notesdontmatter

I must say, the MC4 multiband compressor is very impressive. If the power to isolate and manipulate the level and onset of individual frequencies in a soundfile is the key focus of good mastering equipment, then the MC4 certainly seems up to the task.

Interestingly enough, it’s only after applying such material to a piece of work that I can really appreciate its value. I think people like me, who work more by the numbers than intuitively, need a reference point that is very obvious, to get an idea of the difference my work has made on a given subject. When listening back to the original soundfile (which I have conveniently put in the online folder so you can hear the difference yourself) after adding the big bottom, MC4, and Joe Meek EQ, I could really hear the muddiness and excessive boom in the bottom end.

I think the fundamental change that has been made to this file is ‘cleanliness.’ After really isolating and focussing on the individual elements, I think most of the important sonic events can now be easily interpreted in their own right. As a self-criticism of my novice ability in the field of mastering, I think the end result may sound a little to bright, as the top end tends to bite pretty hard. This can be attributed in part to the settings I chose from the Joe ‘Meekqualiser’, which is a sensitive little unit to say the least.

By no means have I explored the entire plethora of possibilities offered by the Pro-tools mastering plug-ins, but complicated units like ‘autotune’ would need a week of focus to themselves to be fully examined.


Click here to link to online folder containing the original and the mastered file.


Reference:

David Grice. “Audio Arts – Week 11 – Mastering” Tutorial presented at Studio 2, Level 5 Schultz building, University of Adelaide, 22nd of May, 2007.

posted by David J Dowling @ 2:41 PM