Go Back   Cockos Incorporated Forums > REAPER Forums > REAPER General Discussion Forum

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-04-2011, 01:57 PM   #1
Sunaj
Human being with feelings
 
Sunaj's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 524
Default How the h*ll am I supposed to "Master" this?

I do a bit of mixing and making things sound better afterwards, not mastering, but someone sent me an mp3 file of something he wanted me to "MASTER".

This person said the artist recorded the song in adobe audition, with a usb mic, and no longer has the project. I suggested the person send me EVERYTHING TRACKED OUT, DRY but this persons artist no longer has the session file.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/zjezcs

How would you REAPERS approach this? is it even worth approaching?

SPOILER: IT SOUNDS REALLY BAD
Sunaj is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2011, 01:59 PM   #2
plamuk
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,221
Default

send it back to him 1 db louder and tell him to compare it to the original.
he will prefer your version and pay you one million dollars
plamuk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2011, 02:00 PM   #3
Sunaj
Human being with feelings
 
Sunaj's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 524
Default

I guess it isn't worth approaching, is it? Are there any restoration tools in reaper that can suppress/ minimize the apparent distortion in the vocals?
Sunaj is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2011, 02:03 PM   #4
Argle
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,272
Default

Sounds like a hopeless case to me. I'd just explain to him everything he did wrong and say better luck next time.
Argle is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2011, 02:04 PM   #5
amrodan
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 123
Default

Wow that is pretty bad. It's not even close to ready for mastering
amrodan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2011, 02:31 PM   #6
Smurf
Human being with feelings
 
Smurf's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 2,173
Default

I agree with Argle, tho you COULD waste a lot of time on it, the vocals will still sound like......that.....
__________________
Yep's First 3 Years in PDF's
HP Z600 w/3GHz 12 Core, 48GB Memory, nVidia Quadro 5800, 240GB SSD OS drive, 3 480GB SSD Sample/Storage drives, 18TB External Storage, Dual 27" Monitors
Smurf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2011, 08:00 PM   #7
Marah Mag
Human being with feelings
 
Marah Mag's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Here
Posts: 3,000
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunaj View Post
I tried to download this a few times, but I feel like I'm playing Download Roulette: Every link I click wants me to download an exe file of some sort... setup, etc... rather than an actual audio file, or even a zipped file.

Am I just being paranoid? Dense? Both? What am I missing?
Marah Mag is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2011, 08:12 PM   #8
plush2
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Saskatoon, Canada
Posts: 2,110
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Marah Mag View Post
I tried to download this a few times, but I feel like I'm playing Download Roulette: Every link I click wants me to download an exe file of some sort... setup, etc... rather than an actual audio file, or even a zipped file.

Am I just being paranoid? Dense? Both? What am I missing?
I managed to get the file but I'm starting to hate these download sites for just this reason. Every button is big and green with all caps DOWNLOAD written on them except for the link that actually downloads the file you want. That one is hidden away with some cryptic link text.

Truly no offence intended to Sunaj...we all need these sites on occasion. I just wanted sympathize with Marah Mag.

Now, on topic. Sometimes a de-clipper (I use the one in Audition..a bit ironic) set to just the right detection can grab that kind of hinky and clean it up. Another option is to go in with a high resolution spectral editor. You should see a single vertical spike for each clipped audio cycle which can be selected and removed with a click tool. At this point the question of how much they are willing to pay you is a good one to raise.

Here's a few free options. Try out ReLife from Terry West (http://www.terrywest.nl/utils.html) and maybe pulling the highs in the side channel way down (you could use the new BaxterEQ from variety of sound for this). As with anything like this YMMV.

Last edited by plush2; 10-04-2011 at 08:34 PM.
plush2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2011, 02:28 AM   #9
Sunaj
Human being with feelings
 
Sunaj's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 524
Default

Hey, it's all good. Sendspace was the first site that came to mind. Thanks for the tip

Here's a stream. I mean, I tried, I think without the distortion this one is a bit more listenable if y'all disregard the overall degradation of the audio. Honestly neither one of them are listenable to my ears. Listen if you got time to waste and compare to the original.

Original: Groovy Baby - Make It Clap (Lyrics).mp3 - 5.8 Mb

REDID : REDID-Groovy Baby - Make It Clap (Lyrics).mp3 - 4.2 Mb
Sunaj is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2011, 02:59 AM   #10
OldTimerNewComer
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 40
Default

Can you post a direct download? I will look at it. What's up Sunaj!

Edit: This is freakin' funny!
__________________
700w PSU/ASUS Sabretooth Z77 mb/Core i7 Quad-Core 2600k 3.4Ghz
Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600Mhz (16 Gb)/Radeon HD 6450(6 Gb)
Focusrite Saffire Pro 40/Crucial 128 Gb SSD/WD 500 GB SATA HD
OldTimerNewComer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2011, 06:34 PM   #11
pattste
Human being with feelings
 
pattste's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Montreal, QC
Posts: 797
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Marah Mag View Post
I tried to download this a few times, but I feel like I'm playing Download Roulette: Every link I click wants me to download an exe file of some sort... setup, etc... rather than an actual audio file, or even a zipped file.

Am I just being paranoid? Dense? Both? What am I missing?
It took me about five minutes to get the original MP3 file and I'm not sure how I did it. I did win a free iPad and get to guess which direction the ballerina is spinning, though.

I agree with the others, this is hopeless. The voice is clipping constantly yet it sounds distant and half as loud as the music. I wonder how much the "Producer" got paid for recording this?
__________________
My Music
Reaper(x64) 4.72 - Studio One Pro (x64) 2.6.3
i7-3630QM 2.4GHz - 8Gb RAM - 256Gb SSD - RME Babyface - Eve Audio SC204 - Windows 8.1
pattste is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2011, 07:18 PM   #12
maxdembo
Human being with feelings
 
maxdembo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: All Hallows End
Posts: 2,132
Default

Sadly, I'm agreeing with the phrase 'this is hopeless'.

Unless of course you just go whole hog time stretch and make it sound like its coming out of a drunk telephone. In other words, making it worse would make it sound better to my ears
maxdembo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2011, 07:34 PM   #13
Sunaj
Human being with feelings
 
Sunaj's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 524
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by pattste View Post
It took me about five minutes to get the original MP3 file and I'm not sure how I did it. I did win a free iPad and get to guess which direction the ballerina is spinning, though.

I agree with the others, this is hopeless. The voice is clipping constantly yet it sounds distant and half as loud as the music. I wonder how much the "Producer" got paid for recording this?
the guy said he recorded with a usb mic.

how do you get such a bad sound with something like that? Must have been on something recording that
Sunaj is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2011, 08:00 PM   #14
Breeder
Human being with feelings
 
Breeder's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 2,436
Default

I played a bit trying to remove clipping...

http://min.us/mGOZjWDoH


btw, sunaj, register on minus.com, it`s free and you get 10 gb...no waiting time, integrated viewer for pdf, mp3, etc...
Breeder is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2011, 08:00 PM   #15
nerdfactormax
Human being with feelings
 
nerdfactormax's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: A-town, Australia
Posts: 633
Default

Wow. That's awful. It definitely takes a special person that knows enough to put together a backing track like that but have no idea about recording vocals. I wouldn't attempt anything with it. Even if you improved it a bit, I wouldn't risk having my name attached to anything like that.
nerdfactormax is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2011, 10:55 PM   #16
Mich
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,265
Default

People lets just for one moment consider that the scooped highpassed telephone super stereo vocals is the way the person wanted the vocals to sound. Lets just assume he wasn't aiming for that up front brittle contred in your face hip hop rap vocal sound.
With that assumption this isn't that bad. The distortion still makes it DOA but fixing stuff is what mastering is all about. It's /not/ about making everything sound like every commercial production ever, so if the vocals are recorded through a telephone its none of the mes business to change it. Unless he got asked to do a remix.

Anyway REAPER doesn't feature the needed tools to fix the distortion thus progressing with any enhancements would be useless. You need audio cleaning software to remove the distortions first.

Edit: The fact that it is only present in MP3 format makes matters even worse, since it changes the audio qualities quite a bit making it extrahard for the cleaning algorithm to pick and fix the distortion.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by vBulletin Message
Sorry pipelineaudio is a moderator/admin and you are not allowed to ignore him or her.
Mich is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2011, 11:07 PM   #17
earlabs
Human being with feelings
 
earlabs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 1,203
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by nym View Post
send it back to him 1 db louder and tell him to compare it to the original.
he will prefer your version and pay you one million dollars
Good one!
__________________
EARLabs Studio for Creative Mastering www.facebook.com/EARLabsStudio
WWW www.earlabs.org
earlabs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2011, 11:15 PM   #18
earlabs
Human being with feelings
 
earlabs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 1,203
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mich View Post
People lets just for one moment consider that the scooped highpassed telephone super stereo vocals is the way the person wanted the vocals to sound. Lets just assume he wasn't aiming for that up front brittle contred in your face hip hop rap vocal sound.
With that assumption this isn't that bad. The distortion still makes it DOA but fixing stuff is what mastering is all about. It's /not/ about making everything sound like every commercial production ever, so if the vocals are recorded through a telephone its none of the mes business to change it. Unless he got asked to do a remix.

Anyway REAPER doesn't feature the needed tools to fix the distortion thus progressing with any enhancements would be useless. You need audio cleaning software to remove the distortions first.

Edit: The fact that it is only present in MP3 format makes matters even worse, since it changes the audio qualities quite a bit making it extrahard for the cleaning algorithm to pick and fix the distortion.
This makes sense!I have experienced good results by rendering an upsampled file to 24bits with -3dB lowered volume. That action alone apparently can repair a lot of distortion. Next to that Izotope RX is okay but requires a lot of study.
__________________
EARLabs Studio for Creative Mastering www.facebook.com/EARLabsStudio
WWW www.earlabs.org
earlabs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2011, 12:36 AM   #19
matey
Human being with feelings
 
matey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Civitavecchia (Italy)
Posts: 574
Default

be careful mate, you gonna spoil your master' worlwide reputation and give you a bad name in the business... you better give up, imo, telling the guy you're not used to this kind of no-pro things (and dont forget to make some compliment for the tune, of course)
__________________
"You know what a miracle is. Not what Bakunin said. But another world's intrusion into this one".
Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
matey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2011, 01:53 AM   #20
Sunaj
Human being with feelings
 
Sunaj's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 524
Default

I'm done. What i posted was the extent to which I was willing to work on it.

The guy said his artist is remaking the beat and he's going to come to my pad to re-record it.
Sunaj is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2011, 02:25 AM   #21
Mich
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,265
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunaj View Post
The guy said his artist is remaking the beat and he's going to come to my pad to re-record it.
Good choice.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by vBulletin Message
Sorry pipelineaudio is a moderator/admin and you are not allowed to ignore him or her.
Mich is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-2011, 12:54 PM   #22
Jim Roseberry
Human being with feelings
 
Jim Roseberry's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,027
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by earlabs View Post
This makes sense!I have experienced good results by rendering an upsampled file to 24bits with -3dB lowered volume. That action alone apparently can repair a lot of distortion. Next to that Izotope RX is okay but requires a lot of study.
FWIW, Changing the gain will not remove/repair digital clipping.
You're literally just turning the audio (including distortion) down.

Once the damage is done, you can try de-clipping algorithms.
If the clipping is short, it'll likely sound OK. If the clipping is longer/extended, you won't be able to fix/repair it.

The best course of action is to retrack this tune... as the OP intends.
__________________
Jim Roseberry
www.studiocat.com
jim@studiocat.com
Jim Roseberry is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-08-2011, 05:03 PM   #23
nerdfactormax
Human being with feelings
 
nerdfactormax's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: A-town, Australia
Posts: 633
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunaj View Post
I'm done. What i posted was the extent to which I was willing to work on it.

The guy said his artist is remaking the beat and he's going to come to my pad to re-record it.
Best outcome. Be sure to post back when you're done.
nerdfactormax is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 04:50 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.