Beyond a good mix, what is a good mastering strategy for me?

[DupleMeter]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

lThe 24 inch spacing may be why he has such low phase correlation between mics. Doesn't explain the modulation tho, unless he is swaying back and forth with the music.

It could be reflections from nearby surfaces. Slight movements while holding the guitar will change the angle of incidence just enough to vary the timing by a few ms, which is what I saw in the waveform, anything from 0.5ms to 3ms phase offset. We’re it constant, it probably would be almost unnoticeable, but because it varies, you hear the modulation.

Bob sent me new files, but I was mixing all day. I probably won’t listen to them until tomorrow.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by DupleMeter

You obviously have little commercial recording experience or you’d know that phase is always checked when multi-micing any source, even a solo instrument.

But, everyone is free to believe what they want. I don’t really care to argue it any further.

O.K.
For anyone else on the thread then:

The spaced mike arrangement (and other stereo mike arrangements actually) relies on phase
and timing differences to create a stereo soundstage. That's from the physiology of our ears
and brain. Yes, if one sums the stereo recording to mono you get constructive and destructive
interference. That is normal.

Three to one relies on a volume level difference at a mike of its intended source compared
to the volume level at that mike of other instruments that are also playing. Nine or more decibles
less hopefully so that each source keeps more of its own separate identity. The phase
interference issues between sound sources are dealt with better across the entire frequency
spectrum that way.

[thestubbyone]

Originally Posted by SprintBob

Below is my latest recording which I just posted also in Show and Tell. I re-mixed it tonight. The high pass filter is in my Sebatron pre-amp and it is set at 80 hz. The rest of the processing is via the DAW plugins using Fabfilter Pro.Q3 equalizer. The low pass filter is at 20khz and I boosted the 3.5 kHz frequency 4 dB with a low Q of about .5. The compression is via the Waves CLA-2A plugin which is fairly gentle and the reverb is the Sunset Chamber preset in the Seventh Heaven reverb plugin. I can do a WeTransfer of the raw Wav file if you want to take a look at it. I would be most appreciative.



It's a buzzy resonance that I never hear in the headphones. If I am in the car but not driving, I don't hear it at a comfortable volume level. If I am going down the road at say any speed over 40-50 mph with the wind and road noise competing with the music, I'll turn the volume up and then it can be heard on the louder passages of a song.

I am a newbie at this and have started recording myself. I listened to your recording and your bass is coming out too strong and the high notes not strong enough since that is the core of the song. I use focus rite interface with garage band. On that software I would adjust the low cut out and then the the ranges, raising the mid and high range to maximum. And after that, fumble around with adjustments.

I have also found that reassigning the sound choice on the guitar anything from clean guitar to experimental bass can make a hugh difference in the sound produced and can sometimes overcome the discrepancies without adjusting the ranges. Remember you can electrically record and acoustically record at the same time using the mic for acoustic and direct electric for background sound. I do this all the time and just not use the electric if it doesn't mesh well.

As with you I have mixed songs using headphones, they sound great and then I listened on my speakers and not so great. So after discovering that and from then on, I mix using speakers only to get best listening sound.

[SprintBob]

Originally Posted by thestubbyone

I am a newbie at this and have started recording myself. I listened to your recording and your bass is coming out too strong and the high notes not strong enough since that is the core of the song. I use focus rite interface with garage band. On that software I would adjust the low cut out and then the the ranges, raising the mid and high range to maximum. And after that, fumble around with adjustments.

I have also found that reassigning the sound choice on the guitar anything from clean guitar to experimental bass can make a hugh difference in the sound produced and can sometimes overcome the discrepancies without adjusting the ranges. Remember you can electrically record and acoustically record at the same time using the mic for acoustic and direct electric for background sound. I do this all the time and just not use the electric if it doesn't mesh well.

As with you I have mixed songs using headphones, they sound great and then I listened on my speakers and not so great. So after discovering that and from then on, I mix using speakers only to get best listening sound.

Appreciate the response and it is consistent with what others have said. I think the biggest challenge of solo fingerstyle playing is learning how to have good control of your dynamics and that is a never ending journey.

I really hope to refine my recording technique and environment where all I really do is use a high pass filter and little to no post processing which means I have the highest quality I can get from both my gear and my playing at the source.