Screen Gems

[Oldrottenhead]

i think it was a great song before the remastering but this version has the edge tho i think at the end of the day that no matter the mastering a strong song always shines through this is a diamond.

[OsCKilO]

Horney Harold Strikes!!!!!!

And Kicks ass!!!!!


OMG


This is Fecking Awesome Nigel!

[launched]

I think this is a rocking tune, Nigel. Listened to it this morning, and am having another go right now. Sounds great on PC speakers.

I'll play it in my vehicle later to see what the difference - It has serious bass response, so I'll know if it sounds to boomy. If I put a straightedge to the rearview mirror and get deflection of at least +- 1/2" I'll know everything is ok! 

I had a particularly boomy bass track the other day and couldn't fix it - Had to record the part over again. This technique could help me. I hope you make your settings with your remastering patch publicly available 

Oh yeah, did I say this tune freakin' rocks?

Peace,

Mark

[Ferryman_1957]

Thanks all, glad you see the improvement. I really felt it's a much punchier sound and it sounds better on all gear to me, from cheap speakers and nice phones. I hesitate to let the Ferryman secrets out into the real world but I will share with you all what I did.

First thing I did was to read up on mastering, prompted by an article in Computer Music which I picked up on the off chance. This had a lot of interesting stuff about mastering, including compressors and limiters. It made me think that there was probably a lot more I could do with the three-band compressor on the MBR which (as it turns out) is quite sophisticated. I also found a couple of good articles on line about compression here (two parts):

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec00/articles/adcompression.htm
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan01/articles/advanced.asp

I realized that I was trying to get the sound I wanted by fiddling with EQ when actually it was mastering compression I needed. The "Mix Down" mastering patch was what I strated with as it seemed pretty close to the parameters in one of the articles. So here's the settings that I used:

IN: Gain +3db Dly Time 10ms Split L 315Hz Split H 3.15kHz

CMP: On
Lo: Threshold -9dB
Ratio 1:3.2
Attack 30ms
Release 690ms

Mid: Threshold -9dB
Ratio 1:2
Attack 20ms
Release 500ms

Hi: Threshold -15dB
Ratio 1:2
Attack 20ms
Release 301ms

LIM: On, Threshold -1dB, Attack 2ms, Release 1377ms

OUT: 0dB

The compression thresholds and ratios were mainly what I played with, the attack and release rates I am still getting to grips with.

The three-band compressor is really a great way to get rid of boominess without touching the EQ. EQ is a very blunt instrument, compression appears to be more like the surgeon's knife. I'm sounding like an expert but I'm really just a kluger that read a couple of articles, but it certainly seemed to work.

This is a very cool box indeed!!

Cheers,

Nigel

[Tangled Wires]

Great song the first time around...even better the second!!

Thanks for sharing your mastering tips too.

[henwrench]

thanks for the breakdown of your parameters. Once was a time when frequency conscience compressors was the domain of fully equipped mastering studios....

   don't know if you play guitar (I know you play bass) but heres my guitar patch that I use all the time with my LP middle pick up position, all controls up full...

AMP
PREAMP    ON
TYPE       CLEAN
VOL          40
BASS        100
MIDDLE      70
TREBLE      80
PRES        100
MASTER    100
BRIGHT      ON

SPEAKER
SPEAKER SIM  ON
TYPE       VO DRV
MIC SET     2cm
MIC LVL    100
DIR LVL      0

NS   OFF

FX    ON
COMPRESSOR
SUSTAIN    25
ATTACK     95
LEVEL        80

DLY      OFF


    Sounds great for rhythm or lead, it's all I use with my Goldtop. Hope you like it!


                                                    henwrench

[scottieD]

Killer tune....I think you guys could make it....this kind of Garage Rock is big right now....need a Manager?  Will work for Beer!

[Ferryman_1957]

thanks for the breakdown of your parameters. Once was a time when frequency conscience compressors was the domain of fully equipped mastering studios....

   don't know if you play guitar (I know you play bass) but heres my guitar patch that I use all the time with my LP middle pick up position, all controls up full...

    Sounds great for rhythm or lead, it's all I use with my Goldtop. Hope you like it!

Henwrech, you are so right about the sophistication of this gear. I'm amazed at what we have in a small box that cost so little, it trumps many of the studios I have use over the years.

I do play guitar, thanks for the patch which I shall definitely try!

Tony, there's two more on the way, am just working on mixing and mastering the second one.

Oh and Scottie, we are too old and too ugly to make it these days! This is just for fun although we do want to play the occasional gig - we will do that for beer!

Cheers,

Nigel

[launched]

Thanks for the tech disclosure, Nigel! I know it was tough to do, giving up trade secrets and all!

I listened to both mixes last night on better audio - The second mix does bring more punch and isolation. I can hear all the instruments more clearly - You even have enough room now to crank the bass parts up a bit more, but that might be another bassist talking  . Seriously, that punch is excellent...

I also appreciate that you are sharing your mixing/mastering experiences with us. You're helping make it all click together for me!!

Mark

[Gritter]

Incredible song!!!!

Tight as(s) shit my man! Love it!!!!

excellent first mix - frickin' super excellent second mix!!!!!

Awesome energy, musicianship...gets in, shakes you up and gets out quickly!!!!!!!!!

Very original...the punk attitude has kept you sounding young!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!