Getting That “Analog” Sound
Posted on | September 20, 2008 | 1 Comment
I recently mastered a song for a client: a hip-hop track. The client specifically wanted an “analog sound,” saying he wanted a “fatter” sound than what ProTools had provided. To make a pretty long story (and mastering session) short, I had to do six (!) iterations.
Here’s what I used (in bold), and how he responded to each version:
1) Multi-band Compressor
“The track sounds so thin like its all digital. This is what I’m trying to avoid.”
2) Single-band compression with side-chain to avoid pumping
“You are going in the right direction but whenever I turn it up it distorts my speakers.”
3) Tame the low-end a bit, otherwise same as #2
“I feel that we are on pace after listening to the third version, it is not as controlled a sound as I would like. I feel it could be somehow more controlled.”
4) Decide to switch to tape compression for a tighter sound (though maybe not as fat)
“I think that we are losing the character of the song.”
5) Switch from compression to limiting, to stay truer to original mixed sound
“Ok everything is fine but the vocals. I need them warmer.”
6) Put in LF enhancement
“Version 6 is the one! I don’t know how you do what you do but thanks.”
Well, in a nutshell that’s how I do what I do. But most of the time it doesn’t take this many tries! However, a happy client is the best client and every job is a learning experience.
Next post: What this job proved to me.
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From Ohm to Om reflects the opinions of mastering engineer Paul Abbott, owner of San Diego's ZenMastering.
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September 21st, 2008 @ 2:00 pm
[...] you read part 1, you know that I had to jump through a bunch of hoops to get the sound a client was after. And [...]