Trying my hand at mastering

I have a software platform that I am trying to learn that will enable me to do my own mastering.  Right now, I am playing with Guardian's "Fire And Love" album and attempting to bring up the levels to a more modern production.  There is a significant difference in volume and intensity with this album versus the latter albums.  So, I am playing with this one to see what happens.  If it works, I may play with "Battle Cries" and the latest release from The Brave just to see what happens.

If my remaster is good, I will see if I can make a RAR file and share it with those of you who have it already.  If it sucks, you are not out anything and can delete it.  It is just an experiment.

That sounds interesting.
It's like you already have siad, you have to play with this.
I'm curious how it goes.
Good luck.

I have it done and made into a .rar file.  Sorry, FLAC users, but I only have it as 320 kbs MP3s.  I made it into a .rar file so it could upload faster.  You will need RarZilla, 7Zip, WinRar, or some other program to unzip this file.  If you want to hear it, shoot me a PM with your email address and I will send it.  If you haven't bought a copy, at least find a cheap cassette version so you can say you have it already.  If you don't own a copy already, then please do not request this file.

Very cool!  Mastering is something I've looked into but there is so much more to it than just adjusting levels.  It's definitely a skill that must be honed.

That is why I am practicing!

For whatever reason, uploading is taking more time.  I can't get the .rar file to upload right.  I don't know why.  I can, however, get the individually remastered tracks uploaded.  So, I will just send a link from Dropbox to anyone who owns a copy and would like to receive this.

Don't own it, but find it interesting (mastering, not the album... well, it is interesting too you know what I mean). 

I have done it with stuff too, some sound OK some do not. I have done quite a bit with vinyl records. Bring up levels, getting rid of ticks and pops and just playing around. One that I tried to do and about ruined was Die Happy Vol. II but I had the source files saved so I did not mess them up. Didn't like the end results so I gave up on it. Maybe I should try it again.

I would love to hear what you have done wit the original (yes I do on it, please send me the files).

Is the only one you have mastered so far Fire & Love?. I'd be interested in the Battle Cries one since my copy has a scratch in it and doesn't play one of the songs.

I will get it out, ut I am having to go back and start from scratch.   The MP3s I used were an older rip at 192.  I need to redo my rip at 320 and do it again.  Since it is so blessed cold right now, staying in the house isn't so bad.  Working on these is fun!

That sounds cool.  What package are you using?  I did a little bit of playing in Sound Forge with some cassette rips a few years to restore some of the quality I lost in the conversion.

I've got everything adjusted and will take a listen in my truck before sending it out to anyone.  I will upload it as a .rar file.  The songs will be in the 320 kbps bitrate.

I got the mastering done but did not like the way it turned out.  It was too bass heavy.  I am backing that down and adding more range so that I can hear the cymbals.  I want to bring this into a more modern sound, but I don't want to make it unlistenable.

So, since I am redoing it, I will upload this new version and send it out as well. You decide which one you like.

The version I got sounded a bit crisper compared to the original as well as a little louder.

Got the download, hopefully will have a chance to listen to it today.

Xid wrote:

The version I got sounded a bit crisper compared to the original as well as a little louder.

That's what I was shooting for.  I felt the newest version was crisper, fuller, and was louder overall.  My previous version was way louder, but it magnified the low end to the point of being muddy.

I downloaded the second version but can't get it open with RarZilla (claims the file is incomplete or has a password....). What program did you use to "zip" it?

I used 7Zip, but I did not use a password.

7-Zip will open it.  For whatever reason, RarZilla will not.  In 7-Zip, it is not asking for a password and should be opened easily enough.

alldatndensum wrote:

7-Zip will open it.  For whatever reason, RarZilla will not.  In 7-Zip, it is not asking for a password and should be opened easily enough.

I'll give that a try thanks.

I have started on The Brave's "Battle Cries".  It sounds good, but the mastering is dated.  I wish that someone would catch wind of my feeble attempts and actually remaster and re-release this stuff.

Who knows if that is ever going to happen.

Even if nobody re-releases it at least you (and some of us) will have better copies of the material than our original recordings represent.

Staybrite wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:

7-Zip will open it.  For whatever reason, RarZilla will not.  In 7-Zip, it is not asking for a password and should be opened easily enough.

I'll give that a try thanks.

That did the trick thanks, listening to it now.

I also sent out The Brave's "Battle Cries".  I will redo it as well as I don't like that I got the bass too big.  It takes away from the vocals and solos.  I have to remember that I want to increase the low end while not sacrificing dynamic range.  Just slamming it with more volume overall doesn't work for albums that were not recorded with this in mind.  Louder isn't always better.