Gearslutz.com - View Single Post

Jules · 9th March 2003

THING ABOUT RECORDING FLAT with no EQ IS THAT AT SOME POINT (scuse caps) it becomes painfully obvious that your recording sounds like dull muffled mud compared with mastered commercially released CDs.

Do you...Press on regardless?

It's kind of hard to switch from say, the Chili Peppers during a lunch break to ones own "puddle of mud" when you start up again...

At mixdown I DO like to show bands how I've made their mixes stand up against the competitions CD's.

At the mix do you...

1) Strap an EQ across the mix buss at mixdown to bring the brightness up so you dont go round wasting valuable EQ bands by doing the same 'brightening job' on all individual channels.

2) (I like this one) Strap a TEMPORARY EQ across the mix buss FOR MONITOR ONLY to bring the brightness up so you dont go round wasting valuable EQ bands by doing the same 'brightening job' on all individual channels. HOWEVER, BYPASSING IT AS YOU PRINT THE MIX

3) mix in a 'world of mud' and 'take care' of it in mastering

I've already got mastering engineers to admit that a LOT of what they do is crank in HIGH QUALITY top end onto mixes. This is simply "the truth". Its a BIG part of the job..

THANKS TO YOU GUYS kicking off a patch bay daydream!!!

Here's how I am going to mix my next project (a sort of Buzzcocks/Ramones/Oasis hybrid)

Analog mix buss
Cranesong STC-8 / or SSL comp
Cranesong Hedd A/D - 96k 24 bit
Masterlink
TC Finalizer 96k - SRC to 44.1 16 bit - WITH (rough) MASTERING "SMILE CURVE" including - HF BOOST!
Cranesong Hedd D/A 44.1 16 bit - FOR MONITORING & A/B switching between commercial CD's (done via AES & SPDIF switching on Hedd)

Benefits:

1) I wont eq HF needlessly into all individual channels
2) I print a flat, 96k 24 bit master that presents an 'open road' for any mastering engineer
3) I can A/B to Commercially made CD's
4) the Finalizer EQ settings although never actually used on the master (god forbid, too metallic IMHO) might provide some sort of ballpark guide frequencies for any future 'junior' mastering I may do later with Sony GML EQ's within a PT mastering session.

Thanks a lot guys!

P.S. Oh, and as much as possible, I record flat, but am not afraid to boost or cut a little, but try to avoid it. So, 80% flat is an estimate. This is new for me, I used to EQ everything - a lot. This method isn't natural for me, I have adopted it cause I feel it's for "my own good". So far so good.

9th March 2003	#6
Jules Gearslutz.com admin Joined: Apr 2002 Location: A Yank in London, UK Posts: 17,806 1 Review written	THING ABOUT RECORDING FLAT with no EQ IS THAT AT SOME POINT (scuse caps) it becomes painfully obvious that your recording sounds like dull muffled mud compared with mastered commercially released CDs. Do you...Press on regardless? It's kind of hard to switch from say, the Chili Peppers during a lunch break to ones own "puddle of mud" when you start up again... At mixdown I DO like to show bands how I've made their mixes stand up against the competitions CD's. At the mix do you... 1) Strap an EQ across the mix buss at mixdown to bring the brightness up so you dont go round wasting valuable EQ bands by doing the same 'brightening job' on all individual channels. 2) (I like this one) Strap a TEMPORARY EQ across the mix buss FOR MONITOR ONLY to bring the brightness up so you dont go round wasting valuable EQ bands by doing the same 'brightening job' on all individual channels. HOWEVER, BYPASSING IT AS YOU PRINT THE MIX 3) mix in a 'world of mud' and 'take care' of it in mastering I've already got mastering engineers to admit that a LOT of what they do is crank in HIGH QUALITY top end onto mixes. This is simply "the truth". Its a BIG part of the job.. THANKS TO YOU GUYS kicking off a patch bay daydream!!! Here's how I am going to mix my next project (a sort of Buzzcocks/Ramones/Oasis hybrid) Analog mix buss Cranesong STC-8 / or SSL comp Cranesong Hedd A/D - 96k 24 bit Masterlink TC Finalizer 96k - SRC to 44.1 16 bit - WITH (rough) MASTERING "SMILE CURVE" including - HF BOOST! Cranesong Hedd D/A 44.1 16 bit - FOR MONITORING & A/B switching between commercial CD's (done via AES & SPDIF switching on Hedd) Benefits: 1) I wont eq HF needlessly into all individual channels 2) I print a flat, 96k 24 bit master that presents an 'open road' for any mastering engineer 3) I can A/B to Commercially made CD's 4) the Finalizer EQ settings although never actually used on the master (god forbid, too metallic IMHO) might provide some sort of ballpark guide frequencies for any future 'junior' mastering I may do later with Sony GML EQ's within a PT mastering session. Thanks a lot guys! P.S. Oh, and as much as possible, I record flat, but am not afraid to boost or cut a little, but try to avoid it. So, 80% flat is an estimate. This is new for me, I used to EQ everything - a lot. This method isn't natural for me, I have adopted it cause I feel it's for "my own good". So far so good. __________________ Jules Add your reviews to the new reviews area! Gearslutz on Facebook Follow my GS picks on Twitter