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[zeropoint]

great song, as i said in a previous post. alot of angsty, zany energy. dark yet playful sound. alot of nice elements there.

anyhoo, my thoughts on the pre-masters from my group, of which i think 4 went missing or maybe i have them but the names are different. so this is what i have so far:



(spl for each was brought to a k-14 (a-weighted))



twerk- nice subtle eq in all of the right places. cleared it up a little bit. did not over limit. i like it.


MHYNES- alot of distortion. some kind of reverb or stereo widening there. it's different, but i don't know if different in a good way. the distrtion is distracting. the guitar switched sides? hmm, i don't know. i think over processed. the break down is almost made into pure white noise. very abrupt cut off at the end too.


LudwigM- opened it up nicely. shaved off just enough meat without castrating it. decent fade at the end. did not over limit. well done.


gertvanhoof- basically just compressed and a relatively flat transfer. good job on holding back, but i think a little more could have been done for tone balance. decent fade. overall good job.


BiigNiick- brought out a little of the punch quite nicely. brightened smoothly and subtly. did not over limit. sounds more balanced than the others. i prefer it. nice fade. very good.


Herbeck- too much limiting for my taste, although considering how much the peaks were shaped, it is more transparent than what could be expected. i'm sure the eq was used to help the limiter in this regard , and it worked out nicely, except that it has been dulled  a little in the process. and the breakdown is where it is evident that this was really pushed. not too bad though, considering. there is some skill there, for sure. nice fade. all in all, as my own personal preferance, i would like the dynamics to be preserved better. even just a dB more of room could really make a nice difference here.


Zeropoint- brightened and expanded. i can sense the "room" better. well balanced. bass maybe cut just a tad too short, but as a compromise. it really allows the other instruments to get through and have some room to swing in. good fade and noise reduc at and. breakdown did not "break down' as bad. all in all, though, a little too "spacey". to do it again i would have added less k-stereo and pushed the kick fundamental maybe a dB more. max GR on limiting was 1.5. i just couldn't push it any more than that.



mp3 test: (96 kb):
(this is just based on the subjective distortion that resulted after compression. 5/5 is ALMOST no distortion. 1/5 would be where the distortion seems to be louder than the original signal.)


twerk- 5/5


MHYNES- 2/5


LudwigM-5/5


gertvanhoof-4/5


BiigNiick-4/5


Herbeck-2/5


Zeropoint-3/5




thank you once again for this opportunity to study with you.

[gertvanhoof]

The last few weeks have been quite busy over here, hence the relative silence on my behalf. I'll try and have my findings up here by tomorrow night.

Best regards and thanks to all concerned,
Gert

[UGP]

ok, hope everything is well with you. thanks for letting me know.

to the others, unless they changed their name on the master they uploaded or something, i'm just gonna go with what i've got for now. which, including mine, is 7 entries out of 11 sign-ups for my group. oh well..

I'm fine, it's my friend who is a widower (cancer at only 34 years old, she didn't smoke, was a vegetarian, great outlook on life... cancer sucks) 
Anyway it's a good song and wish I could have joined in the fun, Can't wait till the next one!

[KAyo]

Thanks for the heads up guys.
Will wait another day or two, to start the Techniques page, so that most can get their comments in for the crowd.

UGP: Hoping, all will be well. Amen.
Stay strong.

Regards,
KAyo

[gertvanhoof]

I’m quite aware of what they say about tastes and colours, but I’ll give it a try anyway. Telegraph-style and in alphabetical order…

aivoryuk:
Loud, yet punchy and engaging. I like the definition in the midrange (voc/gtr). Low end perhaps just a tad overwhelming at times.

BiigNiick:
Balanced, very natural sense of space. I absolutely love that snare sound.

DOMC:
Sounds a bit scooped in the midrange. Low end gets too boomy for my tastes. Stereo image is leaning towards the left. Holding back on the loudness ratio might bring some relief.

dutch:
Natural balance and dynamics. The midrange clarity is occasionally overshadowed by clouds of excessive low end.

fuse:
Compared to other entries and to the original mix, I’d like to hear a little more impact and dynamic contrast here. The snare, in particular, seems to suffer from loudness processing.

ggidluck:
A little sparse in the midrange, probably as a result of widening. The vocal sits nicely in its own space — too bad it has been detached from the rest of the mix. The overall texture has some graininess to it.

Herbeck:
You're getting close to the dragon, but the low end here is too dominant for my tastes. A shift of timbral focus towards the midrange and a gentler approach to loudness would help things fall into place.

KAyo:
A good deal of clarity seems to be lost in the process(ing). As a result, mentally decoding the information in the song might become something of a challenge.

LudwigM:
Good sense of punch and drive, natural dynamics, very musical approach to processing. I did enjoy playing air drums on this one.

Michael Hynes:
Get rid of the width processing. The focus is shifted to the extreme sides of the stereo image, the vocal disappearing in the background. General lack of presence and impact, which could easily be remedied by leaving the stereo field unaltered.

MoreSpaceEcho:
True to the source, quite subtle processing decisions. A little definition/contrast enhancement in the low end might be easier on the ear (at least on mine). I do like your less-is-more kind of approach.

Nordenstam:
Good spectral balance and dynamic contrast. Well-defined and open. Holds together well when cranked up, so I don’t see any obvious need for loudness compromises here.

Patrik_T:
I think you’ve pushed this one just a little too far. I can relate to what you’ve tried to achieve, but I think the limiting ultimately leads to a loss of definition in the mids/highs, allowing the low end to impose its booming weight on everything else.

Twerk:
Natural flow, great dynamics and impact. Three minutes of glorious guerrilla. Lovely!

Viitalahde:
Loudness and punch do get along together here, although I’d prefer a hint of breathing space around the contours. Maybe a little overcooked in the bass department, but still enough clarity to drive the song along nicely.

Waltz Mastering:
Loudness for better or for worse, with less-than-desirable side effects on the impact and the tone of the song. The snare suffers from a nasty ring which wasn’t present in the original mix (or at least not to that extent). On a positive note, I do like the texture of the vocals in your entry.

Zeropoint:
Sparse definition in the mid-spectrum, along with a hollow, phase-y quality in the stereo imaging. Obviously too much of whatever you threw at it, resulting in a loss of impact and a lack of focus.

So far for my two cents’ worth of opinion. Gentlemen, it’s been a privilege flying with you!

Best regards,
Gert

[Michael Hynes]

Thanks Gert,

This is actually helpful Data!


M

[Twerk]

It took me a while to find time to get back with my thoughts.

Here goes:

Group 2

Myself - I'm pretty happy with mine though in retrospect I would have given it a little more bottom end.

Zeropoint - I like this one but it feels a little unnaturally wide on speakers. Sounds good in cans like this though. The balance is good and it didn't hurt to turn the volume up. Was nice to see it wasn't squashed. Good fade in/out.

BiigNiick - My favorite of the group. Very nice balance, didn't squash it, and paid careful attention to keeping percussion transients alive and kicking. I would bet you didn't use compression or if you did, just the tiniest amount for color. Good fade in/out.

LudwigM - Another one I like. Good balance, kept it dynamic and the transients clear. Very light-handed with the mastering and opened it up in a subtle and pleasing way. Great levels. I think the intro noise could have been cleaned up and the fade-out tightened up just a bit.

gertvanhoof - Feels a little bit too compressed to me. Lost a little life in some of the drums but has a good balance. Could have been opened up a little more in the top but plays it safe by keeping it on the warmer side. Can crank it up pretty easily without pain. I think the intro noise could have been cleaned up a little better but definitely a good job overall.

MHYNES - This one feels pretty far off. Feels a bit squashed. Stereo field changed in an unnatural way. Lost clarity in all the upper bands of the percussion instruments. Snare is pretty much gone in the break-down. Too heavy-handed with processing in my opinion. Needs a better fade-in, and the fade-out just drops out.

Herbeck - Balance is decent though it feels a little lackluster in the upper bands. Feels a little heavy in the bottom and a bit too squashed. Transient clarity a bit lost, especially in the snares. Kick gets lost towards the end when the arrangement gets dense. Could be the limiter overreacting to the bass. Decent fade in/out.

Thanks to all for the willingness to be scrutinized!

[Herbeck]

Twerk - Nice and clear, but lacks a little energy, especially in the low mids and low end.

LudwigM -  My favorite in this group

Zeropoint - You lose more than you gain with the heavy stereo widening.               

MHYNES - The mix sounds boxy and nasal.

Gertvanhoof - To much comp in the heavy bas part, otherwise good.

BiigNiick - My second favorite

Dutch (group 1 or 2 ?) - A bit to much low end and hi mid, and to much comp in the heavy bas part.

Herbeck - The comments so far has been more or less spot on.



Cheers,

Herbeck

[Michael Hynes]

I knew when I sent this in I was somewhat in the weeds on this mix........
Thanks for the Data y'all I agree with the assessments as a whole. I typically work on acoustic stuff and singer songwriter cleanish things and learned a bunch listening to how others handled this type of mix.

Best,

Michael

[Twerk]

Yeah, I have to admit I don't work on very much music like this so it was great to hear how others handle it. If I were to do it again, I'd give it a little more weight in the bottom.

[zeropoint]

i learned alot from this too. especially hearing how the others handled it as well. i too am not used to handling a mix like this, very challenging.
this was a good learning experience.
so, once again, i thank everyone involved. 

[Nordenstam]

Hi guys!

Am late as usual, hope to get the listening round done in the weekend.

Looking forward to hear how people managed this challenge.

[DOMC]

It seems I may have been ff the mark a bit on this one - I couldnt get my head around that ringing snare...ow

Waltz - sounded a little bit boxier I liked the low power though.  I did feel I lost the vocals a tad at times
aivoryuk -  nice air I really liked your top end. still that snare grabbed me a bit.  I liked it over all. a tad bit more bottom end wouldve been nice for me
DOMC - this sucked bad I focussed on ditching that snare too much a bit too much bass and the left thing.....woopsy
fuse - felt like the snare ring was exaggerated (yes I am obsessed). a bit flat in the top end...but still not bad I liked this overall.
ggidluck - not sure what happened here it was all harsh and scratchy and not much bottom end - I didnt listen long to this one - sorry not a fan (nothing personal)
KAYO - snare, snare, snare, snare.  nice bum though . the dynamics felt a bit weird like it was jumping and pumping a little.  the vocals felt compressed and dried up a little (loosing the air in vox verb).  lost the top end a bit (masking)
nordenstam - a bit quiet - felt mid/low scooped lost a bit of definition in the bass
patrik T- a felt a little loss of the top end of the snare that nice shiny brush sound that was coming in and the cymbals it was a bit overpowered by mid/low.  but good allround
vitalahde - what ever - think your all cool with your speakers and wood strips and shiny stuff well PFFTTTTT - my favourite.  great attempt vox jumped and everything was balanced well




 

[fuse]

DOMC
Sounds a bit phasy and lack of dynamics.

Waltz Mastering
Good overall and quite loud. My favorite.

ggidluck
Thin sounding.

MoreSpaceEcho
Loud, aggressive and a tad distorted.

Viitalahde
Very good and a tad loud. My 2nd favorite.

fuse
Not bad overall. Lacking dynamic and top end.

aivoryuk
Very good overall.

Patrik_T
Good overall. Lack of top end and vocals lacking.

Nordenstam
Conservative but not bad overall.

KAyo
Loud and in your face but vocals lack.