Master a poor mix

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mauryw
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2006/03/29 09:10:28 (permalink)

Master a poor mix

I have been giiven a 16-bit mix of a live 5 piece rock cover band; Johny B Goode, Like Rain, Suzzie Que etc. My job is master it into a demo. The mixer put the instruments dominant to the left channel and the vocals dominant to the right. Vocals are too loud, rythm guitar is too loud and lead is too soft. I am not real experienced, but have UAD-1, oxone and waves plugins. What I'm thinking is to 1) make it a mono file first, to put the vocals, bass and drums in the middle 2) multiband compress to bring the vocals in line with the instruments, hopefully bring up the lead guitar and make the bass and kick more dominant 3) Use a stereo imager to separate and give some dimenstion to the mono mix 4) maximize.

Pleas offer any advice suggestions etc.

Larry Williams

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    darc
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    RE: Master a poor mix 2006/03/29 09:42:09 (permalink)
    No option to get a better mix? That is the best route, obviously.

    I'm not very experienced either (so err in favor of opinions differing from mine)... But I wouldn't go mono. I'd go "almost mono": bounce the left and right to, say 11:00 and 1:00 respectively. That will help your stereo imager to make something more dynamic jump out of the final mix.

    As for lead being too soft, you might be able to coax that out w/ careful para EQ.

    Loud vocals sounds like a multi-band compression problem. Probably best to work on this immediately before the stereo imaging is "reapplied".
    post edited by darc - 2006/03/29 09:49:21

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    seriousfun
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    RE: Master a poor mix 2006/03/29 12:42:53 (permalink)
    Actually, the Mono idea is a great start. Make two - highpass one so just the bass remains, lowpass the other so mids and highs remain. This can be better than using a multiband comp.

    You might want to copy the stereo track and flip L&R on the copy, and add these to taste for the stereo imaging.

    If you have the UAD-1 Fairchild, you may want to investigate using it on the final output for Mid-Side processing.

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    ByronSanto
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    RE: Master a poor mix 2006/03/29 13:00:17 (permalink)
    If you cannot get a new mixdown this may be an option but it will take time and experimenting

    Take the left side or inst track and create a stereo track from it. Maybe Nudge it a few ms's to create a stereo image.
    Take the right side or vocal track and pan it center
    Process each track then mixdown to a new stereo track and master that.

    OR

    If you have the UAD-1 Cambridge EQ you can use it as a crossover on your inst track.
    Create a "low" frequency track from your inst track and make it MONO.
    Create a LowMid - High track and make that stereo
    Mix the two inst tracks with your Mono Vocal tracks

    You may have to create additional stereo tracks or stems for LowMids, Mids, HighMids or Highs

    You may also have to add a verb to create ambience on your stereo inst tracks.

    post edited by ByronSanto - 2006/03/29 13:21:38

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    whattarush
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    RE: Master a poor mix 2006/03/29 13:05:16 (permalink)
    I'm not sure how this would work because I've never done this myself, but maybe you can bounce the stereo track into two seperate mono tracks, then bouncing the mono track containing the instruments back to a stereo track. That way you will have a "stereo" mix to work with as far as eqing and compressing and the vocal track seperately to eq and compress with the new stereo track. (JUST A THOUGHT!)

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    darc
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    RE: Master a poor mix 2006/03/29 13:43:34 (permalink)
    Take the left side or inst track and create a stereo track from it. Maybe Nudge it a few ms's to create a stereo image.
    Take the right side or vocal track and pan it center


    Yes, this is a much better suggestion than mine, now that I pause to actually think about it. Get the vocals center and create a stereo field around them. Then see if a stereo spread effect improves matters or makes them worse. (Sometimes the added width is not worth the additional phase problems.)

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    pharohoknaughty
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    RE: Master a poor mix 2006/03/29 15:19:12 (permalink)
    ORIGINAL: mauryw

    I have been giiven a 16-bit mix of a live 5 piece rock cover band; Johny B Goode, Like Rain, Suzzie Que etc. My job is master it into a demo. The mixer put the instruments dominant to the left channel and the vocals dominant to the right. Vocals are too loud, rythm guitar is too loud and lead is too soft. I am not real experienced, but have UAD-1, oxone and waves plugins. What I'm thinking is to 1) make it a mono file first, to put the vocals, bass and drums in the middle 2) multiband compress to bring the vocals in line with the instruments, hopefully bring up the lead guitar and make the bass and kick more dominant 3) Use a stereo imager to separate and give some dimenstion to the mono mix 4) maximize.

    Pleas offer any advice suggestions etc.


    Kind of like trying to make a steak out of hamburger meat.

    But you can often get surprizing results if you fool around enough.

    I don't think you need to make mono file. Keep thte stereo so you can use the isolated instruments to your advantage.

    Take a look at http://www.elevayta.com/

    He has some plugs that can isolate based on stereo position and frequency. Good to have.

    Good luck
    post edited by pharohoknaughty - 2006/03/29 16:50:28
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