Mastering

[gub]

Hi,

I am about to master some old songs that were orginally recorded on an old 4 track tape device.

I am using PT10 and I have a few paid plug-ins. (I already have recorded them into PT10)

The quality of the orginal sound production is average and I don't think any of the instrument or vocals were every eq'ed. Sound is a bit muddy and lacks depth. Instuments consist of Drum Machine(DDD5), Keys(esq1), Bass and Vocals...

I thought before I start I would look for some feedback from the forum.

I understand it's a big call without listening to the tracks, but has anyone else had similar experiences or is there a general rule of thumb with plugins and analog recordings.

Thanks
Gub

[JFreak]

Take the garbage out and whatever quality is left should should decent.

[Emcha_audio]

As JFreak said, eq it out, sometimes the mastering job needs to do a general eq sometimes a more precise eq to fix some problems.

[grovephil]

Do you have the original multitracks from the 4 track? or is it a stereo master?
It's better to work on the multis first if available then work on the stereo mix.
Generally you would EQ out any frequencies that are causing muddiness (lo mids) without thinning it too much. You may want to look at putting something like Bittersweet from Flux (free plugin) over drums to help restore transients. Boosting the hi frequencies can help but will probably increase noise unacceptably. The last plugin the chain should be a limiter such as Maxim (The Massey one is good too).
The Ozone mastering suite is relatively cheap and a good investment, you can use it for individual tracks as well as mastering. The Waves noise reduction is pretty good too for freshening up old tape recordings though it may be out of your price range, there may be as good cheaper ones. A little short reverb either on tracks or master can help but use it sparingly - you'll regret overuse later on. It will probably be a matter of trying a few things out & hearing what works, good luck.

[Ben Jenssen]

I'm assuming you have the four separate tracks in PT.

As mentioned, think subtractive EQ.
There will probably be certain frequencies resonating because of the room, mic placement and so on.

A very useful technique is ot make a narrow bell curve, notch, and boost it. Then use it to sweep up and down the frequency spectrum to listen for unpleasant frequencies, and cut them very gently. Perhaps with a bit wider Q. Remember: less is more.

I would advise against too much noise supression and such. So often leaves you with a "plastic feel". I'd much rather have the detail/nuances and some background noise, than a noise-free lifeless result.

Always with these kinds of things: less is more.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by grovephil

DThe last plugin the chain should be a limiter such as Maxim (The Massey one is good too).

Should? It usually is, but not necessarily. But *IF* you use a limiter, then it should be the last one.

On another note, the Massey limiter is a million times better than Maxim. At least. It is on par with the best stereo mastering limiters worth thousands of dollars.

[graveleye]

A few years ago I remastered almost all of my taped recordings. Many went back to the early 80s. Reel to reel 4 and 8 tracks, cassette 4 track and 8 tracks.

The reel to reel tapes had sticky-shed so bad I had to bake them first. Pain in the neck, but the results were great.

I can't comment on mixing your music without really hearing it, but one thing I might suggest is something like the Waves Restoration bundle. It was a lifesaver for my old recordings, many of which were recorded on the fly and the quality (not to mention my primitive skills) was pretty poor in some cases.

I was pretty much able to get rid of the tape hiss without degrading the sound quality. I found that without the tape hiss, even when it was nominal to begin with, I was able to hear the recordings fresh and was able to mix them with a more modern approach, where back when they still sounded muddy and hissy I found myself taking the same old approaches that didn't work back when I recorded them. If that makes sense...

[groundcontrol]

Originally Posted by JFreak

On another note, the Massey limiter is a million times better than Maxim.

Can't emphasis this enough. I don't understand why they're still including this old piece of $#!t with pt.

[grovephil]

yep, JFreak is correct, my syntax wasn't. It's not essential to include a limiter. The Massey demo version has some small limitations but it's well worth the $ to buy it to support the developer if you can.
A further thought - if you have the multis, some sort of synthetic stereo (chorus etc) & panning on some tracks could improve the sense of depth. Always check in mono though, it may cause phase artefacts.

[gub]

Thanks for the feedback.

I will definatly take your suggestions on.

Thanks again