Mix / Mastering opinions

[studioland]

erased

[MASSIVE Master]

I'm not a fan of the mix, but the master is absolutely horrible IMO. I've rarely heard worse.

Unless something is wrong with my system this morning - I mean, that's really terrible.


Going back, I'm a much bigger fan of the mix than I thought I was... But that "mastered" version has got to go. If you'll excuse me, I think there's blood dripping from my ears... Seriously - Is this a joke or something? Get your money back...

If anyone wants the short version, load both files and just listen to the last 10 seconds of both. And turn your speakers down.

[MASSIVE Master]

Originally Posted by studioland

erased

Oops -

Seriously - I didn't mean to offend - I don't know if it was perhaps a 'glitch in the system' or what not. I try to find the positive in anything first - Just didn't find it there.

[MASSIVE Master]

Okay then... After a couple of "Aren't you being a little harsh on the guy? That's not like you..." messages, I feel the need to defend myself for some reason.

I'm not even sure it exported right. The mellow part at the end I referred to is sitting above -4dB(FS)RMS. The MELLOW part. It's not like it's "a little squished" or something. I've never heard something so distorted - At least, not on purpose. It makes Wolfmother sound incredibly quiet and dynamic by comparison.

So, I stand by my statement that it's one of the most horrifically distorted things I've ever heard. However - I am open to the possibility that it was some sort of error. Maybe the faders (all of them) accidentally got pushed all the way up. Maybe 3 copies of the same thing mixed together while rendering the file.

But as the original post has been deleted, I'm awaiting a response from the O.P. on that.

[cooker]

Originally Posted by MASSIVE Master

Okay then... After a couple of "Aren't you being a little harsh on the guy? That's not like you..." messages, I feel the need to defend myself for some reason.

I'm not even sure it exported right. The mellow part at the end I referred to is sitting above -4dB(FS)RMS. The MELLOW part. It's not like it's "a little squished" or something. I've never heard something so distorted - At least, not on purpose. It makes Wolfmother sound incredibly quiet and dynamic by comparison.

So, I stand by my statement that it's one of the most horrifically distorted things I've ever heard. However - I am open to the possibility that it was some sort of error. Maybe the faders (all of them) accidentally got pushed all the way up. Maybe 3 copies of the same thing mixed together while rendering the file.

But as the original post has been deleted, I'm awaiting a response from the O.P. on that.

I downloaded the mix/master few hours ago from a different thread. Didn't have much time so just wrote a short advise. I totally agree with you, mix seems like to be done by a hobbyist or new engineer and the master had huge (actually HUGE) distortion.

[Mr.HOLMES]

Originally Posted by cooker

I downloaded the mix/master few hours ago from a different thread. Didn't have much time so just wrote a short advise. I totally agree with you, mix seems like to be done by a hobbyist or new engineer and the master had huge (actually HUGE) distortion.

I think we do not have to judge beginners so hard.
It is demotivating them.....

An explanation what went wrong would maybe bring up the mix forward and the original poster could learn something....this is for me staying positive....

[Franco]

Too late for me to listen to both the mix and the master, but I get clients who send me work for mastering (many times after they've tried to "master" the tracks themselves) and the first thing I'll tell them is:

What did you put on the master track as far as effects?

If I have the mix (before the "mastering" processes have been applied) I can get an idea as to what they did; remove the bus compressor, remove the limiters, etc.

A detailed analysis such as this one helps them out in the end.

I don't think I've ever told anyone my ears were bleeding. Some people apply these sort of processes to their music with nothing but good intentions and reach out when they feel they've hit the ceiling (pun intended); they're not out to hurt any mastering services' business or their feelings, in trying.

[MASSIVE Master]

I'm not even understanding whether this was a "DIY" thing or not - It didn't mention in the original post.

[Thomas W. Bethe]

I don't think a lot of artist can hear distortion, limiting or screwed frequency response. They seem to think it is "part of the music" They have worked so hard on the writing, the performing, the recording and the mixing that they can no longer be objective. It is something that they have created and they can't hear all the problems with it.

This why it is a BAD idea to try and do everything yourself. You are the final arbitrator and critic, you are also the writer, the performer, the recording engineer and the mix engineer. Instead of being objective you let the music you are working on become the standard by which you judge your music. This is a flawed line of reasoning. You should be judging your material against a standard that is really well done and something that is truly the best.

I see it all the time in materials that the clients bring me. The ideas are good, the playing is ok, the recording leaves much to be desired and the mix is terrible and they cannot hear the problems. They tell me what equipment they have and much of it is top shelf but they have a) either not learned how to use it or b) don't really know how to use it to get the results they are trying to get.

If you want to do good recording start with the basics and as you progress and learn you will soon be able to do a better job. You have to be able to hear what it is that is right and wrong with your recording and if you cannot then you should seek out someone with more experience to guide you along.

I see way too many people plunk down thousands of dollars at places like GC or Sam Ask, take that mishmash of equipment home and try to put out a CD in a weekend. It ain't going to happen. Like anything else in life it takes time to master the equipment and the technique and if you have nary a clue how to do it and don't even crack open the manuals it will be a disaster.

FWIW and YMMV.

[Mr.HOLMES]

Thomas,

you are right I let my own stuff always mix by a friend.
But waht is intresting after he mixed it and maybe two years are gone sometimes I get an Idea to remix it....
Ina way which I like more...but first I have to listen to his mix....for a while and let things flow in my head

Intresting thing....

[MASSIVE Master]

Originally Posted by Mr.HOLMES

I think we do not have to judge beginners so hard.
It is demotivating them.....

An explanation what went wrong would maybe bring up the mix forward and the original poster could learn something....this is for me staying positive....

That's why we're (or at the very least, "I'm") wondering if something just went wrong somewhere -- I'm not necessarily being harsh on the O.P. - I'm being harsh on the track.

I can't see the logic in making a decent mix (I mentioned I "wasn't a fan" of it, but it wasn't a bad mix) and then wreck it. And again, it wasn't like it was "too loud" and overly distorted (as many commercial recordings currently are) - It was completely and utterly annihilated to the point where I thought it was either (A) a little "volume war joke" or (B) some sort of technical error.

This isn't one of those where the original poster can come back and go "Gee, I really didn't notice that it was so distorted" as with some that are "somewhat fatiguing" -- This is "Hiwatt overdrive" distorted. The more I think about it, I really have to think that it was a technical flub that was posted in error.