Thread Rating:
  • 2 Vote(s) - 2.5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
'Dead Enemies' mix - not mastered
#1
Here's my mix. I'm think I'm close as the tell tell sign of myself trying to critically listen and ending up getting lost in the song is occurring. I didn't master this at all yet so the level is only -20LUFS. I did manage to get 15 DB of dynamic range out of this mix which I think helps bring this energy so I'll try to maintain that during mastering...which I'll do in a few days after I sit on this a take feedback for all the things I'm sure I may have missed.

One thing interesting that I noticed while measuring my final bounce was that the example mix sounded a bit loud and squashed to me so I measured that as well. It measured -8LUFS at a point which means once it hits any streaming site, it will get smashed again down to -13 LUFS to -18 LUFS depending on this site. It does one no good to slam a mix to that level and see it pushed back down...there goes the life and dynamics of the mix. If you are planning on streaming a song you aren't going to win the loudness war with anything over -13 LUFS. I also noticed that the example mix was clipping in a few areas. If you bounce a WAV to -0.1 db and then convert to .mp3, expect some clipping and intersample peak distortion due to the conversion process.

Cheers



.mp3    Dead Enemies by Dark Ride (AloneInCrowdsMix).mp3 --  (Download: 13.02 MB)


Reply
#2
Here is my mastered version. Lost a few db of dynamic range but managed to keep it above 10 db which is decent for metal track.


.mp3    Dead Enemies by Dark Ride (AloneInCrowdsMaster).mp3 --  (Download: 13.02 MB)


Reply
#3
(19-03-2015, 08:44 PM)chuck moe Wrote: Here is my mastered version. Lost a few db of dynamic range but managed to keep it above 10 db which is decent for metal track.

Added another version..after a few listens I felt I lost some impact so i dropped it down form -14LUFS to -16 LUFS (my preferred setting anyway..;-)



.mp3    Dead Enemies-Dark Ride -16LUFS AIC Master).mp3 --  (Download: 13.02 MB)


Reply
#4
I think that the second one is the best. But I think that the snare does not work well with the rest of instruments.
Reply
#5
cheers,

the bad:
- almost every mix of Dead Enemies fails at the "Dead Enemies"-whisper at 1:37 and I just don't know why =) I've written about it in my faq and you can clearly hear how it should sound in the ref mix. That whisper wasn't meant to be there in the first place and was added by me later in the mix. You have to either change it into something totally different to fill the gap between verse 1 and 2 or delete it. Keeping it the way it is sounds like a copy & paste fail from the mixer because tempo, timing and intonation are just totally wrong =)
- I don't think that the piano adds a lot of excitement in the 2nd verse - at least not with such a clean and lifeless sound. there are far better choices to add excitement and variety in the 2nd verse
- the Overheads attract too much attention from 1:40 to 2:15
- the solo sound in the last part is VERY boring. this song is not jazz, it's metal. screamin metal. fire from the sky. demons hiding in the dark. Blood on the walls. right now it sounds like someone took a solo from Alan Holdsworths latest solo CD and copy/pasted it in the song =)
- the guitars are not loud enough throughout the whole song

neutral:
- the kit sounds very natural. I'm not really sure if I like it because this is a power/modern/trash metal song and my expectation as a metal fan is something else, something more artificial, more powerful, more "unnatural"

the good:
- I like the piano on the bridge
- the vocals sound awesome - good work
- you didn't failed with the blast beat! great!
- you've made a song out of the mess =)
- the transition from piano/whisper into the mosh riff at 3:10 is nice (but the Overheads are too loud - again)

Hope that helps Smile I like you mix but overall it could be heavier with more emphasis on the guitars. It's a metal song and not a pop song Smile Vocals can come down a bit and you should check the overheads in the louder parts.

You might wanna check the faq - I've updated it two days ago: http://discussion.cambridge-mt.com/showt...p?tid=8507

Ps: Loudness war. Some bands only sound good when their stuff is crushed to death (like Fleshgod Apocalypse). Its a vital part of their sound. The ref mix isn't really mastered at all so you are probably right with your analysis.
Reply
#6
Great feedback...I'll run this through again and try to correct those issues. Cheers
Reply