Mastering challenge No' 1

poopot

Right then my lovelies.

Welcome to the first "Mastering Challenge" as suggested by mr @flying_pie... (who will add a few more outline rules/suggestions shortly)


Rules is simples... Take the supplied mixed track, sprinkle some magic pixie dust on it and boom... Musical gold!...

A few guidelines...

when you send your submission, post a bit about the process you used to get to the end result... what software? what plugins? what outboard gear? etc etc. (a screen shot of your master channel will be useful)

The track is a slice of pop/funk penned for the new Mrs Pot (and named after my lovemaking prowess)
 
You can download the non mastered WAV below...

https://soundcloud.com/thefretboard/3mins-nonmaster


your target listener for this one is "Joe Hipster".

Joe lives, works and plays in Hoxton... He gets his music from a streaming service and Listens on the go using the most expensive "Beats" he could get (apart from night time when he just wears earbuds to avoid the muggings)...
At home Joe listens on his various Sonos devices as he moves room to room sipping a chai latte in his overpriced 2 bed apartment.


Send your submissions to mix@thefretboard.co.uk as an mp3.

Voting will start soon after the submission deadline of 22nd Feb 2019 with each voter selecting their 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice.

First choice gets 5 points - Second choice gets 3 points - Third choice gets 1 point

Voting will end on 11.30pm 28th Feb 2019

The order and scores of the top three entries will be announced soon after the voting ends. If there are 8 or more entries, then the order and scores of those in the top half will be announced.  

No prizes. It's just to help me get laid for fun.


****** NOTE******

No Cheating... as in no "Landr"...

PolarityMan

Dude...Landr aint cheating

PolarityMan

Oh yeah also please count me in..I got Landr opened up in another tab already

poopot

PolarityMan said:

Oh yeah also please count me in..I got Landr opened up in another tab already

You can download the wav direct from soundcloud!...

octatonic

I sent my submission just now.
If people are interested I can explain my process.

I didn't use Landr, or many plugins.
Here are two versions of it uncompressed on Soundcloud (.wav)

First one is hot and crunchy- this is the one I submitted as it fitted the posted brief.


Second one is more subdued- I prefer this one.

Branshen

I've not attempted a master yet, but just wanted to make a comment. What a track! Great playing! 

poopot

Branshen said:

I've not attempted a master yet, but just wanted to make a comment. What a track! Great playing! 

Ta... combination of loops, samples and proper guitars  

Fretwired

Submitted mine ... top track @poopot .... :-)

poopot

Playlist below... with submissions from @octatonic, @Fretwired & myself so far. Also has the unmastered file for reference.

https://soundcloud.com/thefretboard/sets/mastering-challenge-no1-3mins

paulmapp8306

submitted mine.

Not  lot done really.  I try not to mess too much with masters - however as the brief was headphones, and Beats, I shaved the top end and boosted the bottom, some multi band compression with higher ratio and gains at the lower and higher freqs.  There's a splash of room reverb (only 5%) to gell it a little (probably didnt need that), then Ive widened the mix as the target audience is a headphone only user to give it loads of space.  A limiter at the end to squeeze as much volume as I could for the target.

Its far too in your face for me personally - but though it fit the brief more.

When it comes to judging - Ill be doing it over my daughters Beats headphones as thats what the Brief calls for.

poopot

Added to the list

octatonic

I don't know if this is within the rules, but perhaps I can say a couple of things- not aimed at anyone in particular.
If I am out of line here then just say- hopefully it helps someone.

First, a word of caution regarding phase.
When you take things super-wide you can end up with some weird artefacts.

Also make sure you top and tail the audio.
When you mix or master then the final processing is usually a two step process.
Put a bar at the start and end of your mixed or bounced down 'final'.
Then trim the start and end of the audio file, so you have a natural end to the track- you don't want it to chop off suddenly at the end, nor do you want loads of space at the beginning or end.

Finally- if these are being mastered 'for headphones', be aware that headphones usually have exaggerated bass response- a bump about 80-100hz and then rapidly tailing off.

If you have processed with extra bass you might find that on headphones you end up with the bass being overbearing.
If you've added widening processes that affect the entire mix then you can also end up with a weird feel to the track, because instruments like kick, snare and bass guitar, that were mono are now a sort of faux-stereo.

Some widening software (Plugin Alliance/Brainworx in particular) allows you to work in Mid Side, so anything that is low pitched and centre is unaffected by stereo widening.

Branshen

I've sent my entry off. 

I'm very inexperienced in mastering, but I've been learning as much as I can recently. The things I tried to achieve in my master are as follows:

1. using a mid-side EQ to bass boost in mid to bring out the bass and kick drum which is really carrying alot of the push in the song
2. using a mid-side EQ and hi cutting in mid to subdue the overly-prominent tambourine (when listening to the original track, it feels like I'm having a tambourine being waved incessantly in front of my face)
3. normal EQ to boost presence of the rhythm guitar center
4. using a mid-side EQ to define and separate the panned instruments (i.e. keyboard, flute, sax and a few more)..
5. EQ to smoothen the overly brittle highs
6. Compression and limiter to achieve loudness
7. last minute addition of bit of verb to wet the somewhat dry track (only cause I saw what @paulmapp8306 said he's done)

poopot

@Branshen's master has been added to the playlist.

Stuckfast

Are we allowed to send in WAVs? SoundCloud sounds dire at the best of times and the bonus mangling you get when you feed it an MP3 is going to make it hard to tell what's been done in the name of mastering.

poopot

Stuckfast said:

Are we allowed to send in WAVs? SoundCloud sounds dire at the best of times and the bonus mangling you get when you feed it an MP3 is going to make it hard to tell what's been done in the name of mastering.

We tried an A/B test with the mixing challenge last month... once soundcloud starts streaming there’s nowt to choose between a wav and a high quality MP3... 

paulmapp8306

Im no professional - and TBH dont like mastering usually - its too easy to completely screw a track up.  Ive also never widened a track before - normally because its for playback on anything - I widened this time as its on headphones.  I though (rightly or wrongly) it would increase the stereo image in the phones.   I (again rightly or wrongly) thought phase issues wouldnt be a problem, as its in headphones not free space.

If Id mastered for general use (headphones and speakers) probably wouldnt have widened the mix.    However, its a learning curve for me so Im taking all advice and tips on board for the future.  As I know @octatonic 's background, I expect his mix to be the benchmark and as always take his advice as gospel. 

poopot

@Stuckfast added to the playlist

https://soundcloud.com/thefretboard/sets/mastering-challenge-no1-3mins

flying_pie

Sent.

I'm probably talking nonsense and will be happy to be corrected but this is what I tweaked and what I think it did:

1. EQ high pass to remove lowest lows

2. Compressor to add a bit of weight

3. EQ - small cut around 340 Hz, upper mid boost around 5000 Hz to balance the guitars with the prominent bass, and small high shelf boost

4. 3 band multi band compressor for a bit of thickness

5. Limiter set to - 0.7 with a small bit of volume added although it didn't need much

Due to household factors I am required to mix and master with headphones. Yes... I know.... Anyway I didn't add a stereo widener as it seemed wide enough to start with

poopot

now with added pie....

https://soundcloud.com/thefretboard/sets/mastering-challenge-no1-3mins

octatonic

Mmmmmm pie.....