Antman261

No worries.

Back off on the compression of the kick drum. If it's not RMS detection then it's often best used on drums for shaping the attack, but not so much for gaining volume. If it is RMS compression, then turn it off, It's only going to ruin your kick drum sound and give it a bloated sort of feel. Unless it's really short and whimpy to start with. My advice however would be to listen to what's covering up those parts of the kick drum sound that you need to identify it rhythmically. If the high end crack of the kick is at 2.5k, then maybe cut that frequency a bit in the guitar and bass tracks. Also, I'd suggest not cutting 180hz too much unless it really does need it. That's a nice frequency that can translate well to lots of other speakers. There's nothing more annoying then a bass drum that doesn't have a good bit of body/bass until about 100hz. Also, maybe find another frequency a bit higher, it might be between 4k and 8k, where the attack of the bass drum really seems to stand out, and give that a bit of a boost. Oh, and don't be afraid to spend a lot of time automating the volume itself. Hope this helps.

Thanks dude

http://www.myspace.com/screaminglifeband The tracks I recorded for them most recently is Lucky and Crazy Animals.

Errrr. You dont need to record with two mic's to pan a track out of one speaker or another. A mono track can be panned. Down the centre means the same signal will be coming out of both speakers. To the right, just the right speaker, to the left just the left speaker. Most mic's record only one signal. They can only send something in mono unless they are specifically designed to be stereo microphones. You then build a stereo mix with these individual mono tracks.

Hey guys, www.myspace.com/facepollutionband Recorded, mixed, and 'mastered' by me. Was recorded for a local TV appearance. Band wanted it to have a bit of a live and raw vibe, which I think I captured, and I think for the most part it sounds ok. Although mic'ing the kick was a bit tough cause the drummer had set up a bass drum tunnel going from his 22" to his 16x16. If anyone has any suggestions it'd be very welcome.

setup a reverb effected delay on the other side (so it sounds as if it's at a distance) Could be fun. Pan it the opposite way to the side of the drummers riding? Chuck in some sort of second part? like a simple rhythm part or muted part, mix it in subtly on the other side? Maybe bass one side guitar on the other? (though consider the bass's relationship with the drums before doing this) I haven't heard the song so I can't say what choice I'd make, but there's a bunch of random ideas to try out.

Uh send it to a pro for mastering if you want radio stations to even consider playing it... And the whole art of mixing and mastering is sublime, sure your average mates who aren't that into sound probably wont notice it's not professionally mastered, but they might think less of the music! And I'm not quite sure what finalizer is, but it sounds like it might add compression to the stereo bus, which is a bad idea before sending to an ME. They'd have every right to slap you and send you home to take it off.

I can't believe you didn't realise booshy's account of cellists was taking the piss out of your interpretation of mastering engineers. Also, bigger text/TALKING IN CAPS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT JUST MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT YELLING. IT SHOWS YOU'RE GETTING WORKED UP please note, the above was done in irony.

Yeah I got that, just making sure thinkingthought didn't mistake that as one of those 'golden rules' we seem to search for kind of naively when we first start out (but quite understandably).

I hope so. If not, he sure is pushing the bounds of human idiocy! (Excuse the poor gramma, it's late here)

Sometimes a track that sounds full and rich by itself just sounds bottom-heavy and muffled in the mix, while a track that might sound thinner alone might cut through the mix and give you a clearer sound. Don't mistake that last couple of sentences in the previous post as saying 'Highs are always better then lows' because that's not the case either. Not criticizing the poster, just making sure it's not misinterpreted. Just having an idea of where abouts in the frequency spectrum you want a sound to end up (in relation to the other sounds) can be a really useful big-picture idea to have when setting up mics etc.

It does reduce the room, but to say it takes it completely out of the picture is a big presumptuous.

The thing about all these things that try to tell you WHERE to place something is that it usually neglects a whole bunch of variables. The room makes a huge difference to sound, the amp, the guitar, the mic, the context of the guitar in the mix, arrangement etc. Sometimes those sounds that weren't what you were looking for, and thus disregarded as bad, are exactly what you need.

YES!!! Place mic's with your ears not your eyes! You're not listening to music with your eyes so really it doesn't make sense.

Htaed, you sir, are a joke. We laugh at your angst and your arrogance. Please, keep posting!

Sounds like a deluded kid playing record producer.

The thing is also, that mastering is just better done by someone other then the person that mixed the project. Or atleast is the general idea. Plus the idea is that it requires different gear etc. I mean, you do see in the credits of albums 'Recorded mixed and mastered by x" but yeah... That said, I do "Master" projects that aren't going to be sent to a different ME by the band i'm working for (small scale stuff thus far). And usually it's dreadful software mastering. And I mean putting a bit of compression on the bus and some other effects (Nothing is set in stone). But the most important part is really that thing everyone forgets about when they talk about mastering. That's balancing the whole cd. The big picture. I don't know if other ME's do this, I imagine so, but also timing the tracks. But there's a lot more a professional does too, then just treating sound. Things I don't know about I think :S (cause I haven't bothered to find out, if a band was doing something that serious with me (as in radio serious) I'd do everything I could to convince them to send it to a ME) Btw, ME = mastering engineer. Just incase anyone read that post and thought I was really self centred

You can manipulate people to make them more pre-disposed to arrive on time. How you run your business etc.

managing people and their idiosyncrasies is an important part of the job.

Heres another one www.myspace.com/octopussmusic The first song is the only one that they uploaded that was actually the finished mix, so yeah. I actually recorded this quite a long time ago, but some feedback would still be cool. Again I had nothing to do with the music being played, I just recorded/mixed it.

Another one, Charging for my work. I mean, first of all i LOVE what I do to the point where I often just have too much fun with it to charge. Secondly I'm often working with people that can't afford to pay a reasonable amount for someone that just spent 60 hours working on their cd. Then there's the fact that it's hard to work out what to charge, but I know I should because it's also my experience that people wont take things seriously enough unless they've invested a bit of cash in it. It'll make 'em think twice about calling me up at 10pm the night before and saying they can't make it 'cause they double booked

mobo, set the threshold to somewhere it'll activate enough, then set the ratio to the max that unit'll allow. set your release low, like 0.1s or such, then set the attack first, it'll be what you hear in the attack of the notes that you'll be controlling, sweep it a bit, find what you like. Then set the release, look for a setting that seems to add something rhythmically. Now don't touch those 2 settings, and easy off on the ratio until things sound nice, the effect of playing with the attack and ratio will be reduced, but still there.

Judging wether or not I'm going to like working with the source sounds I'm getting once I get to mix down. Coaching the talent. Eminating confidence. Not screwing up the business side of things. I messed up big time with that one recently

Yeah I dig it, but if you can get a firestudio to work on your system, go for that. Unfortunately I can't checkout your stuff at the moment because my nets been playing up - goin real slow.