Need help mastering a rock band

[McQ714]

My cousin has asked me (an amateur computer musician) to master his band's tracks because they've been asked to play at GC's Battle of the Bands and they need to provide 3 demos. Everything they've done up until now is pretty much from their garage which isn't so bad IMHO. So I've taken their tracks and added a little something to most of them including doubling up some of the guitar tracks to sound a bit more stereo than mono. What is your take on how to handle guitar tracks, both lead guitars and bass? I like the bass to be front and center and leads to be wider and given that they have two guitarists, we've panned them out in different directions. How well does this translate to a normal stereo system or to the headphones of an iPod??? The other issue I'm running into is that the drums were recorded all in the same track. They didn't have a way to record each mic and the cymbals are way too bright. How would I bring down the highs a little but not lose the punch of the snare. I've tried the whole EQ thing. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.. that is the one thing I am really not happy with in the mix.

[ultra]

did you try parametric eq on the drums? it's pretty hard to make them sound good once they're all on one track, but i would think that eq8 is your best bet. i'm not sure how far you'd want to go with this, but for a demo, you could re-record each individual drum sound and replace the existing drums with a sequence of the individual samples. you'd have a lot more control over the sound. you'd want multiple samples of each drum, slightly different, and interchanged throughout the mix to give it a more live sound.

for the guitar tracks, a stereo spread can help a lot. one guitar could be spread further than the other, perhaps. also a little reverb helps to separate them. this is something i don't know much about, but it's worth a try.

i can't say i'm a pro at this at all, but those are a couple things i would try. it's unfortunate you can't have the drums on seperate tracks, because having the ability to apply a parametric eq to each drum is important for a good mix.

one thing i know for sure, applying a little eq at 3k for any sound (if the sound contains 3k) should help it cut through a mix.

[laird]

For the cymbals, I'd add EQ8, set it to notch (the one that looks like a turtle shell), set the Q value pretty high, and then BOOST the level. Now, adjust the frequency of the EQ until the cymbals get really loud and annoying. Now change the boost to a cut (negative dB value).

This should be decent enough to allow you to lower some of the cymbal sound without affecting the snares too much. Anything more complicated is probably going overboard.

As for bass = center, guitars panned Left+Right, that's pretty standard and you wont go wrong doing that. The Utility plugin can also be useful for widening a dull track, the "invert phase" on one channel function is potentially a drastic method, but works. Using the delay plugin to add a few msec delay to just one channel also works well to widen (non-bass) stuff.

[Angstrom]

I'm not a rock god or a mastering engineer, but I am an opinionated man on the internet, so here goes:

Don't aim to make them sound like they recorded in some big LA studio, IE, do not re-sample each drum and try to reprogram it to get some freaky idea of 'separation'. If they recorded in a garage then your benchmark is great garage rock recordings, not great recordings in general.

There is something appealing about garage sessions that are often missing from studio work, some element of rough and ready self-belief overcoming technique and technology. People with experience in the industry are able to hear a good band and a good song despite the act recording overloaded into one chinese microphone.

Firstly make the recordings 'not annoying'. IE make sure that no frequency makes you go "ouch" , nothing is repellent.
After that I would really aim for making it sound like what it is.

many people use small studios to try and get a clean, wide, effecty 'studio' sound on their band, when an energetic 'live' sound is actually much more likely to be effective.

Adding little synth bleeps and edits and clever effects is entertaining to the engineer/nerd, but often it actually detracts from the true energy of the band as they are used to performing and being heard by an audience.
It can make the band sound "fake".

[Aequitas123]

you probably shouldn't be doing any actual "mastering". you just need to mix these tracks.

As Angstrom said... don't try to make the mix sound like something its not. Just get the tracks they've recorded set the best they can within themselves and thats probably the best you'll get the track sounding.


Of course if you have tons and tons of time you could re-amp all the tracks, resample each drum hit and make a new band out of them....

[Winterpark]

hey...

re: how does it translate to ipod: the last session i did, we bounced tracks down, and listened to references on the ipod. it actually worked quite well, because if it sounds good on both quality monitors, and shitty ipod headphones, then hopefully the mix is good.


re: one mic drum track being too bright : i'd suggest that you should make a copy of that track, and use a compressor to compress the hell out of it, eq it, so it looses the brightness, but retails a bit of the mid-range punch, and then blend the original signal in with it. Obviously, it's a bit hard to give advice without listening to the actual track, but that may work.

[Duke Box]

The other issue I'm running into is that the drums were recorded all in the same track. They didn't have a way to record each mic and the cymbals are way too bright. How would I bring down the highs a little but not lose the punch of the snare. I've tried the whole EQ thing. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.. that is the one thing I am really not happy with in the mix.

Multiband compressor.

[Moody]

I'm not a rock god or a mastering engineer, but I am an opinionated man on the internet, so here goes:

Don't aim to make them sound like they recorded in some big LA studio, IE, do not re-sample each drum and try to reprogram it to get some freaky idea of 'separation'. If they recorded in a garage then your benchmark is great garage rock recordings, not great recordings in general.

There is something appealing about garage sessions that are often missing from studio work, some element of rough and ready self-belief overcoming technique and technology. People with experience in the industry are able to hear a good band and a good song despite the act recording overloaded into one chinese microphone.

Firstly make the recordings 'not annoying'. IE make sure that no frequency makes you go "ouch" , nothing is repellent.
After that I would really aim for making it sound like what it is.

many people use small studios to try and get a clean, wide, effecty 'studio' sound on their band, when an energetic 'live' sound is actually much more likely to be effective.

Adding little synth bleeps and edits and clever effects is entertaining to the engineer/nerd, but often it actually detracts from the true energy of the band as they are used to performing and being heard by an audience.
It can make the band sound "fake".

+1, Keep it simple, embrace the raw sound and simply try to give everyone as much space as possible in the mix.

[PalAl]

not sure where this came from (anyone know?), and I agree that you shouldn't overdo it, but the following has been helpful as a guide for mastering...


EQ MASTERLIST

o Kick Drum o

Any apparent muddiness can be rolled off around 300Hz. Try a small boost around 5-7kHz to add some high end.

50-100Hz ~ Adds bottom to the sound
100-250Hz ~ Adds roundness
250-800Hz ~ Muddiness Area
5-8kHz ~ Adds high end prescence
8-12kHz ~ Adds Hiss

o Snare o

Try a small boost around 60-120Hz if the sound is a little too wimpy. Try boosting around 6kHz for that 'snappy' sound.

100-250Hz ~ Fills out the sound
6-8kHz ~ Adds prescence

o Hi hats or cymbals o

Any apparent muddiness can be rolled off around 300Hz. To add some brightness try a small boost around 3kHz.

250-800Hz ~ Muddiness area
1-6kHz ~ Adds presence
6-8kHz ~ Adds clarity
8-12kHz ~ Adds brightness

o Bass o

Try boosting around 60Hz to add more body. Any apparent muddiness can be rolled off around 300Hz.If more presence is needed, boost around 6kHz.

50-100Hz ~ Adds bottom end
100-250Hz ~ Adds roundness
250-800Hz ~ Muddiness Area
800-1kHz ~ Adds beef to small speakers
1-6kHz ~ Adds presence
6-8kHz ~ Adds high-end presence
8-12kHz ~ Adds hiss

o Vocals o

This is a difficult one, as it depends on the mic used to record the vocal. However...Apply either cut or boost around 300hz, depending on the mic and song.Apply a very small boost around 6kHz to add some clarity.

100-250Hz ~ Adds 'up-frontness'
250-800Hz ~ Muddiness area
1-6kHz ~ Adds presence
6-8kHz ~ Adds sibilance and clarity
8-12kHz ~ Adds brightness

o Piano o

Any apparent muddiness can be rolled off around 300Hz. Apply a very small boost around 6kHz to add some clarity.

50-100Hz ~ Adds bottom
100-250Hz ~ Adds roundness
250-1kHz ~ Muddiness area
1-6kHz ~ Adds presence
6-8Khz ~ Adds clarity
8-12kHz ~ Adds hiss

o Electric guitars o

Again this depends on the mix and the recording. Apply either cut or boost around 300hz, depending on the song and sound. Try boosting around 3kHz to add some edge to the sound, or cut to add some transparency. Try boosting around 6kHz to add presence. Try boosting around 10kHz to add brightness.

100-250Hz ~ Adds body
250-800Hz ~ Muddiness area
1-6Khz ~ Cuts through the mix
6-8kHz ~ Adds clarity
8=12kHz ~ Adds hiss

o Acoustic guitar o

Any apparent muddiness can be rolled off between 100-300Hz. Apply small amounts of cut around 1-3kHz to push the image higher. Apply small amounts of boost around 5kHz to add some presence.

100-250Hz ~ Adds body
6-8kHz ~ Adds clarity
8-12kHz ~ Adds brightness

o Strings o

These depend entirely on the mix and the sound used.

50-100Hz ~ Adds bottom end
100-250Hz ~ Adds body
250-800Hz ~ Muddiness area
1-6hHz ~ Sounds crunchy
6-8kHz ~ Adds clarity
8-12kHz ~ Adds brightness

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

o 50Hz o

1. Increase to add more fullness to lowest frequency instruments like foot, toms, and the bass.
2. Reduce to decrease the "boom" of the bass and will increase overtones and the recognition of bass line in the mix. This is most often used on bass lines in Rap and R&B.

o 100Hz o

Increase to add a harder bass sound to lowest frequency instruments.
Increase to add fullness to guitars, snare.
Increase to add warmth to piano and horns.
Reduce to remove boom on guitars & increase clarity.

o 200Hz o

1. Increase to add fullness to vocals.
2. Increase to add fullness to snare and guitar (harder sound).
3. Reduce to decrease muddiness of vocals or mid-range instruments.
4. Reduce to decrease gong sound of cymbals.

o 400Hz o

1. Increase to add clarity to bass lines especially when speakers are at low volume.
2. Reduce to decrease "cardboard" sound of lower drums (foot and toms).
3. Reduce to decrease ambiance on cymbals.

o 800Hz o

1. Increase for clarity and "punch" of bass.
2. Reduce to remove "cheap" sound of guitars

o 1.5KHz o

1. Increase for "clarity" and "pluck" of bass.
2. Reduce to remove dullness of guitars.

o 3KHz o

1. Increase for more "pluck" of bass.
2. Increase for more attack of electric / acoustic guitar.
3. Increase for more attack on low piano parts.
4. Increase for more clarity / hardness on voice.
5. Reduce to increase breathy, soft sound on background vocals.
6. Reduce to disguise out-of-tune vocals / guitars

o 5KHz o

1. Increase for vocal presence.
2. Increase low frequency drum attack (foot/toms).
3. Increase for more "finger sound" on bass.
4. Increase attack of piano, acoustic
5. Reduce to make background parts more distant.
6. Reduce to soften "thin" guitar.

o 7KHz o

1. Increase to add attack on low frequency drums (more metallic sound).
2. Increase to add attack to percussion instruments.
3. Increase on dull singer.
4. Increase for more "finger sound" on acoustic bass.
5. Reduce to decrease "s" sound on singers.
6. Increase to add sharpness to synthesizers, rock guitars, acoustic guitar and piano.

o 10KHz o

1. Increase to brighten vocals.
2. Increase for "light brightness" in acoustic guitar and piano.
3. Increase for hardness on cymbals.
4. Reduce to decrease "s" sound on singers.

o 15KHz o

1. Increase to brighten vocals (breath sound).
2. Increase to brighten cymbals, string instruments and flutes.
3. Increase to make sampled synthesizer sound more real.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

o Low Bass: anything less than 50Hz o

This range is often known as the sub bass and is most commonly taken up by the lowest part of the kick drum and bass guitar, although at these frequencies it's almost impossible to determine any pitch. Sub bass is one of the reasons why 12" vinyl became available: low frequencies require wider grooves than high frequencies - without rolling off everything below 50Hz you couldn't fit a full track onto a 7" vinyl record. However we do NOT recommend applying any form of boost around this area without the use of very high quality studio monitors (not home monitors - there is a vast difference between home nearfield and studio farfield monitors costing anywhere between £5,000 and £20,000). Boosting blindly in this area without a valid reference point can and will permanently damage most speakers, even PA systems. You have been warned!

o Bass: 50-250Hz o

This is the range you're adjusting when applying the bass boost on most home stereos, although most bass signals in modern music tracks lie around the 90-200Hz area with a small boost in the upper ranges to add some presence or clarity.

o Muddiness/irritational area: 200-800Hz o

The main culprit area for muddy sounding mixes, hence the term 'irritational area'. Most frequencies around here can cause psycho-acoustic problems: if too many sounds in a mix are dominating this area, a track can quickly become annoying, resulting in a rush to finish mixing it as you get bored or irritated by the sound of it.

o Mid-range: 800-6kHz o

Human hearing is extremely sensitive at these frequencies, and even a minute boost around here will result in a huge change in the sound - almost the same as if you boosted around 10db at any other range. This is because our voices are centred in this area, so it's the frequency range we hear more than any other. Most telephones work at 3kHz, because at this frequency speech is most intelligible. This frequency also covers TV stations, radio, and electric power tools. If you have to apply any boosting in this area, be very cautious, especially on vocals. We're particularly sensitive to how the human voice sounds and its frequency coverage.

o High Range: 6-8kHz o

This is the range you adjust when applying the treble boost on your home stereo. This area is slightly boosted to make sounds artificially brighter (although this artificial boost is what we now call 'lifelike') when mastering a track before burning it to CD.

o Hi-High Range: 8-20kHz o

This area is taken up by the higher frequencies of cymbals and hi-hats, but boosting around this range, particularly around 12kHz can make a recording sound more high quality than it actually is, and it's a technique commonly used by the recording industry to fool people into thinking that certain CDs are more hi-fidelity than they'd otherwise sound. However, boosting in this area also requires a lot of care - it can easily pronounce any background hiss, and using too much will result in a mix becoming irritating.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1.) Always use a parametric EQ. Graphic EQ's are for wusses.

2.) When boosting Q must be wider (less than) than 2.

3.) When cutting Q should be narrow--from 1.5 or greater.

4.) No cut or boost may be greater than 6db +/- in any case (occasionally broken for cutting).

5.) 75% of my boosts are less than 2 db. 90% are less than 4 db of boost.

6.) Never cut more than 8db of anything unless notching out specific small frequencies.