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"Incremental" Mixing and Mastering


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For my 2021 music project, I've been trying a different approach to mastering, and I'm pretty happy with it. Basically, I put together the album in Studio One's mastering page, save an image, and blast it into my phone. I go for a walk almost every day, and take the phone with me. The audio goes into a no-longer-available generation of Bose bluetooth earbuds, which in my tests are surprisingly flat.

 

I listen and take notes...guitar needs to come down a dB, voice sounds a little boxier on this cut than the others, etc. I'll make a few changes, create another image, and the next day, listen to the revised version.

 

It really does seem to help create a consistent listening experience. I also listen to the final result over speakers and headphones in the studio, but I have to say it gets really close with those earbuds. The biggest advantage is that if I take walks for a week or two and don't want to change anything, I figure it's done. And once it's done, it's done. It seems to eliminate the unending tweak problem by coming up with a systematic way to do tweaks that do in fact have an ending. :)

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I'm not in a hurry, it just has to come out by the end of the year :)

 

Another advantage is that it takes care of changing perceptions of the music. The response of my ears may be constant, but the way my brain interprets what they receive isn't. So a song might seem to have a little too much bass one day, but be just right the next. Doing multiple listens over time averages out the perceptual changes.

 

Even if people don't particularly care of my music, they consider the production top-notch. I think that's because this approach reveals any little flaws. For example, once the main instruments are squared away, then it's easier to focus on things like whether the hand percussion sounds right, or whether there needs to be a sound effect to underscore something.

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I feel like all the points you are making can hold true for mixing as well. Or, for that matter, processing photos.
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I feel like all the points you are making can hold true for mixing as well.

 

Very much so, but what I said in the beginning ("I put together the album in Studio One's mastering page, save an image, and blast it into my phone") makes more sense if you know how Studio One works. Studio One has a Song page where you do your multitracks, and a Mastering page, where you do album assembly, add processing to individual cuts or globally, and use diagnostics like LUFS and LR readings. The special sauce is there are links between the songs and the Mastering page, so if you change the mix in the Song page, it automatically renders the final mix to the Mastering page so it stays current with the latest song version. That's what makes it easy to listen to the album as a whole, decide to make a change or two in a song, and then have that change show up in the master.

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This seems like a great approach and would probably help avoid some of the burnout that can happen. So you have a whole albums worth of songs to listen to before you start this process?

 

Pretty much. I'm old school in the sense of treating mixing and mastering as separate processes. So I work on individual songs, and get the mixes where I want them. Then they get assembled into a master, so I can hear them together. This promotes a more consistent "sound" because I hear the songs as a collection, instead of individual songs. Also the song order often changes quite a bit.

 

This isn't set in stone, I might decide that the project needs one more song, e.g., to provide a better transitional song between two disparate songs, or a closer that does a better job of closing the album. Right now my 2021 project is about 14 minutes long and it doesn't feel like it "ends." I have another song that I think will be a good closer. Besides, I like "albums" that last about as long as an LP side.

 

I'm aware the conventional wisdom is that this is a singles world, and it's better to release a steady stream of singles over time than wait until there's an "album." I'm sure that's correct, but I release songs as a long-form music video, and they're meant to be seen/heard as a single sitting. The only exception was "The Singles" project from 2019. That was the year my former wife died, so there were priorities in my life other than creating a cohesive musical experience.

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This seems like a great approach and would probably help avoid some of the burnout that can happen. So you have a whole albums worth of songs to listen to before you start this process?

 

Pretty much. I'm old school in the sense of treating mixing and mastering as separate processes. So I work on individual songs, and get the mixes where I want them. Then they get assembled into a master, so I can hear them together. This promotes a more consistent "sound" because I hear the songs as a collection, instead of individual songs. Also the song order often changes quite a bit.

 

This isn't set in stone, I might decide that the project needs one more song, e.g., to provide a better transitional song between two disparate songs, or a closer that does a better job of closing the album. Right now my 2021 project is about 14 minutes long and it doesn't feel like it "ends." I have another song that I think will be a good closer. Besides, I like "albums" that last about as long as an LP side.

 

I'm aware the conventional wisdom is that this is a singles world, and it's better to release a steady stream of singles over time than wait until there's an "album." I'm sure that's correct, but I release songs as a long-form music video, and they're meant to be seen/heard as a single sitting. The only exception was "The Singles" project from 2019. That was the year my former wife died, so there were priorities in my life other than creating a cohesive musical experience.

 

And... isn't one purpose of mastering to nudge the material into a cohesive whole? If you are releasing a group of compositions as a "compiled but autonomous composition" on its own accord, you do want it to sound like to all "belongs" together, no? None of that means that you won't do something on a particular piece in your compilation that sets it apart from the rest, that could just be basic tension and release and if done with intention would just be part of the mastering of that collective piece. Or something... :)

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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And... isn't one purpose of mastering to nudge the material into a cohesive whole?

 

Well I think so, but some take the attitude it's a singles-only world, so there's no "cohesive whole." However, even when doing The Singles project in 2019, I still wanted it to sound like the songs weren't mixed by different engineers in different studios.

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And... isn't one purpose of mastering to nudge the material into a cohesive whole?

 

Well I think so, but some take the attitude it's a singles-only world, so there's no "cohesive whole." However, even when doing The Singles project in 2019, I still wanted it to sound like the songs weren't mixed by different engineers in different studios.

 

I've no desire to understand or compel others who have chosen different paths. There is much to be learned by doing the "wrong" thing, I know this from experience. :)

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Saving the whiskey for later, first I think it's quite a job tomake digital tracks and instruments sound o.k. enough for me to listen to and enjoy a little bit, because generally I don't care for anything much at all and it proved to be quite an engineering job to get even basic sounds out of decent amplifers/speakers/headphones whatever to begin with. Of course headphones, possibly with some sound flattering elements in them but also neutral sounding studio one will prevent you from having to do acoustics preparation for speakers and listening space acoustics, but then again getting a binoral sound right is pretty hard in itself!

 

Once some sounds work from a digital recording, like a good 192/24 straight digital recording of a electric D.I. guitar should be bearable for normal thingies, it becomes a question of music making, maybe trying some effects (digital ?) for mixing, getting sound together, etc. etc. Then making a mix that owrks acoustically speaking and preparing it for different DACs and speakers is another heavy challenge.

 

In short the work needed to get sound from a finished track that I like is quite a bit, unless you'd have specific general use tools for that prepared. Then, what are mix targets, what is the design of a song, the DNA of the elements of a track, and how does that blow into the listener's room, which is quite an accurate "game" of waveforms and frequencies for which essentially there are also no fitting computer tools available in general.

 

If you'd play with sounds which are awright you'd ask yourself how to sound unique or how to prevent listening fatigue or how morphs around your mix like track-bending would go, or maybe there is specific use (disco, karaoke, elevator, whatever) and possibly how to bury the instrument properties such that samplers can't steal them and finally, what the music-poetics of all kinds of design choices would be.

 

Theo V

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My goal is to make the music sufficiently interesting that it can survive playback over a variety of systems. These projects are not like the classical ones I've done where the fidelity was paramount, and the assumption was that the music would play over a truly superb sound system. I just assume my music will probably be played over computer speakers and earbuds, and frankly, consumers have voted with their dollars anyway.
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I love the idea of having multiple listens over several days, while you are doing something else (walking in your case).

If nothing bothers you after several listens, it is probably as good as one can possibly make it.

 

The one concern I have is ear buds - I think using any headphones or ear buds can introduce big differences in how loud the bass guitar (any maybe the kick?) sounds, compared to the rest of the mix. It might be that your ear buds do a lot better job getting the bass sound into your brain than for people who might be listening in cars, home stereos, PC speakers, and so on. I don't think one can trust an approach that uses headphones or ear buds to provide the best assurance that the bass is in the right balance with the rest of the mix.

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If nothing bothers you after several listens, it is probably as good as one can possibly make it.

That has turned out to be true. Listening to previous projects done this way, there's nothing I would change in the mix.

 

The one concern I have is ear buds - I think using any headphones or ear buds can introduce big differences in how loud the bass guitar (any maybe the kick?) sounds, compared to the rest of the mix. It might be that your ear buds do a lot better job getting the bass sound into your brain than for people who might be listening in cars, home stereos, PC speakers, and so on. I don't think one can trust an approach that uses headphones or ear buds to provide the best assurance that the bass is in the right balance with the rest of the mix.

 

Well, that's why I said "I also listen to the final result over speakers and headphones in the studio, but I have to say it gets really close with those earbuds." But it's funny how the world has changed. I used to never sign off on a mix until I'd heard it on multiple sets of headphones, to make sure there wouldn't be any surprises for that minority of listeners. Now I don't sign off on a mix until I've heard it over multiple speakers, to take care of that minority of listeners :)

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From a digital source, getting the mids, the bass and the treble right in your monitoring is really hard, only my big 5 way analogue multi-amp system with all corrected digital to analogue conversion gives me normal distribution of the wide frequency range to some extend without sounding all the time the same. One could argue "if people will just play on their monitor/notebook/small PC speakers anyhow, what not just monitor on them" ? Well, in short because it is harder to hear the differences that exist in such systems as well, and, you might not want to lose general use in case you songs will be played on a media system or some form of PA one day...

 

I find it quite good to get TV's, computer monitors, phones, pads, notebooks, small medium and big HiFi's/monitors and car radio to sound similar, that's already not so easy to achieve, to begin with the DACs in phones, notebooks and general quality audio systems are different.

 

T

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One could argue "if people will just play on their monitor/notebook/small PC speakers anyhow, what not just monitor on them" ? Well, in short because it is harder to hear the differences that exist in such systems as well, and, you might not want to lose general use in case you songs will be played on a media system or some form of PA one day...

 

The best reason I can think of for not monitoring on consumer systems is it's not fun. There's something wonderful about hearing sound over quality systems, so it makes the mixing experience just that much more pleasurable. Unfortunately the number of people listening over quality seems to keep getting smaller, so you have to subject yourself to finding out what the music will sound like over anything.

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When waves, DAC partials and some acoustic preparations are somewhat in place , it can become a matter of digital gain and for instance notebook volume settings to be decisive concerning distortion and feel. It depends on your A grade skills combined with your interest in making and solving riddles if you want to graze in those kinds of mixing/mastering mazes. I found it needed to find out but I like great neutral sound where the deeper tunings will let most sound reinforcement systems flourish. That may include preventing some major errors on certain standard, limited sound equipment!

 

T

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My goal is to make the music sufficiently interesting that it can survive playback over a variety of systems. These projects are not like the classical ones I've done where the fidelity was paramount, and the assumption was that the music would play over a truly superb sound system. I just assume my music will probably be played over computer speakers and earbuds, and frankly, consumers have voted with their dollars anyway.

 

For the past 2 days, I've listened to pop music radio from the 50's to now, riding in a rented SUV, for hours on end. It wasn't turned up loud and the speakers were in the driver's area, not the back seat.

It was interesting, I haven't listened to that much music total in the last 2 years if you don't count playing gigs as listening.

 

I literally did not recognize Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells until the repeated "Crimson and Clover, over and over" part came on. Road noise, people talking, it became something I couldn't identify.

There were many and some that just cut right through and I knew them instantly. I think the second result would be the way to go.

 

Another version of mixing with noise, the possibilities are limitless.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Another version of mixing with noise, the possibilities are limitless.

 

Yup...the whole point of the "mixing with noise" thing was to emulate the "listening in the car" experience, without having to drive around.

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Another version of mixing with noise, the possibilities are limitless.

 

Yup...the whole point of the "mixing with noise" thing was to emulate the "listening in the car" experience, without having to drive around.

 

Long story short, the music played whether I wanted it on or not. I used it as an opportunity to learn something.

 

The vocals and the beat are enough to define a song. Signature licks are usually more or less in the same midrange as the vocals. If you can get some clarity on the bass so it can be detected that's just about the whole whack-a-doodle right there.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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The vocals and the beat are enough to define a song. Signature licks are usually more or less in the same midrange as the vocals. If you can get some clarity on the bass so it can be detected that's just about the whole whack-a-doodle right there.

 

You have just saved countless people thousands of dollars from being able to skip recording schools.

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The vocals and the beat are enough to define a song. Signature licks are usually more or less in the same midrange as the vocals. If you can get some clarity on the bass so it can be detected that's just about the whole whack-a-doodle right there.

 

You have just saved countless people thousands of dollars from being able to skip recording schools.

 

Well, they still need to know how to plug things in, and stuff...

 

If they make a great recording of a crappy song, it's still a crappy song. That was proven over and over again in the last 2 days. Some of that dreck sold lots of records, therefore it was really good music.

It's just like how McDonalds has the best hamburgers because they've sold the most.

 

Now everyone can have their diploma, that's pretty much everything right there... :)

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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I don't think they teach songwriting in recording schools. Perhaps the assumption is that you will be engineering or producing for people who do.

 

A songwriting course would be easy:

 

* Life a full life, and write songs about it. Or make up stuff :)

* Know enough music to come up with memorable, unique melody lines.

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I don't think they teach songwriting in recording schools. Perhaps the assumption is that you will be engineering or producing for people who do.

 

A songwriting course would be easy:

 

* Life a full life, and write songs about it. Or make up stuff :)

* Know enough music to come up with memorable, unique melody lines.

 

 

These days, engineer and producer are blurred lines.

I've been hired to record a trio - piano, bass and guitar. I know all of them and have been in bands with all of them. They are all talented people who play well, sing well and write good songs.

Now they want me to come to a practice and jam with them and give them my opinion of their arrangements. They also want me to bring my Tascam and record them so they can hear the truth.

 

Not an engineer job really but I'll be paid to do that and hopefully it will improve their results. I don't think it's all that uncommon any more to wear many hats. Recording school alone won't give you the skills needed to survive in this situation.

And of course, telling everybody the truth will cost you dearly.

 

I just finished tracking a song that should never have been written and having been written should never have been heard by anybody. We cannot save others from themselves.

I don't think that can be taught, it has to be experienced in the real world. Which is why nobody just stays in school until they pass on. :laugh:

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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People can (and should) be paid to play the janitor and have a sense of usefulness, the same with proper (..) system management, switching on a mixer or pulling up the standard programs to do some audio work.

 

It's a wholly different thing to create beauty out of bits and have a form of morality befitting a musician to make quality original materials regardless of being able to follow the fashion of setting up a turntable and get some party to pay for the principle.

 

T

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Another aspect to what I've been doing to my new project: Concentrating on one aspect. Like yesterday, I concentrated on listening to the bass for consistency among the tracks.

 

Bass is of primary importance! I've been experimenting with my bass tones and I think I'm getting closer to what I want going direct. Tech 21 Sansamp Bass Driver DI has a parallel output at the front end. Since I use EMG active pickups (P-bass), there is minimal if any loading. The parallel output has lately found a new home going into an ART VLA Pro II for a bit of compression. The Sansamp gets the low end pulled out and a fair amount of harmonic distortion added. 2 separate tracks on the DAW and then I can mix/blend those two tones to suit my purpose. It only takes a bit of the Sansamp distortion to make the bass "pop" without sounding too fuzzy. The low end is smooth and full.

 

Will be testing on tiny, crappy plug in speakers (battery powered for cell phone headphone outs) to get the bass audible there. Back and forth, round and round, like a buzzard I spiral earthward... :)

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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