Members I was The Funk Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 So I've been working on a record on and off for several years now. Its really, really close. But I was playing it on my home stereo and I thought, "it sounds a little dull". Played it in my car and had the same reaction. Then I turned the treble up a bunch on the car stereo and it sounds PERFECT. Mix is balanced, nothing is shrieky, excitement is there. So the question is: Should I wait for mastering to address the overall eq? Should I strap an EQ across my master fader (I generally avoid doing this). Should I go into every track and up the treble a but and risk losing my lovely balance? What would you do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 That sounds like a mastering thing to me. So long as there isnt any noise associated when boosting the trebble it will be a minor mastering tweak. The cause of it may be the monitors or the room mixing but if the issues only requires a boost then leave it. You can plug your stereo into the computer through an aux in if it has it and then add that presence to the mix if you want. I use several sets of monitors including a HiFi, Computer, PA and triaxial Car speakers in boxes to check the mix. It often identifies bass and trebble issues that can be fixed before mixdown. Mastering usually consists of EQ, Multiband then Brickwall limiting to get it to commercial level. If you can fix it in the mix, you can skip the EQ and multiband. You should always use a brickwall. You dont want overs that can cause CD burn problems. Multiband fixes bass dynamics mostly, EQ is usually enhancement and hype. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I was The Funk Posted February 17, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 Yeah theres no hiss or anything. I think we're really talking about a 3db rise on a couple songs. I just like to have things sounding "perfect" before they go to the mastering guy. I know he'll have a nicer eq than me. I just want to make sure it has the "excitement" that I'm seeking going in so the product I get back will be what I'm looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 You shouldnt have any problem then. That should be a mastering engineers specialty getting them eqed to sound even track to track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 You can point this out to the mastering engineer if you would like. I always feel better when I do this. I mean, the ME would probably do this anyway, but they're also not mind readers. Anyway, sounds like it's a relatively easy "fix". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kurfu Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 ... I just like to have things sounding "perfect" before they go to the mastering guy. ... I'm pretty sure that your "mastering guy" will thank you profusely for *not* putting anything (EQ, comp, BBE Sonic {censored}alyzer, etc...) across the 2-bus when you do your final mix... Let him do his job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I was The Funk Posted February 17, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 I know. I usually avoid doing anything to the master bus. The only thing that I can think to do is tone down the EQ on a whistle thats in the song so the whole thing can be made brighter without making the whistle too harsh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kurfu Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 I know. I usually avoid doing anything to the master bus. The only thing that I can think to do is tone down the EQ on a whistle thats in the song so the whole thing can be made brighter without making the whistle too harsh. A whistle? Are you doing Disco?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I was The Funk Posted February 17, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 No, not disco. The song is about all of us turning into robots. The whistle is sort of like the second verse. Its the same melody as the vocals for the first verse, but its supposed to represent lonelyness. Its also has a flanger on it. Makes more sense when you hear it. But we are sort of after a 70's ish sound. So its not punchy-compressed like things today. No scooped guitars. Vintage bass sounds. Non-master volume tube amps. Fairly natural sounds overall except for the robot voices. Nuetral to dark mics for most things. The drums went through pres with big iron transformers in them. Overall, we may have gone a little dark tracking, which is why its a little dark in the mix. The balance is nice. Just needs a little high-end excitment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kurfu Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 No, not disco. The song is about all of us turning into robots. :cop::cop: (sorry, couldn't help myself) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kurfu Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 ...but back to your question... the key to mixing is *balancing* everything... if the whistle is too bright relative to the rest of the mix, make it darker, make it fit... and then let the ME worry about the overall sound of the finished mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I was The Funk Posted February 17, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 :cop: :cop: (sorry, couldn't help myself) LOL!!!!!!! But if like, Pink Floyd did it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nerol1st Posted February 18, 2010 Members Share Posted February 18, 2010 You know what's interesting is I asked this question in another forum with quite a few guys and some of the answers surprised me. There were quite a few guys (with mixes that I liked) who stated that they "carve the hell out of the 2 bus." For me, I dunno I just can't bring myself to do it. I always try to brighten something up to get it there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted February 18, 2010 Members Share Posted February 18, 2010 Me too Nerol. You eq it too much an wierd things start happening. I can say with the tools I use to master, plugins like waves multiband will brighten the music most of the time. In fact if you run it right its supposed to. Its not so much the trebble is kicked up but the other frequencies are tamed/limited and that makes the entire somg brighter. Once you know what the end results of a mastering chain are you can target mixing so the mastering tools will have the best results. When I first started mixing digital I was always trying to get a hyped master sound mixing and killing myself trying to get it there. Once I learned how to master and what the results range was for optimum sound quality based on the mix, my mixing skills changes alot. All that compression and eq hyping went away. I find the more realistic and flat and dynamic you can keep the mix the better the mastering tools work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DontLetMeDrown Posted February 19, 2010 Members Share Posted February 19, 2010 There were quite a few guys (with mixes that I liked) who stated that they "carve the hell out of the 2 bus." For me, I dunno I just can't bring myself to do it. I always try to brighten something up to get it there. I've heard the same thing. Apparently that is what a handful of mastering engineers to do achieve more loudness. I've been trying it, but in my case it's like an infant trying to fly a plane. It's easy to do more damage than good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted February 19, 2010 Members Share Posted February 19, 2010 You know what's interesting is I asked this question in another forum with quite a few guys and some of the answers surprised me.There were quite a few guys (with mixes that I liked) who stated that they "carve the hell out of the 2 bus."For me, I dunno I just can't bring myself to do it. I always try to brighten something up to get it there. So just to clarify, when they are carving the hell out of the 2-buss, this is during a mix, and presumably, they are carving what in terms of EQ? I just wanna make sure I understand how they are responding here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chris carter Posted February 19, 2010 Members Share Posted February 19, 2010 The only EQ I have on the 2buss is a HPF around 30Hz (most of the time). Otherwise, it RARELY gets used. But on those rare occasions where I do feel like the whole mix needs something, I have absolutely no problem whatsoever EQing the 2buss. That said, 3dB is a FREAKIN' LOT! I would suggest, if it's that much, then there is an underlying problem and you should revisit the tracks. But since you've been working on this for several (!) years, it's nto a big deal to add some insurance. I would: a) print the mixes as is as version A.b) Strap an EQ on the 2buss and EQ it to where it sounds good. Call this version Bc) After doing a and b, revisit the mix and fix it at the track level. Call this version C My overriding mission with mixing is to make it perfect. The mastering engineer shouldn't need to do anything other than making it louder as far as I'm concerned. I think it's a little foolhardy to know you are lacking major treble and assume it will get fixed in mastering. At minimum I'd have the EQd version just so that 1) you know what it will sound like and 2) so that the mastering engineer knows how much high end you want them to burn on there. What I would NOT do is stop where you are and then just roll on into mastering with what you've got. As an aside, it really bugs me when I'm on forums and continually hear people say stuff like "you leave that for the mastering engineer to fix" and stuff. Now you don't want to master your songs yourself, but a mix should sound great before it goes to mastering. A great mix with great mastering will always sound great. But a medeocre mix with great mastering will only be able to sound good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I was The Funk Posted February 19, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 19, 2010 Yeah, Chris, Thats pretty much what I'm thinking. The issue for me is that the balance really is there, so I'm afraid of messing with that. I think it might be helpful to post the song in question. I'll do that tonight when I get home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spleencage Posted March 6, 2010 Members Share Posted March 6, 2010 First and foremost, tune your control room. You wont know anything until you do that first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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