Mixing and mastering a stereo live band recording tips please...

[jazzyfunky_g]

Hi all,

I have some stereo live recordings of our band, (country rock, rockabilly and Americana type stuff - vocals, guitars, bass, fiddle and mandolin) made using a Zoom Q3 HD. Does anyone have any tips/starting points for what to use before putting them out on the internet/giving them to potential venues etc?

Any basic compressor settings to start with? Limiter? Exciter? Touch of reverb? Obviously I will be experimenting myself but was interested in any starting points or what you would do/have done in similar situations. Will be doing this in Logic Express or Pro Tools 7.4.

Many thanks,
G

[Persian Bit]

If you've only got 'stereo' recordings [no multi tracks] then there's no mixing involved. based on the quality of recordings and how they're recorded you may master them using the tools you mentioned.

in a project i did few months ago [a jazz band recorded live nearly with no FX or processing], i used a chain like this on stereo recordings:

EQ -> Comp -> Stereo imager -> Reverb -> Limiter [Maximizer]

before processing [and during it] i also used an audio analyzer [waves PAZ] to check what's really needed and what's wrong.

within the EQ, i got to remove some low end rumble and hum which came from the PA and stage [below 40hz], added some mid ranges to make it warmer [around 1khz] and boosted some AIR at 14khz to enhance the high end. on some tracks I also had to cut around 200-300hz which caused some mudiness on low mids. in this case I boosted one or two dBs at 100-120hz to still keep it fat.

on Compressor, it was set to 3:1 ratio - 20 to 50 mls attack - fast release time and a easy threshold [so the signal wasn't always compressed, only on heavy picks].

I used stereo imager cause it was a live recording so panning and definition of stereo image was very limited and everything except drums were very in-center. i tried to widen high frequencies and narrow the low end [do this very gently other wise you would make it worse!]. Waves S-1 imager is a good one to experiment with.

On reverb: I used it cause the mixes were nearly flat with no FX used during the recording, except some natural reverb coming from the venue. I felt that a little amount of reverb can add more space and depth to it. but note that beside a low reverb balance [10 or 20% wet], it shouldn't be a full range reverb and you gotta define its high and low zone so only a certain range of mix is affected by it. i used a med-room reverb which was actualy working on 1khz to 3khz range. it didn't affect low end, and didn't add that nasty weeeshhhh [!!] on higher frequencies like on hi hats and cymbals. based on your matterial you can expand or limit this reverbation range to add more space to other instruments too. always bypass and compare everything to check you don't over do it.

and finally I used waves L-1 ultra maximizer to limit and bring it up. i didn't maximize much since it was a jazz recording. maybe 3 or 4 dBs.

If you're downwarding the sample rate [from 48 ot 44.1khz for example] you would add deither to the end of chain too [most maximizers offer this, so you wouldn't need another one on your chain].

it's always a good idea to use a signal analyzer on your chain so beside your ears, your eyes will be checking it too. in this case, put it at the end of the chain so the whole process is being analyzed.

hope that helped a bit..

[jazzyfunky_g]

Many thanks for your detailed reply, I'm going to give it a go at the weekend.

Cheers.

[4TrackMadman]

You can probably polish some of the levels with a multi band compressor or maybe eq the mix for some problem spots, then slap a gentle mastering limiter to tuck things together. Depending on the mix (if dry board mix for example) you might also use a mastering reverb before the mastering limiter.