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  • Best way to add high end sheen? (p.2)
2013/08/18 09:54:49
caminitic
Thanks everyone...very inspiring, helpful answers.  I will definitely try them out.
 
I guess the reason I "thought" the problem may be residing in that EQ region is, not only the Spectrum Analyzer information, but the depressing "listen in the car" test when it seems like my beautiful reverbs and cymbal shimmer all but disappear as compared to commercial mixes.
 
Always have to remind myself that I'm NOT making commercial, mastered mixes though!  Hope I'm not the only one who sets that unrealistic bar sometimes!!!
2013/08/18 13:39:47
Jay Tee 4303
To begin with, your source has to generate those frequencies, and your modicum of capture has to support it. Vocals, a decent condenser mike, a short clean signal path to tape, in mono, sure. ITB or hardware synth...maybe, maybe not. If it isn't there to begin with, faking it with distortion or a severe EQ treatment probably isn't going to make you happy at the end.
 
Sheen is a pretty big word, but if you are looking at a spec analyzer I assume you mean exactly what you're asking for. Stand back and look at the entire process, from performance sourceS to your ears, receiving energy from your monitors. Ask yourself things like this:
 
1. What are my sheen options here?
 
2. Where do I want this sheen in the end?
 
3. Start to finish, what can possibly damage, counteract, mask, or otherwise step on my intended sheen? You may already have all you want, but by Fletcher Munson comparison, something you don't want sheeny is so sheeny that your intended sheen looks punk by comparison. In other words, make sure it's possible, and get the problems out of the way first. That's how you avoid painful sheen.
 
If you get thru all this, and it's there to begin with, just not strong enough where you want it, you have a TON of options. Look at them individually, because a great many of them may add broad sheen, while smearing localized sheenlet bands, and make things worse.
 
If you have waves five feet long, its going to take some significant phase delay to move the crests 2.5 feet in spacetime to make them cancel out, but that's thump, not sheen. Very slight phasing issues can cancel sheen. You can make this work FOR you as well because at high frequencies, phase summation lands very close to phase cancellation, selectivity is the key. If it stands out where you want it to with no downside, it's a win, no matter how you get there. Best to balance EQ without artifacts, though, simplest in the long run.
 
Options...including but not limited to, in my rough order of desirability:
 
Faders, Frequency Selective Cloning, Automation, Imaging, EQ cuts, Compression, Expansion, Modulation, Distortion, Reverb, EQ boosts,...but...best of all
 
Get it right on the way in, and never have to think about any repairs later. You need a wide arsenal of fixes in your pocket, artists are going to get tired, tight on money, tight on time. In rare situations, an after the fact repair is your only option.
 
But...I also do photography and the illustration is simpler. I can Photoshop the wrinkles off an old hag, AND fix the original lighting errors, AND rebalance the color temperature, AND sharpen the fuzz from cheap glass...
 
OR...
 
I can hire the right model to begin with, know my equipment well enough to choose the path to tech success (or buy/rent/borrow what the job requires).
 
Repairs can be adequate, but the image that sells is the one I never have to touch, that rocks from the beginning, and...it doesn't cost me hours and hours of tweaktime. In countless hours of attempted repair, I have NEVER been able to get "adequate" to match "brilliant from the gitgo".
 
The best I have accomplished, is to turn "marginal" into "adequate".
 
Strive for the brilliance.
 
 
2013/08/18 15:08:40
caminitic
Jay Tee - 
 
How far are you from Nashville and how soon can I fly you here for a weekend???? ha ha
 
Brilliant stuff man.  Thanks for taking the time to reply!!
 
 
 
2013/08/18 16:01:21
The Maillard Reaction

2013/08/18 16:13:16
dmbaer
caminitic
Harmonic exciter?




I've just been checking out the new(ish) Cosmos plug from Nomad Factory.  I'm finding it very impressive.  A lot of effects of this nature seem to be over the top ... you need to keep the "drive" (or whatever) very much in the low zone or you get nasty sounding results.  Not so Cosmos.  The factory presets are actually ones I'd probably use with minimal tweaking.  Cosmos has got a sub-bass function that I have yet to figure out (documentation is pretty sketchy), but the dual-range exciter "circuits" add some nice sizzle that is nevertheless in very good taste, IMO.
2013/08/18 22:54:38
bobguitkillerleft
Brilliant answers guys,I just learned things I've always been unsure of to ask!
 
Now to just put them into practice....tastefully
Cheers
Bob
PS mike_mccue, may I ask WHAT brand/type[brand moreso] of "analyzer" is that in your post? thanks.
2013/08/18 23:39:43
Kev999
Alan Parsons has said that he often records with "too much" brightness and reduces it later, to avoid having too little and needing to boost it.
 
2013/08/19 00:15:13
bobguitkillerleft
Kev999
Alan Parsons has said that he often records with "too much" brightness and reduces it later, to avoid having too little and needing to boost it.
 

Very Interesting,I've recently been using waves Aural Exciter[lightly]and Plug and Mix[formerly Don't Crack]have one or two "high"plugs Brightness,Low Air-[I think?] ,but they have some incredible,maybe the word is"powerful" Low End thumpers [Clairisonix,Maxx Bass,Monster Boost]in fact their V.I.P bundle[40 plugins!] was the first purchase I made outside of cakewalk,but due to waves having some amazing sales,I've unfortunately/fortunately inundated myself with plugins,many of which I haven't even used,and don't have a clue how to use correctly,more time more time.
 
Alan Parsons quote gives even more credence to cutting rather than boosting,and also I suspect,at getting the tone from the source,something I certainly have to get better at.
Cheers
Bob
2013/08/19 06:52:49
The Maillard Reaction
Hi Bob,
 That's a screen shot from one of the windows in the NuGen Visualizer VST.
 
 
 best regards,
mike
2013/08/19 07:34:37
ston
13KHz is the upper limit of my hearing these days, so I (have to) concentrate on 10-13K for high-end 'sheen'.  Question to those with younger ears, do you notice much difference if the sounds above 13KHz are not present in a piece of music?
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