Bullet2Heart – Test Track – Mixing and Mastering my Sound 2

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:41 — 6.3MB) | Embed

So, I hooked up my microphone for the first time in this new room just to see how it sounds. I had the urge to wanna start recording again so I made this test track using some old lyrics on an old Big B beat.

The result? Well…terrible. But I expected that. The problem is, the room is kinda cavernous, plus, it’s untreated in anyway. The next problem is something I never really stopped to think about too much: the fact that I’m recording over low quality mp3′s – Now any studio engineer will tell you that they dread when an artist comes in and hands them the track they are going to be recording over as an mp3, already mastered, already deadened by the conversion process etc. – They have a few tricks that help, but I’m not so musically inclined. I just don’t have the ears.

So after this next batch of songs, I’ll only be recording over beats I can find tracked out, uncompressed or at least in .wav format. Barring that, the mp3 has to be 320kbs, no less. Something I have to tell Big B since he tends to send me mp3s in the 128-192kbps range. It especially hurts because I tend to record at like 88k/32bit :)) Upconverting an mp3 to that just so I can rhyme over it is kinda overkill.

Another problem is mixing…I have no monitors! So all of my, ahem, mixing (or close proximity thereof) is done in headphones…which is a big no-no. I try to play the tracks on different devices to see how it sounds (usually terrible) but it’s kinda pointless and tedious without the monitors.

Anywho, here is the track. Keep in mind it’s a test track…using lyrics from a thousand years ago :)) You should probably listen to it through headphones, and for the love of Saint Cecilia please don’t attempt to turn it up loud! You’ll regret it :))

Filename    Bullet2Heart.mp3
Title        Bullet2Heart
Artist        SilencioBarnes
Album        PracticeWordz
Year        2011
Genre        Rap    
Bitrate        320
Freq        44100
Duration    0:02:41
Size        6.3 Mb

See Mixing and Mastering My Sound part 1 for more complaing :)

http://silenciobarnes.com/music/mixing-and-mastering-my-sound/