How do you decide where to draw the smooth line that acts as the baseline for hi peak & lo peak adjustments?
Is it subjective? Is it trial & error until you get parameters that you like? Is the smooth curve line application explained in more detail somewhere? Is there a setting that can be selected that determines it?
Thanks,
Lucky
The Smooth Line
That depends on how much confidence you place in your listening environment and what you hear, and also upon the confidence you have in the quality of the mix.
In an ideal world where you trust the mix and it basically sounds ok then the smooth line overlays the original spectrum and keeps it rough shape but just makes it smoother.
If however, you find that that doesn't sound right and you have confidence in your listening space and its accuracy, then you can take that as an indication of there perhaps being a problem in the acoustics of the mixing environment, in which case you can re-sculp the shape until it sounds right.
Essentially the way I work is to first trust the mix and smooth based on preserving the overall shape (ie. overlayed smooth line) and then after listening make broad (ie. low Q) filter edits to get the balance right should it need it. For quality mixes it rarely does.
Regards,
Paavo.
In an ideal world where you trust the mix and it basically sounds ok then the smooth line overlays the original spectrum and keeps it rough shape but just makes it smoother.
If however, you find that that doesn't sound right and you have confidence in your listening space and its accuracy, then you can take that as an indication of there perhaps being a problem in the acoustics of the mixing environment, in which case you can re-sculp the shape until it sounds right.
Essentially the way I work is to first trust the mix and smooth based on preserving the overall shape (ie. overlayed smooth line) and then after listening make broad (ie. low Q) filter edits to get the balance right should it need it. For quality mixes it rarely does.
Regards,
Paavo.
The Mixing Studio has been treated with Auralex Acoustic's per their design. Room was tuned with Spectrum Analyzer to flat. I reference Mixes on 3 set's of Speakers in the Studio. Hi quality, Mid quality & cheap Car Speakers. Mixes are pretty good. I try to compare with a Pro CD for reference.
On the Song i'm Mastering now using the empathetic technique I find some Lo Peaks & Hi Peaks in the 80 - 300 range. I made some minor adjustments with Para. EQ. I then clicked on 1/3 Res. to see if I had equal upper & lower freqs.
The 80 - 300 range seems to have equal upper & lower lines. I noticed from 300 - 10k the line is laying perfectly even over the 1/3 res. line. Is that normal?
Suggestions please. I'm still a little unsure as to where I lay my initial Smooth Line for initial gauging of Hi & Lo peaks throughout the entire Spectrum range.
Thank you,
Lucky
On the Song i'm Mastering now using the empathetic technique I find some Lo Peaks & Hi Peaks in the 80 - 300 range. I made some minor adjustments with Para. EQ. I then clicked on 1/3 Res. to see if I had equal upper & lower freqs.
The 80 - 300 range seems to have equal upper & lower lines. I noticed from 300 - 10k the line is laying perfectly even over the 1/3 res. line. Is that normal?
Suggestions please. I'm still a little unsure as to where I lay my initial Smooth Line for initial gauging of Hi & Lo peaks throughout the entire Spectrum range.
Thank you,
Lucky
Hi Lucky,
If you are unsure probably the easiest way to clarify is to send me the .anl file for the track and your .mfl filter file and then I'll be able to see exactly what you are doing.
Like I said before, if the mix is good and the general tonality is to be preserved then the smooth line overlays the original. From what you are describing, it sounds like a pretty close to right balance. If you'd like me to hear what your talking about you could always send me a short snippet of the track as an mp3 as well. It might be useful for me to make more informative comments.
Cheers,
Paavo.
If you are unsure probably the easiest way to clarify is to send me the .anl file for the track and your .mfl filter file and then I'll be able to see exactly what you are doing.
Like I said before, if the mix is good and the general tonality is to be preserved then the smooth line overlays the original. From what you are describing, it sounds like a pretty close to right balance. If you'd like me to hear what your talking about you could always send me a short snippet of the track as an mp3 as well. It might be useful for me to make more informative comments.
Cheers,
Paavo.