KVR Audio

SynDrone · Post by **SynDrone** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:36 pm

sorry about that dburgen, had a few maintanance issues I had to take care of. It's up and running now.

bduffy · Post by **bduffy** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:36 pm

EDIT: Never mind!

dburgan · Post by **dburgan** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:57 pm

SynDrone wrote:sorry about that dburgen, had a few maintanance issues I had to take care of. It's up and running now.

No worries mon, they're uploading now. Give em about 20 minutes to finish before y'all grab them ...

kilroy · Post by **kilroy** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 4:26 pm

bduffy wrote:Kilroy! This is sweet! Woo! Great job!!! You've really got a clean middle and highs on this one. Shit, fantastic. I need to check on some other speakers when I get a chance, but this is awesome.

Sounds OK then...?

I thought you wanted something by Monday next, so I gave it a go after a pretty late one...normally a very bad idea. Have not had a listen to it since...I'm sort of in overload mode here for a bit. Might get a chance this evening...

Nice tune, by the by...Floydish in scope and execution.

Kingston · Post by **Kingston** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 4:43 pm

Holy sh*t sherlock! I mean kilroy. You did it again. What a GREAT rescue job you did there. The master is quite awesome really.

You'll have more (reasonably well paid) work when my album needs that same touch.

pinga · Post by **pinga** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 4:50 pm

Kingston wrote:Holy sh*t sherlock! I mean kilroy. You did it again. What a GREAT rescue job you did there. The master is quite awesome really.

You'll have more (reasonably well paid) work when my album needs that same touch.

Kilroy is super.

Kingston · Post by **Kingston** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 4:56 pm

Bduffy,

One thing that strikes me as a problem with the mix, are the S:sses of the singer. It's a problem with the mic/preamp combo I guess, and they could've been better. The song itself, instrumentation and general mixdown quality are otherwise great (now that kilroy revealed it in its full glory).

I don't know wether it's still possible, but I'd recommend re-recording the vocals with better gear (renting high-end stuff is reasonably cheap).

But it's pretty damn good already.

bduffy · Post by **bduffy** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 6:08 pm

Kingston wrote:Bduffy,

One thing that strikes me as a problem with the mix, are the S:sses of the singer. It's a problem with the mic/preamp combo I guess, and they could've been better. The song itself, instrumentation and general mixdown quality are otherwise great (now that kilroy revealed it in its full glory).

I don't know wether it's still possible, but I'd recommend re-recording the vocals with better gear (renting high-end stuff is reasonably cheap).

But it's pretty damn good already.

Hey Kingston, I don't know why I'm not getting email notificatoins, I didn't notice there was chatter here, sorry guys!

I fully agree, I've had a tough time with some of these vocals; I believe these were recorded at the singer's homemade booth setup, which was a Studio Projects C-1 going into a Mackie mixer. The booth was untreated, as I recall, so I'm sure there's some weird ambience issues, plus the C-1 is known for a high-boost.

Now, on top of that, I just recalled that we sped this song up; it was way too slow before, so we decided to bump it up a few bpm. The singer has been time-stretched, fellas (did I confess already?), so I think that's where some of the impossible distortion has been coming from. Thanks to you guys, I have determined that:

There is still too much sibilance on the voice
the voice is distorted
the hi-hats are too sibilant
the song is rather relentless in its arrangement
there are probably a couple things I could do to make it even better
this is not the final mix of the song

This is great; it's been an incredibly revealing learning experience so far; I remember when I used to be in a band, we made three albums, and I slaved over the mixing, I was there in the studio every day, watching the process, making sure my parts were there, etc. Then when we were done, it was sent off into the ether for mastering, I just went off and did other things and within a month or so, the CD (or cassette

) was in my hands. But now I get to experience firsthand what's involved. The singer and I were marvelling last night at the mastering process, and how different the results can be.

And you guys are just amazing with the masters. Wow. Like Kingston said, I'm hearing elements I thought were lost. It's so cool that there is a place where you can do this!

Now, because I think I have to revisit the mix (I got a chance to upgrade the orchestra samples even), I guess this ain't the final mix. Does that nullify the contest? I can still call a winner by next Monday; I still need to get masters from ToTc and Pinga, very curious to hear those. I think SynDrone has closed his ftp, so you have to post your own, or let me know and I can provide space. It's a tough call, that's for sure; I like something about everyone's latest masters (I know you're watching in the wings for a hint as to whom I like best, Pinga!

)

So yeah, let's definitely cut it off by Monday, and I'm going to take all this information and come back with the best freakin' tune ever! Kingston, glad you like the song, means a lot coming from you. I need to tap you for M/S advice one of these days...I just don't get it, but I like that freaky stereo sound...but I digress.

Kingston · Post by **Kingston** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 6:23 pm

funny with you being so harsh (pun intended) with the song. I would've "radio ready" ok'd it already, apart from the harshness in vocals, and even that is not a total disaster.

timescretching on main vox though...

whoops.

pinga · Post by **pinga** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 4:09 am

B

If your going to remix at all then lets post pone this until its done.

But thats a huge task.

Even 1 adjustment alters everything and sometimes you feel as though you might as well remix from scratch. But if this is the case you have to make damn sure you push out a song that rivals this one, and even better it.

This song, at the moment is awesome.

If i was you id think about taking the time shift processing off, as that is the biggest killer of quality.

kilroy · Post by **kilroy** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:30 am

Right bduffy...I had a fresh listen to my mastering, just now. I think it is probably reasonable enough. Nevertheless I went back in and adjusted the behavior of the compressor a wee bit...it is quite subtle, just a little slower attack and a slightly longer release. In all other respects things remain the same, and quite possibly the new compressor settings will go unnoticed on some monitoring systems...just the same, I feel better for having done it.

http://www.headroomproductions.com/Mast ... aster2.wav

I had a good chuckle over the time stretched vocals. What is funny is that couldn't really figure out what was up with the vocals. The "distortion" did not really sound like preamp overloading to me, nor did it sound like microphone distortion exactly...now I know why.

kilroy · Post by **kilroy** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:35 am

Kingston and Pinga...cheers mates.

Mastering Contest: The Sequel!!!