Recording - October 2009 - 26

TV. This stem consists of the mix minus the lead vocals, and thus it usually contains all the intruments and any chorus or background vocals. 3) Instrumental Track 4) Any splits or stems that represent any doubts that you may have,though this should be covered in advance with a consultation with the mastering engineer. We are not shy to recommend certain combinations of stems if we hear weaknesses in your mix that you were having difficulty handling. It’s important to send all these elements ahead of time, before you arrive at the session. In my case, my assistant assembles all your elements and listens carefully with headphones for noises and any issues that could slow down the mastering session. Let’s say I’m working on a mix and decide to call you asking for advice in order to then provide you with a better mix. What might you suggest? Well, the first thing I may suggest is that you provide those stems as safeties, just in case we have to raise or lower the lead vocal in the mastering, due to the mastering processing affecting the sound, or a mix decision that wasn’t quite right, or the juxtaposition of two songs revealing extreme differences between vocal levels. I listen closely to the dynamics and the impact of your rock and uptempo tunes; if I feel that you have compromised these (too much or too little dynamics) I may suggest a remix. I listen to make sure the lead vocal is expressive and has not been overcompressed. you could conceivably exeed -3 dBFS on the highest peak and still be safe, but why play with fire when 24 bit recording permits low levels without losing signal to noise ratio or sound quality? Even if your recording never peaks above –10 dBFS it’s still going to be fine. It is the average level of your mix that determines more about its quality (measured on an averaging meter, or a KSystem meter). I recommend your mix should not exceed –14 dBFS RMS if you want to have a dynamic (and loud) master. And in fact I recommend a lower RMS level, I recommend mixing to K-20 on the K-20 meter if you want to ensure good dynamics and an impacting sound in the master. The percussion has to be able to speak, and the higher your RMS level, the harder it will be to speak as the percussion peaks have to appear to speak above a dense and compressed RMS backround. Do not try to emulate loud masters—mix to a good standard and turn up your own monitor volume if it doesn’t sound loud enough. From that point on it should just sound good and you can ignore the meters. Let’s say that I am not satisfied with the sound of a mix, is it worth moving on the to next stage—mastering—thinking that this will change the whole sound of the mix? That’s the worst decision you can make. A poor mix rarely turns into a good master. I say “rarely” because in mastering we have some very powerful techniques (like multiband compression) that we leave in reserve to deal with bad mixes. But it’s a bad idea to plan on that as the whole job will be a compromise. Who would plan on making a bad mix? It’s a compromise. “Mix to a good standard and turn up your own monitor volume if it doesn’t sound loud enough.” I listen to make sure that the bass instrument is speaking well, that we can hear the notes and it’s not just a wall of sound. I listen to the bass and bass drum relationship, because these are not always easy to rebalance in a mastering session. I listen to the bass drum to see if it has a good balance between the beater and the body of the drum. I listen to the relationship among three key elements: melody, rhythm and lead vocal—to see if you are getting the best “hit” quality, because all three of these elements must speak to drive the song. I listen to the quality of the cymbals to see if they have a good tonality. If the cymbals are going to need more or less emphasis, turning up or turning down the high end in mastering is not always a good thing, as it affects the vocals and the keyboards and the guitars. Everything in mastering is interactive, so we listen with our experienced ears to see if any eq in mastering is going to negatively affect one important instrument while it benefits another. I then try to decide if any specialized mastering techniques (such as multiband compression) can fix or deal with the mixing issues that are left, or if it is better for me to recommend a remix. Or if you are not up to a remix for any reason, if by giving me specialized stems I can take care of your bass instrument issue, for example. What level should a mix have so you can work without trouble at the mastering stage? Measuring the peak level of a mix tells us almost nothing about its quality. As long as your digitally-measured highest peak of the loudest song does not exceed, say, –3 dBFS, you are safe from the peak point of view. And if you are absolutely sure of your metering accuracy and you are using intersample peak meters (which are very rare), then 26 What are some of the reoccurring or most common mistakes or issues found in recordings that you receive? Bass mistakes. My latest motto is “Bass—-The Final Frontier”. People mixing on small speakers sitting on a table or console, and not getting the bass and bass drum right, producing lumpy, thick, undefined bass, too loud bass, or conversely, too loud and heavy bass drum and very weak or undefined bass instrument.This is an increasing problem in the project studio world and was not a problem when dealing with more experienced professional mixing engineers. That said, many current professional mixing engineers are having great success mixing at home, because they have experienced ears, they choose good monitors, and they acoustify their studios. It’s also a real skill to mix a bass instrument right, and even with the best monitoring it requires a skilled mixing engineer. What considerations must one take when a song is mastered for Internet play (MySpace, for instance) and when mastering for TV or radio? Since MySpace, YouTube and the Radio employ strong compression when broadcasting, there are no special considerations at all that won’t ruin the sound even more. Just remember compression on top of compression on top of compression usually doesn’t sound good. If you make a dynamic, impacting recording and mix you will be rewarded with better sound on the destination medium. A song should live and breathe. The choruses should feel alive and (generally) louder than the verses. The lead vocal’s expression should come through by the dynamics. The more expression that comes through in the playing and the mixing, the easier it is for me to make a great master. I usually can take any mix up about a letter grade. So if you deliver a B+ mix, I might be able to make an A+ master. Bob Katz can be reached via his website www.digido.com RECORDING OCTOBER 2009

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Recording - October 2009

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