Mastering/treble question

[alex1fly]

Hey all. I am wanting to chop off some of the high end of my tracks, because they get a little ice-picky. I am wondering, what is the highest frequency that you let through in your final mixes? What would be a good frequency to set on a low-pass filter?

My tunes are made in Ableton, and I'm running them through Audacity to even out all the levels and such. I just want a solid like, "no frequencies above ____" filter to throw on there. My ears aren't trained well enough to hear what's an appropriate amount of high and super-high end.

Much thanks!

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: Mastering/treble question

Around 16K..it usually doesn't cut them off, but instead applies a steep roll off. That is for the fact that most systems don't reproduce them well and there is usually only sizzle from the cymbals up there.

If you say "ice picky", try a little dip around 5K to 6K and see if that is where the problem frequecies are.

There aren't any rules, just use your ears and compare to other recordings.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Mastering/treble question

I can tell you the hillbilly way. You pick an eq VST you like and choose a "high cut" preset. If it sounds muffled, you grab the curve in the high region and ratchet it back up until it sounds clear again (but not as ear-piercing as it was). Most eq's have this preset, but they typically go a bit overboard.

To be honest, I seldom hear anyone with stuff having too much treble. Most people seem to go so nuts on bass and mid frequencies that the treble is all but lost.

 

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Re: Mastering/treble question

If you have too much treble then it's your mix and or recording that's bad. You should find the real problem rather than throw a band aid on the master bus.

 

[ginormous]

Re: Mastering/treble question

If you're using Audacity, you can use the FFT filter to gently roll off anything from 10k to 20k, and the low pass to eliminate everything below 20k.

The best thing to do would be to find someone with better, more well-trained ears to mix.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Mastering/treble question

See if it has a Spectrum Analyzer, or if you can find a plugin for it. That will show you which frequencies are too harsh.


It's not always the high-end (10K and up). That's usually where you get a lot of cymbal "shredding" and sizzle. If it's piercing, it's one of the upper-mid frequencies.

 

[AudioWonderland]

Re: Mastering/treble question

Hey all. I am wanting to chop off some of the high end of my tracks, because they get a little ice-picky. I am wondering, what is the highest frequency that you let through in your final mixes? What would be a good frequency to set on a low-pass filter?

My tunes are made in Ableton, and I'm running them through Audacity to even out all the levels and such. I just want a solid like, "no frequencies above ____" filter to throw on there. My ears aren't trained well enough to hear what's an appropriate amount of high and super-high end.

Much thanks!

I think you will find that "ice pick" is actually around 3k. Dropping a few db there with generous but not excessive q will fix the issue. Ideally though I will go back ad adjust EQ on the various tracks while mixing and solve it at the source.

I will high pass around 40hz but I have never needed to use a low pass.

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: Mastering/treble question

You will have to play around with a let us know who guessed the closest without hearing it...LOL

 

[DankStar]

Re: Mastering/treble question

You will have to play around with a let us know who guessed the closest without hearing it...LOL

I liked innerdream's - makes the most sense. find the problem track and fix it. no sense reducing the overall treble for the whole thing. I shoulda thought of that, but I can barely tie my shoes.

 

[AudioWonderland]

Re: Mastering/treble question

I liked innerdream's - makes the most sense. find the problem track and fix it. no sense reducing the overall treble for the whole thing. I shoulda thought of that, but I can barely tie my shoes.

Its very rare that a single track would cause the overall to out of wack that badly. You will have more work to do on all of the to identify all of the issues

 

[alex1fly]

Re: Mastering/treble question

Its very rare that a single track would cause the overall to out of wack that badly. You will have more work to do on all of the to identify all of the issues

Yeah, it's more like all songs I made in Ableton Live have a tad too much treble that "thwacks" into my ears. Makes me think its program-specific. Ableton has a sound, Garageband has a sound, Reason has a sound. Reason is ballsy but synthetic. Garageband sounds pure but weak. Ableton is ballsy, synthetic but less so than Reason, and has a certain OUCH factor somewhere in the highs (though I suppose not in the upper upper highs, if that's mainly cymbal sizzle). Cymbals, claps, even my VST guitar has some weird sizzle.

And I'm talking about loops here. Most of my electronic music is VST and loop-based - not a lot of actual audio recordings.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Mastering/treble question

Its very rare that a single track would cause the overall to out of wack that badly. You will have more work to do on all of the to identify all of the issues

I knew that. :1:

 

[GoldenVulture]

Re: Mastering/treble question

Cymbals, claps, even my VST guitar has some weird sizzle.

Seems like you may have some distortion in there some where.:cool2:

 

[alex1fly]

Re: Mastering/treble question

Cool. Thanks for the starting points. My hats and claps were too loud, and some of my instruments were distorting a bit. Sometimes what comes across as clarity when composing, comes across as icepick when listening for pleasure - if that makes sense. Like I'm so stoked to have written a cool part, that OF COURSE I want it to cut through the mix right into my brain! But not so good for the final mix.

Then sometimes I listen to mixdowns with TOO critical of an ear. The claps aren't REALLY piercing, I'm just fixating on them.

Also the more time I spend on mixing, the more mucked up I get. Sometimes gut reactions - first and second takes - are the best.

 

[Hellion]

Re: Mastering/treble question

I used to have considerable luck running a compressor using an EQ key input. What it allowed me to do was limit the amount of treble at certain frequencies, but not lose them entirely. I don't use that method now, because I'm not running to tape anymore, but it worked pretty well when I was.