Subject:Mastering question
Posted by: martin7
Date:11/19/2006 5:06:01 AM
I'm at that point where I'm looking at the best way to compress/limit an essentially spoken word based album with lots of sound effects/environmental sounds and background music. Any recommendations in regards Acid Family plug ins that I might try? m7 |
Subject:RE: Mastering question
Reply by: MacMoney
Date:11/19/2006 6:06:21 AM
Hi Try the Sony Wave Hammer. Try some of the presets for a good starting point like Master for 16-bit or Voice George Ware |
Subject:RE: Mastering question
Reply by: martin7
Date:11/19/2006 11:37:46 AM
I'll try that - thanks. I'm hearing sharp digital noise on the edge of s sounds. I imagine this is an eq thing but should I hunt it down with a straight eq or the multi band dynamics plug in? |
Subject:RE: Mastering question
Reply by: jumbuk
Date:11/19/2006 5:42:57 PM
I did a CD that mixes spoken word with sound FX and background music. "To the Guru" is a good track example. Go here to listen: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jumbuktu I used Acid and SoundForge, but I mainly used the Waves Native Power Pack plug-ins. Here is what I used and the Sony equivalents: Voice compression: Waves C1 compressor and gate (Sony graphic dynamics) Voice EQ: Waves Q10 (Sony track EQ or graphic) Reverb: Waves trueverb (Sony Reverb) Overall limiting: Waves L2 (Sony WaveHammer) The Waves EQ and Reverb are noticeably higher quality than the Sony plug-ins, but the Sony compressors should be Ok. |
Subject:RE: Mastering question
Reply by: DKeenum
Date:11/19/2006 6:35:40 PM
"I'm hearing sharp digital noise on the edge of s sounds. I imagine this is an eq thing but should I hunt it down with a straight eq or the multi band dynamics plug in?" It's called Sibilance. The "s"s actually distort. One of the eqs in SF (and I think it comes with acid) have a deesser patch. You can also get specific desser vsts. I know waves has one. The may even be free ones. But what ever you use you'll have to experiment with it. Sibilance is best delt with when you are recording. You can usually position the mic and use a pop screen to minimize or eleminate sibilance. Again, you have to experiment to find out what is best. |
Subject:RE: Mastering question
Reply by: MacMoney
Date:11/20/2006 5:57:42 AM
Hi Jumbuk I use Waves L2 or L3 for my mastering but he only has the Sony plugins. George Ware |
Subject:RE: Mastering question
Reply by: martin7
Date:11/20/2006 7:08:31 AM
Thanks everyone for the info and support. I've done a render using a timeworks eq followed by a pass with Wave hammer set on the default 'Voice' settings and it sounds good, although I'm wary of having subjective ears. I'm tempted to get a hold of the Waves Native Power Pack plug-ins to see if there would be a notable benefit. As far as the sibilence is concerned - I'm not hearing it on my monitors (Genelec 8030) or head phones - only on my crap panasonic blaster but as I imagine/hope othersmight play my stuff on something of similar quality, I'm not sure how far to pursue it - ie adding another eq (de esser) into the plug in chain. I'm guessing it should go in at track rather than master level. Is that right? m7 |
Subject:RE: Mastering question
Reply by: jumbuk
Date:11/20/2006 2:40:59 PM
"I'm tempted to get a hold of the Waves Native Power Pack plug-ins to see if there would be a notable benefit. " You can download a 30-day trial to see if they will help. The Waves plugins are super-expensive, but the NPP is reasonable value for money. I couldn't live without it. "I'm not sure how far to pursue it - ie adding another eq (de esser) into the plug in chain. I'm guessing it should go in at track rather than master level. Is that right?" A de-esser is actually a compressor with a frequency sensitive sidechain, not a EQ. Yes, it should go on the voice track if sibilance is the problem - but are you sure that is the case? Is the problem only showing up when the vocal hits an "ss" sound? If not, then you might have a different problem. Make sure your track isn't going over 0 dB. I generally set my limiter to max out at -0.3 dB to make sure I don't end up with digital clipping. |
Subject:RE: Mastering question
Reply by: martin7
Date:11/21/2006 3:07:35 PM
Thank you for your advice and I enjoyed listening to 'To the Guru'. I could definitly hear the fine compression on your voice. I think I've got a sibilant issue but also a raspy hot edge to some of the male voices - particularly pronounced on cheap speakers. I've gone through it carefully, removed all the track level sony compressors and I'm not clipping and still the voices sound edgy too me. In eq terms its around 1.25k but if I drop it even a little it all sounds flat. |