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Post by jeromemason on Dec 19, 2018 15:22:15 GMT -6
Most of this is mixing tips...but I guess I’m really looking for answers starting with the source. I have been tracking through the UAD B15 and it’s probably my favorite. Also have the Kemper with a bunch of different profiles...but I’m still not getting the punch that I want. I usually find myself using a resonant curve with bass starting pretty high up...I’m always adding mids in my bass...but I do need to try boosting some of the harmonics in the 200-400 range. I also need to pay for a damn setup. Well that's kind of the thing..... On sessions I get that are cut in the best of the best rooms with the best of the best players and a top producer, the bass I get is pretty bland. On rare occasions I may get a DI and Amp, but, most of the time, like 99% of the time it's a DI. They just make sure it's pretty flat and no notes are poking etc. I see it as my job to get it to pop and have mojo.
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Post by jeromemason on Dec 19, 2018 13:56:55 GMT -6
Also I forgot to mention, do yourself a favor and grab the BX sub synth plug. Do a mult of the bass and dial in harmonics that when the lowest octave note is hit, the BX plugin makes a grind around the 200hz-300hz region. Blend that in with your bass track and it'll knock your hat off. I think it sounds great, kind of let's you get a nice big full bass tone with some mojo.
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Post by jeromemason on Dec 19, 2018 13:51:21 GMT -6
Distortion. Some call it saturation, but what you need are the mid-frequency harmonics to define the sound. Some people get it from pushing an amp. some get it from DI, some mix both. I got some raw tracks from a major mix guy a while ago and I was aghast at how mid-range heavy the bass tone was when solo'd.. And conversely how little low end was actually present in the bass guitar track. It sounded super fat and heavy and defined in the mix, but solo'd it was a twangy mess of mids and highs with some distortion with very little bass below maybe 100hz. And yet I just couldn't believe how great it sounded in a mix based on the solo'd track. I'm talking midrange had to be 6-10dB hotter than the bass frequencies, if not more. I was also surprised at how much distortion was on the track and yet that gritty sound disappeared in the mix as well. I think the thing that fools a lot of folks with bass is that they expect it to be nothing but low frequencies, but then it just becomes a muddy lump in the mix under all the other stuff that has midrange to define it and they tend to keep pushing the low end expecting for it to finally show up in the mix at some point. They end up cutting the lows from everything else and the mix ends up strangely thin sounding even with tons of bass guitar pumping away. Personally I've started getting a straight DI sound, then going back and reamping through a Sansamp with some medium saturation/distortion, and then again through a pushed Ampeg SVT for the low grunt. Blending these two can give you a good tone, but watch those lows. This is a very very good post. It's impossible for me to solo the bass and do treatment and expect it to cut the mix and create a foundation with the kick. I have to start with EQ, which most of the time I'm led to boost 8 or 10db of 800hz and I always seem to HPF to the lowest octave note of the root and it would surprise a lot to know it cuts what you'd think is the sub but when it's in the mix it just doesn't work that way, then I use the JST and I find I dial so much in that it's just shy of fuzzy, then finally the compression which usually peaks around 7db. When I'm done if I solo the bass it's pretty much exactly as you've said..... full of mids, loads of overdrive and rolled off much higher than some would think, yet when it's in the mix it's punch, full and plays nice with the kick. Resist hitting the solo button when you dial in the bass and kick. Get the whole mix going and HPF and over drive it until your mix starts jumping out of the speakers with dynamics. If you don't all you'll end up with is a flat up against the wall sounding mix and it's because all the bandwidth most speakers can handle is eaten up by all those sub freq's.
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Post by jeromemason on Dec 19, 2018 12:48:56 GMT -6
Isn't that basically just distortion? Eh, you'd have to try it. It does more than just that, it gives pretty much anything you put it on balls. Try it.
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Post by jeromemason on Dec 19, 2018 12:09:03 GMT -6
Well, this is a post thing, but a lot of the bass I get on tracks isn't bold and ballzy.... But just get this plugin and dial a shit load until it barely breaks up...... The JST Clip. That plugin can be used on any damn thing and it'll make it sound better, try it.
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Post by jeromemason on Dec 18, 2018 18:18:02 GMT -6
Yeah I forgot to mention the input IC which is just a differential, doesn't actually do any gain, but, it does make a massive difference in how these sound. You can use any one of the two you listed on an SOIC to DIP8 board and rip the jrc558 or whatever is in there out. A lot of guys will say that because it's not making gain it doesn't matter, but trust me, it does. Hot swap them and you'll hear it really quick.
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Post by jeromemason on Dec 18, 2018 18:13:19 GMT -6
I think “g” Garth Brooks set the cheese bar pretty high. Tom Segura (comedian) pokes fun quite regularly at “g”. I remember being a kid and thinking “radio country is wack, Garth is corny, but the old stuff is cool” I was never really exposed to country other than sifting thru the dials and TV. Then he did that psycho Gaines thing, which Segura claims has been wiped from existence? The cheese has been around for years. But thats just my opinion. People obviously like “g” and also like the current 808 stuff. I like modern pop, always liked pop, I think the country versions is like bad songs in the genre (mentioned in the video) but thats just my opinion, and Im old. Garth is cheesey. Lots of his songs have been pretty amazing. The man is a genius at marketing himself and I would be willing to bet he's probably the wealthiest artist to date. If you go back and listen to those songs, I mean at that time NO ONE was coming up with stuff like that, and the way he performed both in the studio and live made them even more valuable. Garth is Cheesy because he chooses to be and knows what's made him rich, but he's a true artist, the man can sell out a show in 10 mins or less.... and chooses not to allow any of his own catalog to be streamed. He's a nice guy at that.
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Post by jeromemason on Dec 18, 2018 15:41:40 GMT -6
All I did was use the ED A 2503's from Capi and I believe I have SL1731's in them. I also trimmed the Q pot to the max it could go. I wanted something that acted like a car stereo EQ, where when you boost you can hear it boost and when you cut you can hear it cut. They pretty much just stay static now though...... Almost every mix benefits from where I have them set and it allows me to work much quicker, also you don't get a bunch of phase shifts stacking up by boosting every track, the broad lift across the buss is much more efficient. Also the transformers and opamps in them really impart heavily so choose what you put in there very wisely. You definitely want premium shelf opamps and transformers on these EQ's. Other than that, mine are pretty much stock.
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Post by jeromemason on Dec 17, 2018 22:41:02 GMT -6
I don't think there is anything new about this honestly..... Even if you go back 40 years and listen to multiple genre's you can hear influences from them just like now. Country music is the melting pot of pretty much all music. You can put a ton of styles of music behind a good story and people are going to like it. And, Country music thank God seems to get that people want to hear certain things and I think that's why Country music is the largest selling genre on the planet. It's cyclical, it'll change and Country will go off into it's own for a while like back in the Alan, George, Garth etc. days. It always does, and it'll be when people get bored of hearing all the snaps and pop influence. I've pretty much taken the line of "if that's what you think will sell records, I'm happy to mix it." I just can't afford to have grand idealistic views anymore, I'm doing this as a living, to support my family and if I want to hear music I personally like, I know where to find it. I know I was one of the biggest "make Country, Country again" guys but I'm in this business to make money and don't have the luxury of not doing something because I would rather it not have an influence of pop. Like I said, Country will go back into it's own little thing again, and it'll be timed exactly on point when people want something new and refreshing. Just the way I look at it these days fella's. Who said they were turning down work? I’m not. I can shovel shit as well as the next guy. The people in charge have gone from being tastemakers and song people to bean counters and focus groups. Lol well I surely hope you didn't derive I was pointing my response at you. You know better than that. I don't think it's all shit though, I mean I do enjoy seeing my daughter and wife singing along to some of the pop country female stuff I've done, they love it. I really think that part of the genre isn't going anywhere (anytime soon anyways) but I do think we are going to start seeing some more of the artistic and story telling music coming back in, there's room for it all in the Country genre. I honestly believe that's what the labels want, they want it all under the hat of Country and they're doing a damn good job at making that happen. I'm grateful honestly they're smart enough to have an eclectic catalog of music for every listener out there. It means more work for guys like you and me. As long as it's pumped out of this town guys like you and me will be making money. At least that's how I see it.
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Post by jeromemason on Dec 17, 2018 15:11:39 GMT -6
Look at the Emotiva stuff, I'm pretty sure they're up with the times. I'm not sure the Bryston stuff, the older like the 3BST and all can do what you're needing to do. Sounds like you're going to have to take those specs and call someone that can sell you what you need. Joel over at WestLake here in town is doing a good job at tracking things down for me and getting me taken care of, he's pretty sharp.
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Post by jeromemason on Dec 17, 2018 15:02:09 GMT -6
I don't think there is anything new about this honestly..... Even if you go back 40 years and listen to multiple genre's you can hear influences from them just like now. Country music is the melting pot of pretty much all music. You can put a ton of styles of music behind a good story and people are going to like it. And, Country music thank God seems to get that people want to hear certain things and I think that's why Country music is the largest selling genre on the planet.
It's cyclical, it'll change and Country will go off into it's own for a while like back in the Alan, George, Garth etc. days. It always does, and it'll be when people get bored of hearing all the snaps and pop influence. I've pretty much taken the line of "if that's what you think will sell records, I'm happy to mix it." I just can't afford to have grand idealistic views anymore, I'm doing this as a living, to support my family and if I want to hear music I personally like, I know where to find it. I know I was one of the biggest "make Country, Country again" guys but I'm in this business to make money and don't have the luxury of not doing something because I would rather it not have an influence of pop. Like I said, Country will go back into it's own little thing again, and it'll be timed exactly on point when people want something new and refreshing.
Just the way I look at it these days fella's.
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Post by jeromemason on Dec 12, 2018 14:06:44 GMT -6
That's high praise, jeromemason . Out of curiosity, what subs are you running? I have a pair of passive radiator types from Seismic Audio that are modded. They're 2 10's and they sound really great. I'd highly suggest bypassing the ported speaker route if at all possible. If you're not going sealed try find passive radiator designs, they're honestly my favorite even over totally sealed these days.
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Post by jeromemason on Dec 11, 2018 2:51:59 GMT -6
I went with the Focal Shapes and haven't looked back. I used to have two sets of monitors to reference on, but once I put in my Focal Shapes (the 50's) I totally quit even turning the other pair on, and now I have a pair of $1,600 monitors sitting on the floor in my bedroom closet.
The Focal Shapes, they just relay everything to you so purely you can't get it wrong, I mean if there is an issue, regardless of the frequency area, they reveal it until you fix it and for me that's what you want. I think what I love the most about them is they fixed two things for me that were always something that pissed me off on the first car listen which was, muddiness surrounding or in the vocal and precise interpretation of the dynamics. Because they have the passive radiator you get the sound of sealed cab monitors, but you also get the fluffy bottom of ported speakers, they relay that dynamic information so so good. NS10's, the only damn reason I ever used those monitors was because since they were a sealed cab/paper cone, whatever the snare sounded like on them was spot on, but you paid for that little bit of knowledge when your ears gave out after 3 hours on them. The Shapes, they relay that 10x better, but for every instrument, vocal and drum head there is, and you can listen to them for hours and hours and your ears feel fresh when you're done.
I'll second the stereo sub suggestion as well. You can go with a much less expensive pair of monitors if you'll put in stereo subs. You can take so much strain off your monitors by dialing in those subs to cover the low's and sub's freq information. Having a single subwoofer is good, but when you go stereo subs, if you don't have the bottom end dialed in right you can instantly hear it because of phase etc. What I've found is when you set up your monitoring situation, think of how the most complex stereo listening situation is going to be out in the world, try to set up your monitoring rig to mimic that and make it sound good. You'll be totally surprised by how your mixes will sound good on any system or headphones you listen on, even TV's. I got caught up in having 2 sets of monitors, a mono bluetooth speaker, pair of audiophile headphones, pair of apple earbuds and finally a TV to sit and run my mixes through to make sure it'd translate when all I had to do was put the money and time into just 1, just 1 system that will translate to all of those. I love how much space I have and how much time I'm saving.
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Post by jeromemason on Oct 20, 2018 18:46:24 GMT -6
Very cool Brad!
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Post by jeromemason on Oct 18, 2018 11:06:53 GMT -6
That’s great for going into a summing mixer but yeah I surely wouldn’t want my monitoring to have transformers in it. When I came up with my monitoring chain I tried to think about how music was reproduced in the outside world.
With car stereo’s going mostly 3-way now and having good quality speakers, decent amps both pre amp and power amp and most cars using DSP to tune the systems to the car cabin, and that happens in like XL Fords now. Also iPhones and laptops are setup to reproduce good Sonics. In the past when NS-10’s were the choice it was because if you think about a 1991 Ford F-150 XL it had fords stock coaxial speakers with really poor electronics, it made sense to mix on the concept of “if it sounds good on these it sounds good anywhere” approach was what was best to take. Now that cars are the way they are and most consumer electronics use some form of DSP to reproduce high quality, the more “straightwire” of a sound you can get, the better.
The Focal Shapes still for me beat out anything I have tried, truly they recreate a very “straightwire” sound. The Pro-Ject S2, being dual mono setup and having that “straightwire” approach does extremely well. Finally the Satori I use for my controller is built to be extremely pristine and “straightwire.” For me this setup has been an amazing investment. I remember when I went to the Focal Shapes, the first EP I did for one of my regular producers, his comments came back like this “man, it feels like you’ve taken your skills up 10 notches..... the dynamics and balance of this EP is exponentially better.” That producer already loved my mixing but for him to say that not knowing I’d upgraded my monitors let me know just how vital monitoring is and also made me go back and rework my monitoring chain, which after I put in the S2, the same producer came back with another praise, but it was on how much more solid the bass and low end sounded.
Transformers in the monitoring path are going to give you a false sense of what your mixes will sound like on modern systems.
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Post by jeromemason on Oct 11, 2018 12:15:30 GMT -6
I would highly suggest getting Izotope Ozone 8 and using which ever dither it suggests. You definitely must dither.
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Post by jeromemason on Oct 10, 2018 19:28:02 GMT -6
Destin was extremely lucky..... My parents live east of it so it was a bit more scary.
And while I was born and bred in Destin, I have no interest in being in that town unless I'm skippering a charter to some of my hidden structures where the big grouper and snappers live. Too many tourist..... My in-laws just moved from Destin to just north of Dothan AL because of it and they were almost like beach bums at one point..... It just has gotten so bad ALL year long now. Used to we knew during spring break and summer it was what it was..... Now it's year round and just not the place I was raised. I really hope this hurricane didn't move my fishing spots out in the gulf..... It took me all of my high school and college summers of dropping bit by bit to build those up, and all the spots my buddies traded with me. Hopefully the hurricane didn't move them because if they got moved just a few feet my GPS numbers will be worthless.
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Post by jeromemason on Oct 10, 2018 18:45:19 GMT -6
Yes! So so many people need massive prayers tonight...... Truly the most devastating storm I think near about anyone with the exception of those in Puerto Rico have seen. No doubt for the US mainland.
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Post by jeromemason on Oct 10, 2018 17:49:38 GMT -6
Thank you all, your prayers didn't go unanswered. My whole family and all my close old friends are all checked in and doing good.
That was truly a scary one. I rode out Ivan...... I saw long leaf pines that have tap roots 8' in the earth get plucked right out of the ground and snap like tooth picks. That was later I found out 75 sustained and 110mph gusts. When I think those people had to endure 175mph wind gusts it made my heart sink. I didn't get a wink of sleep as I watched that thing go from a small impact storm to the 3rd worst on record our country has ever witnessed. I see houses that implode and I've not ever seen anything like that since I saw the videos of Andrew when I was a kid. I think this storm was much worse than Andrew and to me that is just more and more of a way to get my parents and grandmother moved up here to Nashville. I think this storm really was the final nail in the coffin on my parents being stubborn about me moving them up here. My family is 5 generations from Destin. I would be an extremely rich man right now, but when my family sold off, land in Destin was selling for $2,500 an acre where the Destin Commons is.
I really can't thank everyone enough for the thoughts, prayers and extremely heartfelt words. It means a lot and it was great to have a community of, if nothing else, virtual friends I knew would pray in whatever way they could and I am extremely grateful for that. God bless you all.
JM
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Post by jeromemason on Oct 10, 2018 12:59:55 GMT -6
Thanks so much.
This storm rapidly intensified beyond what anyone could had ever imagined. My family on my side is safe, thank God. My wife's family, who my Daughter is with during fall break are in the direct line of the eye of the storm about 100 miles inland. Those homes are not built to withstand this type of wind, so to say I'm scared for my other family and my 5 year old daughter is a massive understatement.
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Post by jeromemason on Oct 10, 2018 12:41:16 GMT -6
I'm from the area that is getting hammered by Hurricane Michael. I have loads of family and friends that I can't reach and living there all my life and riding out Hurricane Ivan, this storm is 250x more powerful and that storm scared the shit out of me.
Not only that, this hurricane is holding it's power as it goes inland. My daughter is with her Grandparents who are in the direct path and the storm is projected to maintain up to a Category 3 as it hits that area. I'm terrified I don't have my daughter in my arms right now and all I can do is pray. I would ask anyone who would like to, please join me in praying for the safety of my daughter, family, friends and to all those who didn't head the warnings and chose to stay.
This is the most powerful Hurricane to hit that area in 150+ years. There's going to be loss of life most likely and many casualties. Again, if you'd like please join me in those prayers and say a special one for my little girl who's in it's direct path right now.
Thanks folks.
Jerome Mason
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Post by jeromemason on Sept 25, 2018 21:06:00 GMT -6
You can always change you inputs/outputs in the I/O setup, it's just when you go to the actual bus routing tab that you can wipe out all of your sends, volume and panning. Best way to save it is just set them all to an aux bus, then actually go into the bus routing tab, delete all the hardware busses and then hit default, then change your outputs to where you want them.
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Post by jeromemason on Sept 20, 2018 11:03:14 GMT -6
I've heard it's very good. My Antelope Satori is the most pristine sounding rack gear I've ever heard. Honestly though if I were you, I'd look at the Pro-ject S2 for your DAC and then something like my Lavry AD-10 I'm selling in the classifieds I'll make you a good deal on it and you can push the hell out of that converter to jack those volumes up without it busting up. You can get a good +6db out of it while it still sounds very smooth, that's what Lavry's are famous for. With that setup you'd be well below the Pure 2's cost and I think you'd actually have a lot more bang for your buck. Thanks Jerome. I actually bought your BLA Red Sparrow a few years back. Was chuckling to myself as I eyed your AD10 as it looks super appealing. I still have the sparrow and like it. But want something new. How would you compare the two? And more importantly, what are you going to replace the AD10 with?? Hadn't thought about using the S2. That's not a bad idea. Wish it had XLR or 1/4'' outputs though. Unbalanced RCAs would impart some noise i think into the signal chain possibly. They pop up used for around 1500-1800 now too(the Pure2) and I think thats a great price. No man, the S2 doesn't have any noise at all.... I was worried about that when I finally bought it but no joke it's dead quiet. Well if you're running the AD-10 in clear mode that's what you get, but you're able to push and push it until it starts to bust a little, and that won't sound bad, but you just pull it back a little and usually I find I'm doing like +6-9db over -0- Then you can also use the DSP models Dan created to sound like transformers and in that mode you can actually push even further..... But the converter overall sounds really great. That Sparrow was a great step into this, now I'm stepping into something else but not until I unload this one. So, I don't want to make it sound like you're following me, but you could! Haha. In all seriousness it truly is a great AD.
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Post by jeromemason on Sept 20, 2018 1:34:46 GMT -6
I got a 'grace period' upgrade to 7, having JUST moved from 5 to 6 very recently. Looking forward to using it. 6 was a big quality and efficiency boost over 5. That's great! I'll just say here that I also had RX5 and the improvements to the algo's in 6 were really good, but this one is on another level.... I think you'll know what I'm talking about once you get in there and start cranking things out, you'll notice things are much much more pure sounding and realistic. Again, try out the "Music Rebalance" because it truly will make you scratch and bang your head against the wall trying to even fathom how the hell they did that! Also for any folks looking at this software, or for guys out there doing your own editing, do yourselves a favor and make your next investment the RX7 Advanced. Working out of Nashville I don't get much that is bad, actually it's always extremely good material, but being able to use RX7 to make best even better is what keeps me working. Occasionally I'll get a snare, kick, acoustic or vocal that has clipping in it and when you used to throw that away, now the producers that hire me to mix or even just edit, they know they can send those tracks to me and I can make them sound pure again. Lol and damnit, I can't get over how much I need to stress things like the vocal de-verb.... you can take a vocal that sounds pretty good, but maybe you want it to sound like it was recorded in a room at Oceanway.... just de-verb it with RX7 to make it dry as dirt and then stick it in your favorite ambience IR. And that's not only on vocals, you can do that to every instrument, every drum head. It's a thing of beauty! Jerome
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Post by jeromemason on Sept 20, 2018 1:12:49 GMT -6
I've heard it's very good. My Antelope Satori is the most pristine sounding rack gear I've ever heard. Honestly though if I were you, I'd look at the Pro-ject S2 for your DAC and then something like my Lavry AD-10 I'm selling in the classifieds I'll make you a good deal on it and you can push the hell out of that converter to jack those volumes up without it busting up. You can get a good +6db out of it while it still sounds very smooth, that's what Lavry's are famous for. With that setup you'd be well below the Pure 2's cost and I think you'd actually have a lot more bang for your buck.
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