Looking for rock/metal mastering sample

[Tommi Inkila]

Hello,

Encouraged by the other topic by Xaque, we are looking for the right ME to handle the mastering online for 3 songs (approx 11min 20s).

EDIT: At this moment it seems that we have to go back to the drawing board with the mixes and probably not go for a mastering yet... sorry for the inconveniences. We are leaving the file here for a while if you want to practise or give us a reference for the future. We will give feedback to all who've send us a sample. Once again, sorry for this mess.

--- file removed ---

Here are the guidelines for those 1.5 minutes that the clip lasts:
- all the usual stuff: big, powerful, tight and balanced :)
- no drastic eq changes, ie. converting this to middy radio-stuff
- volume: well, on the louder-side... I personally think that PRMS -6dB (50ms window) is about the max for the loudest parts
- reference for my mixing was Dream Theater's Train of Thought album
- please, don't lose the grind on guitars or the bass

It would be great to name the file with your name on it, if we happen to get many answers... and what is your fee and payment options (VISA, PayPal, IBAN bank transfer) etc..

If you have any comments regarding the mix even if you don't do mastering sample, please feel free to do so.

Thanks for listening :)

MASTERS (with permission to publish):

http://www.raveltree.com/testmasters...ering2loud.wav - Tubefreak

[Tubefreak]

you've got a PM.

[Tommi Inkila]

Originally Posted by Tubefreak

you've got a PM.

Mailed.

[Born To Rock]

we ran yr "RTC" sample track through ROCKSTER.

the attached file rtc_ROCKSTER_PH0-.mp3 is made to correspond to yr specifications, using ROCKSTER's "Paris" preset.

the file rtc_ROCKSTER_HH0-.mp3 is our idea of how this track should be mastered -- it drops the band into an arena, using the "Hong Kong" preset, to give a live concert feel. as a result there may not be as much precision in the guitar grind -- but the vocals are enhanced and overall it sounds like what you really hear at a performance.

naturally, both these files are mp3 format due to the upload limit on the forum.

maybe we overdid it, but we wanted to make the changes easy to hear. if you want to be more (or less) subtle, you can make your own further tests using your original wav file and the free trial mode of ROCKSTER:

http://www.BornToRock.com/rockster.htm

dither your file down to 16 bit first, as ROCKSTER processes 8 or 16 bit stereo or mono wav format.

let us know what you think. we look forward to hearing from you.

regards,
rob
www.BornToRock.com
800-496-ROCK

[Tommi Inkila]

Originally Posted by Born To Rock

we ran yr "RTC" sample track through ROCKSTER.

the attached file rtc_ROCKSTER_PH0-.mp3 is made to correspond to yr specifications, using ROCKSTER's "Paris" preset.

the file rtc_ROCKSTER_HH0-.mp3 is our idea of how this track should be mastered -- it drops the band into an arena, using the "Hong Kong" preset, to give a live concert feel. as a result there may not be as much precision in the guitar grind -- but the vocals are enhanced and overall it sounds like what you really hear at a performance.

naturally, both these files are mp3 format due to the upload limit on the forum.

maybe we overdid it, but we wanted to make the changes easy to hear. if you want to be more (or less) subtle, you can make your own further tests using your original wav file and the free trial mode of ROCKSTER:

http://www.BornToRock.com/rockster.htm

dither your file down to 16 bit first, as ROCKSTER processes 8 or 16 bit stereo or mono wav format.

let us know what you think. we look forward to hearing from you.

regards,
rob
www.BornToRock.com
800-496-ROCK

Hi,

Yes, it's a bit overdone... especially the one with reverb. The other one would need some some tightening and brightening up.

[Born To Rock]

well, we should get some credit for performing in public without a safety net. yes, brightness was lost in going from 24 bit to 16 bit, which was done simply by rendering in ACID PRO 4, which is not much of a dithering program. then later, going from wav to mp3, lost more highs.

the ample arena reverb of our preferred HONG KONG preset is not tight by any description. so ROCKSTER does provide a number of other choices since musical tastes vary.

once one learns how ROCKSTER works, the input mixes can be adjusted to taste. but in this case, we intentionally did not apply any adjustment, any EQ or other third-party effects, we just used ROCKSTER straight out of the can on the dry file. it took about 5 minutes. the aim of ROCKSTER is to do a reasonable job at an affordable price so you can post on MYSPACE or the like, even if you don't have years of mastering experience and a boatload of vintage gear.

readers of this thread might like to try their own hands at using the ROCKSTER free trial software to master 15 seconds of this track to their own liking; we would be interested to hear what they come up with. also, if someone has a nice clean 24 to 16 bit converter, maybe they could post a good 16 bit version of the dry file, since ROCKSTER takes 8 or 16 bit stereo or mono wav file as its input (maybe sometime later we will make a ROCKSTER PRO version that handles 24 bit).

regards,
rob
www.BornToRock.com
800-496-ROCK

[Tommi Inkila]

I give you that credit... some people won't like this "shameless self-promotion", but hey I do it almost everytime with my band :)

For what Rockster is, it did nice job and the market your aiming to is very realistic.

Keep it going.

[aivoryuk]

Originally Posted by Tommi Inkila

Hi,

Yes, it's a bit overdone... especially the one with reverb. The other one would need some some tightening and brightening up.

Hi Tommi, What have been your impressions of the ones that you have received assuming that you have received a few???

Is it what you have expecting from mastering??

[lucey]

As far as the mix, the snare drum sound is painful, the low end is a mess, the vocal is very wet. And the center channel is lacking defintion. Plus ... it's not the style of music that has a home at real at -6 is it? I just dont get it, why not -9 as a max? That's very loud and still has a chance for this mix.

[Tommi Inkila]

Hi,

There hasn't been a homerun with masters yet... we are analyzing what to do... should we go back to drawing board with the mix or not. The songs are going to be for promotion purposes.

In any case, we'll give feedback to everybody who has been given us a sample.

Thanks and sorry for possible inconveniences.

[Tommi Inkila]

Originally Posted by lucey

As far as the mix, the snare drum sound is painful, the low end is a mess, the vocal is very wet. And the center channel is lacking defintion. Plus ... it's not the style of music that has a home at real at -6 is it? I just dont get it, why not -9 as a max? That's very loud and still has a chance for this mix.

Okay, I can understand that the snare has some "personality". Other things are creative decisions :)

I was talking about PRMS -6 which most of this genres albums hit today, not average RMS.

[Tubefreak]

Originally Posted by Tommi Inkila

Hi,

There hasn't been a homerun with masters yet... we are analyzing what to do... should we go back to drawing board with the mix or not. The songs are going to be for promotion purposes.

In any case, we'll give feedback to everybody who has been given us a sample.

Thanks and sorry for possible inconveniences.

I wouldn't mind if you post my mastered version. It would be nice if the others would agree to post their versions too. We could evaluate them and see how several people approached this song.

Maarten

[Tommi Inkila]

Originally Posted by Tubefreak

I wouldn't mind if you post my mastered version. It would be nice if the others would agree to post their versions too. We could evaluate them and see how several people approached this song.

Maarten

Okay, I can maintain this for a while on my server. I'll give you my feedback on PM.

[aivoryuk]

[quote=Tommi Inkila;1162843]Hi,

There hasn't been a homerun with masters yet... we are analyzing what to do... should we go back to drawing board with the mix or not. The songs are going to be for promotion purposes.

quote]

Hi Tommi

So where do you feel that the masters submitted are not hitting the home run???

[J-Man]

Hello Tommi,

Here's my submission: Rtc-Master.mp3

I felt that the snare sounded just a bit thin for this kind of music, but I tried to find a good balance. I also might have shaved of a bit too much bass in search of loudness.

Any comments appreciated.

[Tubefreak]

For those who want to know. I made two versions: 1. normal and 2. extra loud.

The normal version (15 MB) can be downloaded for the coming 7 days through this link:
http://download.yousendit.com/FBA4A6BA721E4652

Comments are welkom.
Maarten

[Tommi Inkila]

[quote=aivoryuk;1163791]

Originally Posted by Tommi Inkila

Hi,

There hasn't been a homerun with masters yet... we are analyzing what to do... should we go back to drawing board with the mix or not. The songs are going to be for promotion purposes.

quote]

Hi Tommi

So where do you feel that the masters submitted are not hitting the home run???

well, the mix didn't survive the mastering so to speak... that's probably more the fault of my mixing. Either some of the soundscape or especially the snare was crushed in the masters.

[aivoryuk]

for what its worth here is the link for the sample that i did for Tommi

http://download.yousendit.com/4A8E5EB45AD4082F

make of it what you will

[Tommi Inkila]

Hi,

Many of you have commented about the phase issues in the song. The cause for this is probably the panning (that is panning also) synth pattern that's present during most of the song. To us, it's big part of the overall spirit of the song... but we'll see if we decide change that... this ain't aimed for mono speakers

[Riccardo]

[quote=aivoryuk;1163791]

Originally Posted by Tommi Inkila

Hi,

There hasn't been a homerun with masters yet... we are analyzing what to do... should we go back to drawing board with the mix or not. The songs are going to be for promotion purposes.

quote]

Hi Tommi

So where do you feel that the masters submitted are not hitting the home run???

If the songs are for promotion purposes maybe it is worth going back to the mix, it is your music after all and that's important!

I had a quick listen today in a 5 mins break between projects and I would humbly suggest looking at the very sharp/ear piercing GTRS as well as the other issues already mentioned by others.

[dimitvel]

Hi, Tommi Inkila!
I did something, hope you like it!

The original:
http://www.raveltree.com/rtc_master_me.wav

And my version:
http://hi-mastering.com/Samples/rtc_...tering.com.wav

My reference was Dream Theater's "Train of Thought".

If you want to know something else about my work, please send a mail to office@hi-mastering.com



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http://hi-mastering.com >>> Online Audio Studio

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[yareck]

square wave by mastering cafe

http://www.masteringcafe.com/temp/sq...ering_cafe.wav

cheers

[Thomas Korge]

Hi Tommi!
Here you can listen to our version of your Song:

http://magicmasters.de/audios/test/r...ic_Masters.wav

To give you some feedback on your mix:

To my taste, the area around 2.1K is a bit oversaturated. Also I found a slight problem caused by oversaturation at around 90Hz.
To solve all this and to bring up the vocs a bit, which are to my taste at the lower limit, I added some presence at around 1K and some warmth at around 230Hz.
This also helped the Gits...

Basically I made the song sound like I would like to listen to it

Regards

Thomas Korge

[Tommi Inkila]

Hey,

Thanks guys... I was a bit surprised that the topic is still kicking... thanks for the future references :)

Thomas Korge: Nice and balanced with the volume we asked. Thanks.

Mastering Cafe: This was truly square wave... 3dB's quieter was about what we ordered. EQ was okay.

Hi-Mastering: The low-end is too heavy and would boom on easily on cheaper systems... on my phones and monitors it sounds nice.