First mix, need help mastering.

[Treblecyde]

Soundcloud



Let me start off by telling you that this isn't necessarily dubstep, but there are certainly elements of dubstep that I utilize. My roots are in Metal, specifically Black Metal, but I have been gaining more and more interest in electronic music over the past couple years, and recently decided to take that route. This is my very first electronic mix, so be easy on me. I am severely disappointed in myself for even posting this prematurely since I'm not finished mixing, nor mastering.

Which brings me to why I'm here; I need help mastering. I have always used Pro Tools in the past, but I just installed Logic Pro 9 last week and I'm a n00b with LP to say the least. I cannot seem to master the track effectively. Take the mix that I posted for instance; the drop at :44 should be much louder. Everyone has their preference, but IMO it has too much bass, and not enough TREBLE. I want it to deafen any listener, but I can't seem to find that perfect point before it starts to clip & get distorted. Please give me some tips on mastering as I am obviously clueless. If you use Logic, please contact me with your tips/tricks. If you don't use Logic, any feedback would be greatly appreciated. This was mixed using BX8a deluxes, & an Mbox 2 Mini.

Again, be easy on me because this is my very first mix. I promise not to disappoint in the future. Thanks in advance.

[B-Frank]

Firstly and foremost. As someone who plays out. A tune that drops after 44 seconds, is enough to make me want to avoid a tune alltogether. Try and stick to the good old formula of 16 or 32 bars to keep fussy people like me happy, haha.

But on the subject of mixing. You seriously need to low cut your Synth bass (not sub). Its drowning out your snare and a snare is a very important element. Try chopping off all the frequencies on your Synth at a minimum of about 200hz, if possible go higher. Problem is becasue your snare is so drowned out i cant work out if it is a good souorce sample or not. Also, that synth would absolutely make peoples ears bleed on a system. Way too many screechy frequencies for my ears to handle. Theres uncomfortable but pleasurable sounds and theres hold your ears and run sounds. Go over to the production forum and check out the money shot thread. Will be the best thing you do this week.

Ps. i can definately tell your into metal with that intro lol.

[Treblecyde]

Yes, ignore the intro, I am strictly interested in mending my mastering skills. The intro and beat itself are of no importance to me. But in the future, I'm going to need to learn how to master this so that any one instrument doesn't dominate the track, as well as make sure that I obtain the loudest sound possible without it clipping. I want the drop at :44 to tear my eardrums in half. I already sold my copy of Pro Tools, but I'm thinking about re-buying it.

I'll be sure to fix the snare. I can see that we have completely different tastes, which is cool. Personally I love the screechy frequencies. I find the bitcrushing distortion beautiful. I am traditionally into a more progressive industrial/Metal type sound, but I love taking elements of dubstep/techno and using them to my advantage. Thanks again; will take all of your advice and dig back into Logic right now... What pisses me off the most is that it sounds nice and loud during the mix, yet gets raped during the bounce.

In what format should I bounce it to my disk in, and what settings should I use/etc?

[Monstro]

Wow, just wow. We come from the same roots, but I moved into mathcore before I hit up the electronic scene. So!

You need new kick samples with more weight and new snare samples with more weight, your main synth needs a lot of thickness in the lower mid range around 230, you snare needs a fix for sure and most of all you need the right chain of effects. I personally use a multiband comp, a multiband EQ, an exciter if it needs it and finally a multiband limiter. THEN on your multiband limiter I always give mad priority to snare and kick, mostly kick. and then roll off some priority on the higher frequencies.

I bounce things as a 24 bit wav for myself and a 320 mp3 for others and posting on the internet.

And also if you dont like a song to be more than 16 or 32 bars you can drop the song after the required amount to fix it (like if the intro is 64, drop it 32 bars in) and moreso, for me a 16 bar intro is already 30 seconds, so to each their own.

Check out my new track with my buddy and tell me what you think and if you like the mastering you can take my advice, if not, just ignore me, lol.

http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.p ... 1&start=20