| jetflag |
thanx for the advices every1.. i'll post a sample of the track tonight.
i also took your advice on the monitors & ordered a pair of m-audio studiophile dx4 boxes
much thanx
jetflag |
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| Storyteller |
| quote: | Originally posted by jetflag
thanx for the advices every1.. i'll post a sample of the track tonight.
i also took your advice on the monitors & ordered a pair of m-audio studiophile dx4 boxes
much thanx
jetflag |
OMFG
good advice, yea I'll spend a few 100$ on new gear right away... damn I wish I could do that. I'd be back in debt again tomorrow, But damn will i feel happy.
lol |
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| jetflag |
Rotmfflmmfao :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha:
I was already thinking of getting sum monitors before i posted this treath & i've been saving money for it for like 3 months LOL:haha: |
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| Fundamental |
Some levels are off.
:p |
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| jetflag |
| :eyes: ur kidding?:toothless |
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| Atlantis-AR |
How did I know this was going to happen. :rolleyes:
Mastering a track puts it in its finished state, and any final mix imbalances should've been taken care of already. If you want advice on the volume balancing of the mix, I (and this really goes for anyone, if only they were aware of it) need to hear the mix in its unprocessed form, without any master effects and the maximum peak level at 3 dB below clipping.
A quick mastering suggestion though, is that you need to roll the high top-end off with a lowpass filter. Observe the track with an analyser, and you'll notice a very unnatural spike at ~22 kHz, with the frequencies above ~17 kHz being too high also. Likewise, you need to highpass any offending instruments during mixing to lower the sub range to reduce rumble and make room for the higher frequencies, or otherwise lowshelf them down during mastering. Your midrange clearly needs some shaping too, but it's hard to suggest exactly what to do without having heard the mix. I could say that ~800 Hz needs to come down, and ~3 kHz up, for instance, but these things shouldn't really be of concern to you. You need to properly handle these things in the mix by choosing the right instruments and balancing them well, using the occasional bit of EQ to shape them and push them into the right frequency ranges. |
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