| Nizzle wrote on Thu, 05 January 2006 12:57 |
I am really curious how to get the low end right during the Mastering process(specifically for Pop music). Are you folks using HPF's and accentuating the usable low end or are you using it all and squashing the hell out of it and then blending it into the mix.
would you say it is relatively commonplace to have a HPF staring areoun 60Hz. with a rather gradual rolloff.
Please enlighten me as to a typical treatment for low end (assuming you re handed a balanced mix)
thanks.
|
WEll, if you're handed a well-balanced mix, then the low end doesn't need any help at all, does it?
If I'm pushed against the wall to deliver a hot master, then yes, the low end takes up the most power, so it's CONCEIVABLE I might purposely do a high pass to try to get just a little more "room". but I really can't remember when I have EVER consciously done that.
As for using a high pass and following that by EQ, over here that's strictly governed by what I HEAR! If it's got thumps in the subsonic region that are unmusical and if it sounds better with a high pass, then we put in just the amount of high pass that makes it sound better. But the determination of what is unmusical and what is musical in the subsonic region is extremely subjective and important to know the genre and what makes it "Feel good".
After a high pass (if necessary), then adjusting different bass frequency regions with a peak/dip filter may be necessary if certain bass notes or bass frequency regions are too low or too high (again by ear, and also must be determined what is musical). Each genre of music has its style of bass, and each generation of bass style is different, too. Some modern day reggae with electronic bass is quite heavy on the deep bottom and I don't particularly like it because it doesn't translate as well to a wide variety of systems as the older "classic" reggae.
As for how steep the high pass, I've been preferring VERY steep lately with a linear phase filter to boot. That's if I don't want to touch the bass drum but only the subsonics below, for example. If the bass drum is indeed too heavy AND there are subsonics as well, then conceivably I'd use a less steep high pass.
In general, 50 or 60 Hz is an extreme case to be used only with very boomy or poorly executed mixes. It is not uncommon over here to high pass at 20 Hz or below and very steeply, if I use a high pass. Many many many many productions leave here with no high pass at all.
That's my take in a nutshell.
