Yet another mastering thread
Hi all,
Mastering threads are clearly all over the place. I’m looking for some feedback because I haven’t really seen anyone do things in the messed up way that I do, and I’ve love some guidance. While I’m not currently unhappy, per se, with my current process, I’m looking for ideas and feedback on how to improve. For years I’ve been doing the same thing when it comes to mixing/mastering (if you can call my semi-pathetic method anything even close to that). I know the schools of thought on mastering during/after recording, so I’m not looking to get into that debate.
First, some pieces that may or may not count (in other words, you can likely skip all this): I record guitars into Sonar X1 through a pod hd500. Depending on what the song calls for, I might use the pro-channel to add some light compression or some eq, and very rarely some light saturation. If it’s a heavy song I might add a boost 11 or other compression in the fx bin. Bass is done through amplitube 3 (a bit outdated…I know), going through an m-audio firewire solo. Vocals go in through the firewire solo, typically from a Samson condenser mic (or sm58 or other mic, depending on what is needed), and for the past several years I’ve used the cakewalk vocal processer as opposed to individual effects because it’s so darn good. Drums have always been through Addictive Drums 1 (don’t think I’ll spend the cash for version 2), but lately I’ve been using ezdrummer 2. I’m probably not smart enough for it, and ezd2 makes good use of the few expansion packs I have (metal machines, the standard pop/rock kit, and the Nashville pack). Drums are either sequenced or played through my midi kit.
So, the (likely) strange thing I do is that I’ve always created a master bus that I’ve sent all the tracks except drums and lead guitar to, and used Izotope ozone 4 (again, a bit outdated..i know) on that track. I don’t do anything extreme, but I add some eq to tame the lows and bring out some highs, and I use the loudness maximizer and multiband dynamics sparingly. I’ve always done this because I find that putting the drums into the master bus that has ozone on it kills the mix and makes it bounce too much. Lead guitar just seems to get buried in the mix.
So, if this has worked somewhat decently so far, why am I looking for feedback? Strangely, because my changeover to using EZD2 has made me realize it wasn’t working as well as I previously thought. You see, Addictive Drums always had a very processed, compressed sound. That works very well with everything else going to the bus with ozone on it. EZD2, to me, sounds best with a bus for parallel compression, some type of multiband to get the lows to come out a bit, and I use the sonar percussion tool in the fx bin for some light eq and compression (nothing over the top). Add this all together, and my mixes crackle like rice crispies because I’m trying to cram 10 pounds of crap into a 5 pound bag. I’ve never had issues with things crackling unless I was pushing the gain into stupidland. I’m making my mixes no hotter, and actually a little tamer, than I used to. There’s no concern of a hardware or software issue because my old projects sound the way they always did.
The likely scenario is that it’s an issue with frequencies, since taking almost any one singular instrument out of a mix will clean up the crackling (which, by the way, does indeed present itself in the mp3 once mixed down). Taking ozone of the track and mixing without it still results in everything being pushed too much.
So, long-winded post, eh? I guess I don’t have as much of a question directly about what is causing my problem as much as I’m seeking feedback on the method of sending only some tracks to ozone and others going straight to the actual master. I know, I know…it’s all about what sounds good…but still, I’d like some guidance from the many folks that are far more experienced than myself.